{{short description|American actress}} {{For|the Oklahoma legislator|Helen Arnold (politician)}} {{Infobox person | name = Helen Arnold | image = Helen P. Arnold LCCN2014701628.jpg | caption = | birth_name = Helen Louise Prettyman | birth_date = August 17, 1890 | birth_place = Defiance, Ohio, U.S. | death_date = February 19, 1976 (aged 85) | death_place = Los Angeles, California, U.S. | spouse = {{marriage|Richard M. Arnold Jr.|1910}} | years_active = 1891–1918 | other_names = Helen Firkon<br />Helen P. Arnold }}
'''Helen Louise Prettyman Arnold''' (August 17, 1890 – February 19, 1976<ref>{{cite web|url=https://ancestors.familysearch.org/en/KH5Y-18R/helen-l.-prettyman-1890-1976|title=Helen L. Prettyman|publisher=FamilySearch|access-date=December 4, 2020}}</ref>) was an American silent film actress who appeared in motion pictures from 1916 to 1918.
==Early life and career== Helen Louise Prettyman was born on August 17, 1890, to Thomas Jefferson Prettyman (1856–1935) and Mary A. Graves (1858–1940). She had three siblings, Mabel (1884–1920), Lewis Alfred (1886–1961), and Thomas Jefferson Jr. (1888–1967). Helen married Richard M. Arnold Jr. on April 2, 1910, in Clark, Indiana.
Arnold was a member of the cast of the 1891 production of "Nerves" at the Lyceum Theatre in New York City. The play ran from January 19, 1891, to April 1891. Arnold played Viola Campbell in a 1916 production of ''The Witching Hour'' filmed in Flushing, New York. The film starred C. Aubrey Smith and Marie Shotwell.<ref>''The Witching Hour'', https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0007576/, pg. 1.</ref> The movie was an adaptation of a play written by Augustus Thomas.<ref>''Attractions At Local Theaters'', Washington Post, Tuesday, March 27, 1917, pg. 10.</ref> One review described it as better than the stage drama which preceded it, while retaining the mood of strangeness. Arnold was said to be "an attractive Viola".<ref>''The Witching Hour At Lyric'', Fort Wayne Journal-Gazette, February 5, 1917, pg. 9.</ref>
In June 1916, Arnold was among the winners of a ''Beauty and Brains'' contest held by ''Photoplay'' magazine.<ref>''Starland, Stage and Studio, Blue Ribboners'', Los Angeles Times, June 6, 1916, pg. III4.</ref>
Arnold made ''Two Men and a Woman'' (1917) with Christine Mayo and Rubye De Remer.<ref>''Amusements'', La Crosse, Wisconsin Tribune and Leader-Press, April 23, 1918, pg. 7.</ref> The Ivan Film Productions, Inc., release is directed by William J. Humphrey.<ref>''Two Men and a Woman'' (1917), https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0008709/, pg. 1.</ref>
Arnold made two other Hollywood films, ''One Law For Both'' (1917) and ''The Call of Her People'' (1917), which starred Ethel Barrymore. Arnold's final film credit is for a role in the Italian film ''Il Doppio volto'' (1918).<ref>[https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0036476/ Helen Arnold] at IMDb</ref>
The 1920 census listed Helen as living in the household of Edward Firkon under the name Helen Firkon.
Helen died on 19 February 1976 in Los Angeles.
==References== {{reflist}}
{{commons category|Helen Arnold}}
== External links == * {{IMDb name |id=0036476}} * {{IBDB name}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Arnold, Helen}} Category:American silent film actresses Category:American film actresses Category:1890 births Category:20th-century American actresses Category:American stage actresses Category:1976 deaths