Helene Costello
Encyclopedia
Helene Costello was an American motion picture actress, most notably of the silent film
era.
Lou Costello
took his professional name from the actress.
and his actress wife Mae Costello
(née Altschuk) and the younger sister of actress Dolores Costello
. Helene first appeared on screen (opposite her father) in the 1909 film adaptation of Victor Hugo
's Les Misérables
. She would continue acting in films throughout the 1910s as a child actor
and reach her peak of public popularity in the 1920s, although never quite rivalling the success of her sister Dolores.
Although she had been appearing on screen since her early childhood, in 1927 Helene Costello was selected as a WAMPAS Baby Star
, a promotional campaign sponsored by the Western Association of Motion Picture Advertisers in the United States, which honored thirteen young women each year who they believed to be on the threshold of movie stardom.
Costello appeared alongside such popular film actors of the silent era as Myrna Loy
, Louise Fazenda
, Marie Prevost
, Tom Mix
, and even Rin Tin Tin
. She would also occasionally appear with her sister Dolores in films such as the Warner Bros.
all-star Technicolor
release The Show of Shows (1929
).
Helene Costello's career declined with the advent of sound films and she began to appear less and less on screen. She did manage to stay in the headlines briefly in the 1930s however, when she and her sister were sued by their famous actor father for financial support. Helene was married to actor and director Lowell Sherman
from 1930 to 1932.
Helene Costello died of pneumonia
and tuberculosis
in Los Angeles, California
in 1957 at the age of 50 and was interred at the Calvary Cemetery, East Los Angeles
which is a Catholic
cemetery.
For her contribution to the motion film industry, Helene Costello was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
at 1500 Vine Street in Hollywood, California.
- her sister Dolores being Barrymore's paternal grandmother from her marriage to actor John Barrymore
.
Silent film
A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially with no spoken dialogue. In silent films for entertainment the dialogue is transmitted through muted gestures, pantomime and title cards...
era.
Lou Costello
Lou Costello
Louis Francis "Lou" Costello was an American actor and comedian best known as half of the comedy team of Abbott and Costello, with Bud Abbott...
took his professional name from the actress.
Biography
Born in New York City, New York, USA she was the daughter of the prominent stage and pioneering film actor Maurice CostelloMaurice Costello
Maurice Costello was a prominent vaudeville actor of the late 1890s and early 1900s, who later played a principal role in early American films, as both a leading man, supporting player and a director....
and his actress wife Mae Costello
Mae Costello
Mae Costello was an American stage and film actress of the early twentieth-century.-Early life:Born Mae Altschuk in Brooklyn, New York, she was the daughter of Lewis Altschuk and Catherine Callender. As a teenager she began performing in stage productions in stock theater companies throughout the...
(née Altschuk) and the younger sister of actress Dolores Costello
Dolores Costello
Dolores Costello was an American film actress who achieved her greatest success during the era of silent movies. She was nicknamed "The Goddess of the Silent Screen"...
. Helene first appeared on screen (opposite her father) in the 1909 film adaptation of Victor Hugo
Victor Hugo
Victor-Marie Hugo was a Frenchpoet, playwright, novelist, essayist, visual artist, statesman, human rights activist and exponent of the Romantic movement in France....
's Les Misérables
Les Misérables (1909 film)
Les Misérables is a silent film based on the novel of the same name by Victor Hugo.-Cast:* William V. Ranous – Javert* Maurice Costello – Jean Valjean* Hazel Neason* Marc McDermott...
. She would continue acting in films throughout the 1910s as a child actor
Child actor
The term child actor or child actress is generally applied to a child acting in motion pictures or television, but also to an adult who began his or her acting career as a child; to avoid confusion, the latter is also called a former child actor...
and reach her peak of public popularity in the 1920s, although never quite rivalling the success of her sister Dolores.
Although she had been appearing on screen since her early childhood, in 1927 Helene Costello was selected as a WAMPAS Baby Star
WAMPAS Baby Stars
The WAMPAS Baby Stars was a promotional campaign sponsored by the Western Association of Motion Picture Advertisers in the United States which honored thirteen young women each year whom they believed to be on the threshold of movie stardom. They were selected from 1922 to 1934, and annual...
, a promotional campaign sponsored by the Western Association of Motion Picture Advertisers in the United States, which honored thirteen young women each year who they believed to be on the threshold of movie stardom.
Costello appeared alongside such popular film actors of the silent era as Myrna Loy
Myrna Loy
Myrna Loy was an American actress. Trained as a dancer, she devoted herself fully to an acting career following a few minor roles in silent films. Originally typecast in exotic roles, often as a vamp or a woman of Asian descent, her career prospects improved following her portrayal of Nora Charles...
, Louise Fazenda
Louise Fazenda
Louise Fazenda was an American film actress, appearing chiefly in silent comedy films.-Early life:Of Portuguese ancestry, she was born in Lafayette, Indiana. Her father, Joseph Fazenda, was a merchandise broker. After moving west Louise attended Los Angeles High School and St. Mary's Convent...
, Marie Prevost
Marie Prevost
Marie Prevost was a Canadian-born actress of the early days of cinema. During her twenty year career, she made 121 silent and talking pictures.-Early life:...
, Tom Mix
Tom Mix
Thomas Edwin "Tom" Mix was an American film actor and the star of many early Western movies. He made a reported 336 films between 1910 and 1935, all but nine of which were silent features...
, and even Rin Tin Tin
Rin Tin Tin
Rin Tin Tin was the name given to a dog adopted from a WWI battlefield that went on to star in twenty-three Hollywood films. The name was subsequently given to several related German Shepherd dogs featured in fictional stories on film, radio and television.-Origins:The first of the line Rin Tin...
. She would also occasionally appear with her sister Dolores in films such as the Warner Bros.
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
all-star Technicolor
Technicolor
Technicolor is a color motion picture process invented in 1916 and improved over several decades.It was the second major process, after Britain's Kinemacolor, and the most widely used color process in Hollywood from 1922 to 1952...
release The Show of Shows (1929
1929 in film
-Events:The days of the silent film are numbered. A mad scramble to provide synchronized sound is on.*January 20 - The movie In Old Arizona is released. The film is the first full-length talking film to be filmed outdoors....
).
Helene Costello's career declined with the advent of sound films and she began to appear less and less on screen. She did manage to stay in the headlines briefly in the 1930s however, when she and her sister were sued by their famous actor father for financial support. Helene was married to actor and director Lowell Sherman
Lowell Sherman
Lowell Sherman was an American actor and film director....
from 1930 to 1932.
Helene Costello died of pneumonia
Pneumonia
Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung—especially affecting the microscopic air sacs —associated with fever, chest symptoms, and a lack of air space on a chest X-ray. Pneumonia is typically caused by an infection but there are a number of other causes...
and tuberculosis
Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...
in Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
in 1957 at the age of 50 and was interred at the Calvary Cemetery, East Los Angeles
Calvary Cemetery, East Los Angeles
The Calvary Cemetery is a Roman Catholic cemetery operated by the Los Angeles Archdiocese, located at 4201 Whittier Boulevard in Los Angeles, California...
which is a Catholic
Catholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...
cemetery.
For her contribution to the motion film industry, Helene Costello was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
Hollywood Walk of Fame
The Hollywood Walk of Fame consists of more than 2,400 five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along fifteen blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, California...
at 1500 Vine Street in Hollywood, California.
Legacy
Helene Costello is the great-aunt of contemporary actress Drew BarrymoreDrew Barrymore
Drew Blyth Barrymore is an American actress, film director, screenwriter, producer and model. She is a member of the Barrymore family of American actors and granddaughter of John Barrymore. She first appeared in an advertisement when she was 11 months old. Barrymore made her film debut in Altered...
- her sister Dolores being Barrymore's paternal grandmother from her marriage to actor John Barrymore
John Barrymore
John Sidney Blyth , better known as John Barrymore, was an acclaimed American actor. He first gained fame as a handsome stage actor in light comedy, then high drama and culminating in groundbreaking portrayals in Shakespearean plays Hamlet and Richard III...
.