Helen Parrish
Encyclopedia
Helen Parrish was an American
movie actress, the daughter of stage and bit film actress Laura Parrish.
's daughter in the silent film, Babe Comes Home
in 1927. She featured in the Our Gang
comedy
shorts
and sometimes played the lead character as a child co-starring some of the great female stars of the day. In her teens she made herself known as a kid sister. But during this time, she is probably most notable as an irritant of Deanna Durbin
in several of her vehicles, playing a jealous, spiteful rival. Their first film together, Mad About Music
(1938), worked so well that they soon formed a sort of Shirley Temple
/Jane Withers
team in a couple of other movie confections for Universal
. In their second film together, Three Smart Girls Grow Up
(1939), Parrish replaced Barbara Read as sister Kay Craig.
Her films were pleasant but unexceptional and in the "B" caliber, including X Marks the Spot (1931), When a Feller Needs a Friend (1932), A Dog of Flanders (1935), I'm Nobody's Sweetheart Now (1940), Too Many Blondes (1941), X Marks the Spot
(1942; a remake of her earlier film), and The Wolf Hunters (1949).
By her mid-twenties she left motion pictures and turned to television
.
, was a minor child actor who earned respect as a film editor and director
and her other sister Beverly Parrish, died suddenly at the age of 11 after filming only one movie. Her first husband was screenwriter Charles Lang
and her second was television producer John Guedel
, who survived her.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
movie actress, the daughter of stage and bit film actress Laura Parrish.
Career
She started in movies at the age of five, getting her first part playing Babe RuthBabe Ruth
George Herman Ruth, Jr. , best known as "Babe" Ruth and nicknamed "the Bambino" and "the Sultan of Swat", was an American Major League baseball player from 1914–1935...
's daughter in the silent film, Babe Comes Home
Babe Comes Home
Babe Comes Home is a 1927 silent film produced and distributed through First National and directed by Ted Wilde. It is a baseball styled sports movie centering around Babe Ruth and Anna Q. Nilsson. The film was released with Vocafilm sound, presumably a music and effects soundtrack but no dialogue....
in 1927. She featured in the Our Gang
Our Gang
Our Gang, also known as The Little Rascals or Hal Roach's Rascals, was a series of American comedy short films about a group of poor neighborhood children and the adventures they had together. Created by comedy producer Hal Roach, the series is noted for showing children behaving in a relatively...
comedy
Comedy
Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...
shorts
Short subject
A short film is any film not long enough to be considered a feature film. No consensus exists as to where that boundary is drawn: the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes or less, including all...
and sometimes played the lead character as a child co-starring some of the great female stars of the day. In her teens she made herself known as a kid sister. But during this time, she is probably most notable as an irritant of Deanna Durbin
Deanna Durbin
Deanna Durbin is a Canadian-born, Southern California-raised retired singer and actress, who appeared in a number of musical films in the 1930s and 1940s singing standards as well as operatic arias....
in several of her vehicles, playing a jealous, spiteful rival. Their first film together, Mad About Music
Mad About Music
Mad About Music is a 1938 musical film about a girl at an exclusive boarding school who invents an exciting father. When her schoolmates doubt his existence, she has to produce him...
(1938), worked so well that they soon formed a sort of Shirley Temple
Shirley Temple
Shirley Temple Black , born Shirley Jane Temple, is an American film and television actress, singer, dancer, autobiographer, and former U.S. Ambassador to Ghana and Czechoslovakia...
/Jane Withers
Jane Withers
Jane Withers is an American actress best known for being one of the most popular child film stars of the 1930s and early 1940s, as well as for her portrayal of "Josephine the Plumber" in a series of TV commercials for Comet cleanser in the 1960s and early 1970s.-Biography:Withers began her career...
team in a couple of other movie confections for Universal
Universal Studios
Universal Pictures , a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, is one of the six major movie studios....
. In their second film together, Three Smart Girls Grow Up
Three Smart Girls Grow Up
Three Smart Girls Grow Up is a 1939 musical comedy film starring Deanna Durbin, Nan Grey and Helen Parrish as the title sisters, with Durbin and Grey reprising their roles from Three Smart Girls, and Parrish replacing Barbara Read in the role of the middle sister.-Cast:*Deanna Durbin as Penelope...
(1939), Parrish replaced Barbara Read as sister Kay Craig.
Her films were pleasant but unexceptional and in the "B" caliber, including X Marks the Spot (1931), When a Feller Needs a Friend (1932), A Dog of Flanders (1935), I'm Nobody's Sweetheart Now (1940), Too Many Blondes (1941), X Marks the Spot
X Marks the Spot (1942 film)
X Marks the Spot is a 1942 American film directed by George Sherman. It is a remake of the 1931 film of the same name.- Cast :*Damian O'Flynn as Eddie Delaney*Helen Parrish as Linda Ward*Dick Purcell as Lieutenant William 'Bill' Decker...
(1942; a remake of her earlier film), and The Wolf Hunters (1949).
By her mid-twenties she left motion pictures and turned to television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
.
Family
Her brother, Robert ParrishRobert Parrish
Robert R. Parrish was an American actor, film editor, film director, and writer. He received an Academy Award for Film Editing for the 1947 film, Body and Soul....
, was a minor child actor who earned respect as a film editor and director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
and her other sister Beverly Parrish, died suddenly at the age of 11 after filming only one movie. Her first husband was screenwriter Charles Lang
Charles Lang
Charles Bryant Lang, Jr., A.S.C. was an American cinematographer.Early in his career he worked with the Akeley camera, a gyroscope-mounted "pancake" camera designed by Carl Akeley for outdoor action shots...
and her second was television producer John Guedel
John Guedel
John Guedel, was a radio and television producer who co-created and produced Art Linkletter's and Groucho Marx's most important and successful broadcast properties, including You Bet Your Life and People Are Funny...
, who survived her.
Selected filmography
- Little Tough GuyLittle Tough GuyLittle Tough Guy is a 1938 Universal Studios film that starred several of the Dead End Kids. Although re-release posters and the DVD release credit them as The Dead End Kids they did not go by that title in the on screen credits. It was in the follow-up films that they began using the team name...
(19381938 in filmThe year 1938 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*January — MGM announces that Judy Garland would be cast in the role of "Dorothy" in the upcoming Wizard of Oz motion picture. Ray Bolger is cast as the "Tinman" and Buddy Ebsen is cast as the "Scarecrow". At Bolger's insistence,...
) - In Old CaliforniaIn Old California (1942 film)In Old California is a 1942 film starring John Wayne as a Boston pharmacist who relocates to Sacramento during the Gold Rush. The movie was directed by William C. McGann.-Cast:* John Wayne ... Tom Craig* Binnie Barnes ... Lacey Miller...
(19421942 in filmThe year 1942 in film involved some significant events, in particular the release of a film consistently rated as one of the greatest of all time, Casablanca.-Events:...
) - They All Kissed the BrideThey All Kissed the BrideThey All Kissed the Bride is a Columbia Pictures feature film starring Joan Crawford, Melvyn Douglas, Roland Young, and Billie Burke in a story about a trucking firm executive who falls in love. The screenplay by P. J. Wolfson was based on a story by Gina Kaus and Andrew P. Solt. The film was...
(1942) - Trouble MakersTrouble Makers (1948 film)Trouble Makers is a 1948 comedy film starring The Bowery Boys. The film was released in 1948 by Monogram Pictures, although the exact release date is uncertain, although two possible released dates are mentioned in different books, December 10, 1948 and December 26, 1948...
(1948)