- Helen Vinson
Infobox actor
name=Helen Vinson
birthname=Helen Rulfs
caption=
birthdate=birthdate|1907|9|17
birthplace=Beaumont, Texas ,USA
deathdate=death date and age|1999|10|7|1907|9|17
deathplace=Chapel Hill, North Carolina
spouse=Harry Vickerman (1925-1930)Fred Perry (1935-1940)
Donald Hardenbrook (1946-1976)
awards=Walk of Fame - Motion Picture
1560 Vine StreetHelen Vinson (
September 17 1907 -October 7 1999 ) was an American film actress.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 theUniversity 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 inNew York City was in a play called "Los Angeles". A succession of performances followed and led to a contract withWarner Brothers . Later, she regretted her quick leap toHollywood 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
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 starredWilliam Powell andKay Francis . She appeared as Doris Dulafield in "The Kennel Murder Case ", which starred Powell asPhilo Vance . She followed that role with the role of Helen Draque in "The Thin Man Goes Home ". One of her memorable roles was in "The Wedding Night " (1935). She played the wife ofGary Cooper and the rival ofAnna Sten , in a story about theConnecticut tobacco fields. Another performance was in theRKO film "In Name Only " (1939), in which she was cast as the treacherous friend ofCarole Lombard , Kay Francis, andCary Grant . Vinson's film career petered out in 1945.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 inNew Orleans . She was married to noted tennis playerFred Perry . She loved horses and had a private and personal mount named "Arrabella". Helen Vinson died inChapel Hill, North Carolina in 1999, aged 92.References
*cite news| publisher=
Oakland Tribune |title=Close-Up of a Real Trooper |date=March 17, 1935 |page=70
*cite news| publisher=Port Arthur News |title=For Women Only |date=November 26, 1939 |page=47External links
*imdb|0899091
* [http://digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/dgkeysearchdetail.cfm?trg=1&strucID=804496&imageID=1588867&parent_id=780090&word=&snum=&s=¬word=&d=&c=&f=&sScope=&sLevel=&sLabel=&total=39&num=24&imgs=12&pNum=&pos=29#Helen Helen Vinson] and Fred Perry New York Public Library Digital Gallery image (1935)
*Persondata
NAME= Vinson, Helen
ALTERNATIVE NAMES= Rulfs, Helen
SHORT DESCRIPTION=Actor
DATE OF BIRTH=September 17 1907
PLACE OF BIRTH=Beaumont, Texas ,USA
DATE OF DEATH=October 7 1999
PLACE OF DEATH=Chapel Hill, North Carolina
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