Helen Louise Gardner (September 2, 1884 – November 20, 1968) was an American stage and film actress, screenwriter, producer, editor and costume designer.
Gardner was born in Binghamton, New York. An alumna of the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, Gardner began her acting career as a stage actress. She became a Vitagraph Studios player in 1910 and earned critical acclaim for portraying Becky Sharp in the film version of the novel Vanity Fair. In 1912, she became the first film actor, male or female, to form her own production company, the Helen Gardner Picture Players in Tappan, New York with capital provided by her mother. Hiring her lover Charles L. Gaskill as a director and scenarist, she produced eleven feature films before closing her studio in 1914. She was known for her portrayals of strong female characters. Her first production was Cleopatra (1912) which was one of the first American full-length films. The film was re-edited and re-released after Fox released the 1917 adaptation starring Theda Bara. Gardner was considered the screen's first vamp and predated Theda Bara, Valeska Suratt and Louise Glaum in roles of this type.
In 1915, she returned to Vitagraph briefly before signing with Universal. By this time, her popularity began to wane and she retired from acting in 1924.
Before Gardner embarked on an acting career, she married socially prominent businessman Duncan Clarkson Pell, Sr., on October 16, 1902, in West Haven, Connecticut. The marriage took place shortly after Gardner's 18th birthday and one week after Pell's divorce from his first wife, Anna. Duncan and Anna Pell's divorce was covered in the gossip columns of The New York Times. The couple had one child. Gardner left Pell in 1906 to continue her acting career but they never divorced. They remained married until Pell's death in 1964.
Some sources state that Gardner married for a second time to Charles Gaskill, the director of many of her films. Gardner's granddaughter and biographer, Dorin Gardner Schumacher, states that this is incorrect and that Gardner never divorced Duncan C. Pell, Sr.
Later years and death
In the 1950s, Gardner returned to Orlando, Florida where she had previously lived with her estranged husband. Gardner died in Orlando on November 20, 1968 at the age of 84.
Actress
1924
Sandra as
La Flamme's wife
1920
The Sleep of Cyma Roget as
Cymba Roget
1917
The Common Sin (Short)
1915
Miss Jekyll and Madame Hyde (Short) as
Madeleine Jekyll / Madame Hyde
1915
Snatched from a Burning Death (Short) as
Joan Le Grande
1915
The Still, Small Voice (Short) as
Musa
1915
The Breath of Araby (Short) as
Clothilde
1914
Underneath the Paint (Short) as
Tryphena Winter
1914
The Moonshine Maid and the Man (Short) as
Nancy - the Moonshine Maid
1914
The Butterfly (Short) as
Nancy North - the Butterfly
1914
The Strange Story of Sylvia Gray (Short) as
Sylvia Gray / Silvery
1914
And There Was Light (Short)
1914
Pieces of Silver: A Story of Hearts and Souls as
Sister Berenice
1914
The Girl with the Hole in Her Stocking (Short)
1913
A Daughter of Pan (Short) as
Dusa - a Daughter of Pan
1913
Olga Treskoff (Short) as
Olga Treskoff
1913
A Princess of Bagdad as
Princess Ojira
1913
A Sister to Carmen as
Margo
1913
The Wife of Cain (Short) as
Save - the Wife of Cain
1913
Vampire of the Desert (Short) as
Lispeth, Vampire of the Desert
1913
Eureka! (Short) as
The Castaway
1913
Alixe; or, the Test of Friendship (Short) as
Alixe
1913
Becky, Becky (Short) as
Becky
1912
Cleopatra as
Cleopatra - Queen of Egypt (as Miss Gardner)
1912
The Party Dress (Short) as
Lydia Borne
1912
The Heart of Esmeralda (Short) as
Louise Lennox - a Novelist
1912
The Miracle (Short) as
Abbasah, the Caliph's Wife
1912
Yellow Bird (Short) as
Song Bird, a Young Indian
1912
An Innocent Theft (Short) as
Malcolm's Mother
1912
The Serpents (Short) as
Linda
1912
The Illumination (Short) as
Sabina
1912
The Old Silver Watch (Short)(as Miss Gardner)
1912
The Love of John Ruskin (Short) as
Mrs. John Ruskin
1912
Her Boy (Short) as
Sue - Harry's Sweetheart
1912
A Problem in Reduction (Short) as
Mrs. Smartly - a Woman Who Wants to Reduce
1912
Where the Money Went (Short) as
Mrs. Fred Hart - The Jealous Wife
1911
A Reformed Santa Claus (Short) as
The Widow
1911
Vanity Fair (Short) as
Becky Sharp
1911
The Freshet (Short) as
Meg Matthews
1911
The Girl and the Sheriff (Short) as
The Mountain Girl
1911
An Aeroplane Elopement (Short)
1911
Arbutus (Short) as
The Mountain Woman Who Becomes a Celebrated Singer
1911
Madge of the Mountains (Short) as
Madge of the Mountains
1911
Regeneration (Short) as
Elfie - Ross' Sweetheart
1911
Ups and Downs (Short) as
The Young Wife
1911
By Woman's Wit (Short) as
The Wife
1911
For Love and Glory (Short) as
Rose Seaton
1911
The Death of King Edward III (Short) as
Alice Ferrers
1911
She Came, She Saw, She Conquered (Short) as
Rose Leigh - A Young Schoolteacher
1911
Treasure Trove (Short)
1911
The Lure of Vanity (Short) as
Edna White
1911
A Quaker Mother (Short) as
Lois Pearson Harmon - A Quaker Wife
1911
Barriers Burned Away (Short) as
John's Wife
1911
The Sleep Walker (Short) as
Lucy Langham
1911
For Her Brother's Sake (Short) as
Bessie Black - The Sister
1911
The Show Girl (Short) as
Audrey, an Actress
1911
The Wooing of Winifred (Short) as
Winifred
1911
The Inherited Taint (Short) as
The Nurse
1911
A Tale of Two Cities (Short)(uncredited)
1910
How She Won Him (Short) as
Muriel Hanson
Producer
1914
And There Was Light (Short) (producer)
1914
Fleur de Lys (Short) (producer)
1914
Pieces of Silver: A Story of Hearts and Souls (producer)
1914
The Girl with the Hole in Her Stocking (Short) (producer)
1913
A Daughter of Pan (Short) (producer)
1913
A Princess of Bagdad (producer)
1913
A Sister to Carmen (producer)
1913
The Wife of Cain (Short) (producer)
1912
Cleopatra (producer - uncredited)
Writer
1913
Becky, Becky (Short) (scenario)
Costume Department
1912
Cleopatra (costumes designed by: Cleopatra - as Miss Gardner)
Editor
1912
Cleopatra (uncredited)
