Helen Chandler (February 1, 1906 – April 30, 1965)
was an American film and theater actress.
Born in
Charleston,
South Carolina
, Chandler began her acting career on Broadway
in
1917. Her early performances include
Arthur Hopkins' 1920 production of
Richard III, which
starred
John Barrymore,
Macbeth in 1921 with
Lionel Barrymore; Hedvig in
Henrik Ibsen's
The
Wild Duck in 1925 and
Ophelia in the 1925 modern dress version
of
Hamlet. By the time of her first
film she had been in over twenty Broadway productions.
She made her film debut in 1927 in the silent film
The Music
Master and in 1930 joined
Leslie Howard,
Douglas Fairbanks Jr., and
Beryl Mercer for the film version of the stage
success
Outward Bound.
The unusual story told of a group of passengers on an ocean liner
who gradually realise that they are all dead and will soon face the
Last Judgment. Chandler, with her blonde hair and ethereal quality
was considered to be perfectly cast, and she received critical
praise for her performance.
Chandler did not want to play the role for which she is probably
best remembered, as Mina Harker in
Dracula (1931) as she wanted to
play Alice in
Alice
in Wonderland, but this part was given to
Charlotte Henry. Chandler, disappointed,
joined
David Manners and
Bela Lugosi in what became one of the most
successful movies made until that time. Chandler appeared with
Manners that same year in the
Lost
Generation celebration of alcohol in Paris,
The Last Flight, also starring
Richard Barthelmess and
Johnny Mack Brown. She achieved more
successes in
A House Divided (1931) and
Christopher Strong (1932), all the
while dividing her time between films, radio work, and theatre
roles in Los Angeles, New York and London.
She starred in British actor
Will Hay's
1934 movie,
Radio Parade of
1935 and played a role on Lux Radio in
Alibi Ike
with Joe E. Brown (1937). Among her later stage successes were
Within The Gates in 1934,
Pride and Prejudice in 1935,
Lady Precious Stream in 1936 with then-husband Bramwell
Fletcher, a reprise of her role in
Outward Bound in 1938
and various productions of
Boy Meets Girl and
Noel Coward's
Tonight at 8:30
By this time she was battling
alcoholism
and her acting career declined. She was hospitalised several times
but was unable to gain control over her life. In 1950, Chandler was
severely burned in an apartment fire, caused by her falling asleep
while smoking. She survived but her body was badly disfigured. Her
alcoholism continued unabated.
She died April 30, 1965 from cardiac arrest during surgery for a stomach ulcer in Hollywood,
California
. Her remains were cremated in accordance
with her wishes, and are interred at
Chapel of the Pines Crematory
in Los Angeles.
Filmography
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