Helen Gardner (actress)
Encyclopedia
Helen Gardner was an American film actress, writer, editor, producer and costume designer.
She was the first actor to form her own production company, the Helen Gardner Picture Players in 1912.
She was known for her portrayals of strong female characters. She was considered a vamp
and predated Theda Bara
, Valeska Suratt and Louise Glaum
in roles of this type.
Some sources state that Gardner married, as her second husband, movie director Charles L. Gaskill, but Gardner's granddaughter and biographer, Dorin Gardner Schumacher, states that this is incorrect. Gardner never divorced Duncan C. Pell.
She was the first actor to form her own production company, the Helen Gardner Picture Players in 1912.
She was known for her portrayals of strong female characters. She was considered a vamp
Femme fatale
A femme fatale is a mysterious and seductive woman whose charms ensnare her lovers in bonds of irresistible desire, often leading them into compromising, dangerous, and deadly situations. She is an archetype of literature and art...
and predated Theda Bara
Theda Bara
Theda Bara , born Theodosia Burr Goodman, was an American silent film actress – one of the most popular of her era, and one of cinema's earliest sex symbols. Her femme fatale roles earned her the nickname "The Vamp" . The term "vamp" soon became a popular slang term for a sexually predatory woman...
, Valeska Suratt and Louise Glaum
Louise Glaum
Louise Glaum was an American actress. Best known for her role as a femme fatale in silent era motion picture dramas, she was credited with giving one of the best characterizations of a vamp in her early career....
in roles of this type.
Marriage
Gardner married, on 16 October 1902, in West Haven, Connecticut, socially prominent businessman Duncan Clarkson Pell, Sr. He died in 1964. In 1905 his divorce from his first wife, Anna Ogden Pell, was granted.Some sources state that Gardner married, as her second husband, movie director Charles L. Gaskill, but Gardner's granddaughter and biographer, Dorin Gardner Schumacher, states that this is incorrect. Gardner never divorced Duncan C. Pell.