# Helene Chadwick

Helene Chadwick (November 25, 1897 – September 4, 1940) was an American actress in silent and in early sound films.

## Early life and career

Chadwick was born in the small town of Chadwicks, New York, which was named for her great-grandfather. Her parents were George W. Chadwick Jr. and Marie Louise Norton Chadwick. Her mother was a singer who performed on the stage and her father was a business man.
She began making films for Pathé Pictures in Manhattan, New York. Her first film was The Challenge (1916), which was produced by Astra Film Corporation and released by Pathé. A director was impressed by Chadwicks's talent as an equestrian, thus she began acting as a western star but this did not continue with the exodus of film production from the east to the west coast. Signed by Samuel Goldwyn, Chadwick went to California in 1913 and entered silent movies in 1916. At the pinnacle of her acting career, she earned a salary estimated to have been $2,000 per week. From 1929 until 1935, she found success as a character actress when sound was being introduced to films.
In the final five years of her life, she was reduced to taking roles as an extra, playing "atmospheric parts". Helene made movies with Warner Brothers, Columbia Pictures, 20th Century Fox, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Paramount Pictures, and other studios. Her final film was Mary Burns, Fugitive (1935).
Her most noteworthy performances came in Heartsease (1919), The Long Arm of the Manister (1919), The Cup of Fury (1920), Godless Men (1920), Dangerous Curve Ahead (1921), From The Ground Up (1921), Yellow Men and Gold (1922), Dust Flower (1922), The Sin Flood (1922), The Glorious Fool (1922), and Quicksands (1923).

## Personal life and death

Helene's great-grandparents were the founders of Chadwicks, New York, a small village in Oneida County, NY. Her great-grandfather built a cotton factory on Sauquoit Creek and was one of the premier manufacturers of textiles in the Mohawk Valley. Her family came from England, in Oldham, Lancashire County. She attended school at a one-room schoolhouse provided by her great-grandfather for the mill workers.
In January 1919, Chadwick became engaged to William A. Wellman, an American pilot with the Lafayette Flying Corps. He had just returned from France and was cited for bravery for his valor in World War I. The couple had met at a party at the house of a friend. Wellman was signed to play a prominent role in an upcoming movie with Douglas Fairbanks Sr. The couple wed in July 1921, but in the summer of 1923, Chadwick sued Wellman for divorce on grounds of desertion and nonsupport. At the time of their separation, William was directing movies for Fox Film.
Chadwick's funeral was conducted by Pierce Brothers Mortuary and attended by stage and screen friends. Her body was returned to Chadwicks and she was first buried in the Sauquoit Valley Cemetery and the following year her remains were moved to Forest Hill Cemetery, Utica.

## Filmography

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1916 | The Challenge | Alberta Bradley | |
| 1917 | The Mystery of the Double Cross | | Lost film |
| 1917 | The Iron Heart | Grace | Lost film |
| 1917 | Blind Man's Luck | Helen | Lost film |
| 1917 | The Last of the Carnabys | The Kept Woman | Lost film |
| 1917 | The Angel Factory | Florence Lamont | Lost film |
| 1917 | Vengeance Is Mine | Marion De Long | Lost film |
| 1918 | Convict 993 | Neva Stokes | Lost film |
| 1918 | For Sale | Annie | Lost film |
| 1918 | The Naulahka | Kate Sheriff | Lost film |
| 1918 | The House of Hate | Queenie Kate | Lost film |
| 1918 | The Yellow Ticket | Miss Seaton | Lost film |
| 1918 | Getaway Kate | Kate Sherwood | Short Lost film |
| 1918 | Go-Get-Em Garringer | Wilma Wharton | Lost film |
| 1919 | Girls | Kate West | Lost film |
| 1919 | Heartsease | Margaret Neville | |
| 1919 | Caleb Piper's Girl | Mary Piper | |
| 1919 | The Solitary Sin | Mary | Lost film |
| 1919 | A Very Good Man | Ruth Douglas | Lost film |
| 1919 | The Long Arm of Mannister | Sylvia De La Mere | Lost film |
| 1919 | An Adventure in Hearts | Countess D'Orano | Lost film |
| 1920 | The Cup of Fury | Marie Louise - 'Mamise' | Lost film |
| 1920 | Godless Men | Ruth Lytton | |
| 1920 | Scratch My Back | Madeline | |
| 1920 | Cupid the Cowpuncher | Macie Sewell | Lost film |
| 1920 | Cupid | | Lost film |
| 1921 | Dangerous Curve Ahead | Phoebe Mabee | Lost film |
| 1921 | Made in Heaven | Claudia Royce | Lost film |
| 1921 | From the Ground Up | Philena Mortimer | |
| 1921 | The Old Nest | Emily at 22 | |
| 1922 | The Sin Flood | Poppy | Lost film |
| 1922 | The Glorious Fool | Jane Brown | Lost film |
| 1922 | Yellow Men and Gold | Bessie | Lost film |
| 1922 | Dust Flower | Letty Gravely | Lost film |
| 1922 | Brothers Under the Skin | Millie Craddock | Incomplete film |
| 1923 | Gimme | Fanny Daniels | Lost film |
| 1923 | Quicksands | The Girl | Lost film |
| 1923 | Reno | Mrs. Emily Dysart Tappan | |
| 1924 | The Masked Dancer | Betty Powell | Lost film |
| 1924 | Why Men Leave Home | Irene Emerson | |
| 1924 | Love of Women | Cynthia Redfield | Lost film |
| 1924 | Her Own Free Will | Nan Everard | Lost film |
| 1924 | The Border Legion | Joan Randle | Lost film |
| 1924 | Trouping with Ellen | Ellen Llewellyn | Lost film |
| 1924 | The Dark Swan | Cornelia Quinn | Lost film |
| 1925 | The Re-Creation of Brian Kent | Betty Joe | Lost film |
| 1925 | The Woman Hater | Marie Lamont --the Actress | Lost film |
| 1925 | The Golden Cocoon | Molly Shannon | |
| 1926 | Pleasures of the Rich | Mary Wilson | Lost film Trailer survives Library of Congress |
| 1926 | The Still Alarm | Lucy Fay | Lost film |
| 1926 | Hard Boiled | Marjorie Gregg | Lost film |
| 1926 | Wise Guys Prefer Brunettes | Helene | Short film |
| 1926 | Dancing Days | Alice Hedman | |
| 1927 | Stage Kisses | Fay Leslie | Lost film |
| 1927 | Stolen Pleasures | Doris Manning | Lost film |
| 1927 | The Bachelor's Baby | Eleanor Carter | |
| 1927 | The Rose of Kildare | Eillen O'Moore | Lost film |
| 1928 | Say It With Sables | Helen Caswell | Lost film |
| 1928 | Women Who Dare | Stella Mowbray | |
| 1928 | Confessions of a Wife | Marion Atwell | |
| 1928 | Modern Mothers | Adele Dayton | Lost film |
| 1929 | Father and Son | Miss White | |
| 1930 | Men Are Like That | Clara Fisher Hyland | |
| 1931 | Hell Bound | Sanford's Sister | |
| 1931 | Bad Sister | Amy, Sam's Wife | Uncredited |
| 1932 | So Big! | Townsperson | Uncredited |
| 1932 | Night World | Night Club Customer | Uncredited |
| 1933 | Employees' Entrance | Attendee at Meeting of Department Heads | Uncredited |
| 1933 | The Circus Queen Murder | Crying Woman | Uncredited |
| 1933 | Emergency Call | Miss McCabe - Averill's Secretary | Uncredited |
| 1933 | No Marriage Ties | Adrienne Deane's Secretary | Uncredited |
| 1933 | Morning Glory | Miss Murray | Uncredited |
| 1933 | Merrily Yours | Mrs. Rogers | |
| 1934 | Managed Money | Mrs. George Rogers | Short |
| 1934 | Good Dame | Mrs. Crosby | Uncredited |
| 1934 | School for Girls | Larson | |
| 1934 | Ever Since Eve | Governess | Uncredited |
| 1934 | It's a Gift | Mrs. Abernathy | Uncredited |
| 1934 | A Wicked Woman | Mother | Uncredited |
| 1935 | Mississippi | Attendee at Opening | Uncredited |
| 1935 | Call of the Wild | Dawson Townswoman | Uncredited |
| 1935 | Mary Burns, Fugitive | Prison Matron | Uncredited |
| 1935 | School for Girls | Larson | |
| 1935 | Another Face | Nurse Daniels | Uncredited Alternative title: It Happened in Hollywood |
| 1935 | Frisco Kid | Saloon Girl | Uncredited |
| 1936 | The Perfect Set-Up | Mary | Short Uncredited |
| 1936 | San Francisco | Earthquake Survivor | Uncredited |
| 1936 | Pennies from Heaven | Mrs. Arbuthnot | Uncredited |
| 1937 | A Star Is Born | Woman at preview | Uncredited |

## Sources

* The Los Angeles Times, "Flashes, Picture Star To Wed", January 11, 1919, Page II3.
* The Los Angeles Times, "She Could Ride", October 15, 1922, Page III30.
* The Los Angeles Times, "Film Star Seeks Divorce", July 24, 1923, Page II1.
* The Los Angeles Times, "Former Star of Films Dies", September 6, 1940, Page A1.
* The Los Angeles Times, "Helene Chadwick Paid Last Honor", September 8, 1940, Page A2.
* The Oakland Tribune, "Cinema Close-Ups", June 3, 1923, Page 92.