Helena Danielson-Carver

**Helena Maria Danielson-Carver** (née **Danielson**; born 4 October 1962), known in her early career as **Helena Maria**, is a Hawaiian former model, author, and socialite. The younger daughter of Hawaiian lawyer John Danielson and former Prime Minister of Hawaii Elizabeth Wu Danielson, Danielson-Carver first came to national attention after beginning her career as a glamour model in the 1980s.

At the height of her popularity in the mid-1980s, Danielson-Carver was reported to be earning over $10 million a year in modeling campaigns and product promotion. She was named "Hawaii's Most Desirable Woman" in 1985 by *Maxim Hawaii*, a magazine which she posed on the cover of thirteen times in her career. Danielson-Carver retired from glamour modeling in 1992, following her marriage, in order to prioritize motherhood. She later ventured into writing, releasing her best-selling autobiography *Hairspray and Fabrication: The Helena Danielson-Carver Story* in 2010, which detailed her familial upbringing, early career, career peak as a Hawaiian sex symbol, sexual assault, marriage, and family life.

## Early life and education

Danielson-Carver was born on 4 October 1962 in Honolulu to parents John Danielson (born 1931) and Elizabeth Wu Danielson (née *Wu*; born 1932). At the time of her birth, her father worked as a criminal defense attorney while her mother was a prosecutor for the City and County of Honolulu. Through her father, she is of a Californian background with Irish and English ancestry, while her mother is Chinese-Hawaiian. The family was affluent, and Danielson-Carver grew up in the wealthy Kāhala neighborhood of Honolulu. Danielson is the second youngest of four children; her elder siblings include Julie Anna, born  (1959-11-13) 13 November 1959 (age 64), and Edwin "Eddie", born  (1961-02-19) 19 February 1961 (age 62), while her younger brother is Jeffrey, born  (1963-12-24) 24 December 1963 (age 60).

Danielson-Carver began her education in 1969, attending Punahou School, an independent coeducational K–12 school and the alma mater of her mother. Danielson-Carver began high school in 1977, after her mother's election as Prime Minister of Hawaii in 1975. After the election, the family moved to the Prime Minister's Mansion, where Danielson-Carver spent the majority of her teenage years growing up. After her mother lost reelection in 1980, the family returned to Kāhala. Danielson-Carver went on to graduate from Punahou School in 1981. After graduating, she began attending the University of Hawaii – Manoa as a marketing major, but dropped out after her second semester in order to begin modeling full-time.

## Career

Danielson-Carver first began her modeling career in 1981, shortly after graduating from high school. She signed to Jaguar Model Management, the same agency that had signed her elder sister three years prior, and worked in print and runway modeling primarily in Hawaii and California. In 1983, Danielson-Carver left Jaguar and signed with China Doll Models, an agency primarily representing glamour models. With her switch to China Doll Models, Danielson-Carver also left runway and print modeling for glamour modeling. She began using the professional name "Helena Maria", in order to prevent the media from recognizing her as the daughter of Elizabeth Wu Danielson. By 1984, Danielson-Carver had reverted to going by the name Helena Danielson.

That year, Danielson-Carver appeared on the cover of *Maxim Hawaii* for the first time, and began receiving widespread media attention, initially purely for being the daughter of a former Prime Minister of Hawaii. In 1985, she was named "Hawaii's Most Desirable Woman" in 1985 by *Maxim Hawaii*, and later appeared in the centerfold for the May 1986 edition of *Playboy Hawaii*. She was later announced as the *Playboy Hawaii Playmate of the Year* for 1986. During her career peak in the mid-1980s, Danielson-Carver was the highest-paid model in all of Hawaii, earning over $10 million a year through modeling campaigns and product promotion.

Danielson-Carver retired from the modeling industry in 1992, shortly after her marriage to Hawaiian actor Anthony Carver. She subsequently adopted the professional name "Helena Danielson-Carver" as well. She later ventured into writing, releasing her best-selling autobiography *Hairspray and Fabrication: The Helena Danielson-Carver Story* in 2010, which detailed her familial upbringing, early career, career peak as a Hawaiian sex symbol, sexual assault, marriage, and family life.

## Personal life

In her 2010 autobiography, Danielson-Carver states that she was "raped and [sexually] assaulted" by "three modeling industry professionals" on separate occasions in the 1980s, primarily early in her career.

Danielson-Carver began a relationship with Hawaiian actor Anthony Carver in 1986, after meeting at a party held at the *Playboy Hawaii* Mansion in Honolulu. The relationship was on-and-off, with the media reporting on their frequent breakups and reunions throughout the mid-to-late-1980s. In 1991, they announced their engagement, and later married the following year in a large ceremony. Danielson-Carver and Carver have four children together: Estelle, born  (1994-05-22) 22 May 1994 (age 29), Oliver, born  (1996-01-13) 13 January 1996 (age 28), Kenneth, born  (1999-01-01) 1 January 1999 (age 25), and Jade, born  (2000-06-30) 30 June 2000 (age 23). The family resides in the Paiko Lagoon neighborhood of Honolulu.

Danielson-Carver has called herself a "lifelong supporter" of the Hawaiian National Party. She donates several thousands of dollars to the party monthly, and has called herself "very politically active". She is close friends with Prime Minister Kenzie Kanazawa.

## Bibliography

* *Hairspray and Fabrication: The Helena Danielson-Carver Story* (2010)