Helen Vinson

Helen Vinson
in Beyond Tomorrow (1940)
Born	Helen Rulfs September 17, 1907(1907-09-17) Beaumont, Texas, U.S.
Died	October 7, 1999(1999-10-07) (aged 92) Chapel Hill, North Carolina, U.S.
Years active	1932–1945
Spouse	Harry Vickerman (1925-1930) Fred Perry (1935-1940) Donald Hardenbrook (1946-1976)

Helen Vinson (September 17, 1907 – October 7, 1999) was an American film actress, who appeared in 40 films between 1932 and 1945.

Early life

Vinson was born Helen Rulfs in Beaumont, Texas. She was a tall and distinguished-looking woman with brown eyes and naturally curly hair. Miss Vinson's father was an oil man. Her personal life included a passion for horses she developed during her youth. She studied at the University of Texas at Austin.

Theater

In Austin, she met Mrs. March Culmore, director of the Houston, Texas Little Theater. Culmore took Helen as a pupil and soon the young woman was playing leads with The Little Theater Group. From Texas, she moved quickly to Broadway. Her first success in New York City was in a play called Los Angeles. A succession of performances followed and led to a contract with Warner Brothers. Later, she regretted her quick leap to Hollywood and motion pictures. She lamented, "If I'd stayed in New York longer, I'd be getting a much bigger salary out here now."

Film career

in The Little Giant (1933)

Vinson's screen career often featured her in roles in which she played the part of the other woman or (pre-Code) loose women with active romantic lives. Her first film role was Jewel Robbery (1932), which starred William Powell and Kay Francis. She appeared as Doris Dulafield in The Kennel Murder Case, which starred Powell as Philo Vance. One of her memorable roles was in The Wedding Night (1935). She played the wife of Gary Cooper and the rival of Anna Sten, in a story about the Connecticut tobacco fields. Another performance was in the RKO film In Name Only (1939), in which she was cast as the treacherous friend of Carole Lombard, Kay Francis and Cary Grant. Another stand-out role for Vinson was as an undercover federal agent posing as a femme fatale opposite Richard Cromwell in Universal Pictures's anti-Nazi action drama entitled, Enemy Agent (1940). She followed that role with the role of Helen Draque in The Thin Man Goes Home. Vinson's film career petered out in 1945.

For her contribution to the motion picture industry, Vinson had a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1560 Vine Street.

Private life and death

Away from film-making and following her retirement, Vinson's activities made frequent trips to New York City to see Broadway shows, visited friends in her home state of Texas, and enjoyed the Mardi Gras in New Orleans. She was married to noted tennis player Fred Perry. She loved horses and had a private and personal mount named Arrabella.

Helen Vinson died in Chapel Hill, North Carolina in 1999, aged 92.

Selected filmography

Selected Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1932	Jewel Robbery	Marianne
1932	Two Against the World	Corinne Walton
1932	The Crash	Esther Parrish	uncredited
1932	I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang	Helen
1933	Lawyer Man	Barbara 'Babs' Bentley
1933	Midnight Club	Iris Whitney
1933	The Kennel Murder Case	Doris Delafield
1933	The Power and the Glory	Eve Borden
1934	Gift of Gab	Nurse
1934	The Captain Hates the Sea	Janet Grayson
1934	Broadway Bill	Margaret
1935	The Wedding Night	Dora Barrett
1935	Private Worlds	Claire Monet
1935	The Tunnel	Varlia Lloyd	Released as Transatlantic Tunnel in the United States
1935	King of the Damned	Anna Courvin
1936	Love in Exile	Countess Xandra St. Aurion
1937	Vogues of 1938	Mary Curson
1939	In Name Only	Mrs. Suzanne Ducross
1940	Beyond Tomorrow	Arlene Terry	Colorized version released in 2004 as Beyond Christmas
1940	Torrid Zone	Mrs. Gloria Anderson
1941	Nothing But the Truth	Linda Grahm
1944	Chip Off the Old Block	Glory Marlow Jr.
1944	The Lady and the Monster	Chloe Donovan
1945	The Thin Man Goes Home	Helena Draque

References

• "Close-Up of a Real Trooper". Oakland Tribune. March 17, 1935. p. 70. 
• "For Women Only". Port Arthur News. November 26, 1939. p. 47. 

External links

• Helen Vinson at the Internet Movie Database
• Helen Vinson at the Internet Broadway Database
• Helen Vinson and Fred Perry New York Public Library Digital Gallery image (1935)
• Helen Vinson at Find a Grave