{{Short description|American actress (1894–1982)}} thumb|Helen Ford on the cover of ''Theatre Magazine'' December 1925 '''Helen Ford''' (born '''Helen Isabel Barnett'''; June 6, 1894 –January 19, 1982) was an American actress. A native of Troy, New York, she trained as a singer and pianist at a music conservatory in her native city. She began her career as a musical theatre actress in 1918 and was active in Broadway musicals from that point into the 1930s. She was a frequent collaborator with Rodgers and Hart; creating the title roles in ''Peggy-Ann'' (1926) and ''Chee-Chee'' (1928) as well as starring in ''Dearest Enemy'' (1925). In her later career she worked in television and film.
==Biography== Helen Ford was born Helen Isabel Barnett{{sfn|Hischak|2003|page=112}} in Troy, New York on June 6, 1894.{{sfn| Benjamin| Rosenblatt|2006|page=263}} Her father was a manufacturer in Troy, and she was considered a musical prodigy as a child. She studied voice and piano at a conservatory of music in her native city.{{sfn|Nolan|1995|page=37}} She first appeared in a production of ''The Heart of Annie Wood'' in New York in 1918.{{sfn|Nolan|1995|page=37}} The following year she joined the Broadway cast of Rudolf Friml's ''Sometime'' at the Casino Theatre in the role of Enid Vaughn.{{sfn| Benjamin| Rosenblatt|2006|page=263}} On August 9, 1918, she married George Ford, who produced touring Shakespearean festivals.{{sfn|Nolan|1995|page=37}}
Ford was a stage actress in Broadway musicals of the 1920s and 1930s.{{sfn| Benjamin| Rosenblatt|2006|page=263-264}} In 1920 she portrayed Natalie Blythe in Hugo Felix's musical ''The Sweetheart Shop'' at the Knickerbocker Theatre.{{sfn|Dietz|2019|page=24}} That same year she had the role of Toinette Fontaine in ''Always You'', Oscar Hammerstein's first musical.{{sfn|Hischak|2008|page=258}} In 1922 she performed the roles of Marjorie Leeds in William Merrigan Daly's ''For Goodness Sake'' at the Lyric Theatre,{{sfn|Dietz|2019|page=100}} and Mary Thompson in Albert Von Tilzer's ''The Gingham Girl'' at the Earl Carroll Theatre.{{sfn|Dietz|2019|page=116}} In 1923 she starred in the title role of Harry Ruby and Bert Kalmar's ''Helen of Troy, New York'' at first the Selwyn Theatre and later Times Square Theater.{{sfn|Dietz|2019|pages=165-166}} This was followed by another Ruby and Kalmar musical, ''No Other Girl'' (1924), in which she appeared as Hope Franklin at the Morosco Theatre.{{sfn|Dietz|2019|page=208}}
A "Rodgers, Hart, and Fields' favorite",<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.amclass.org/pa.html |title=American Classics - ''Peggy-Ann'' |publisher=American Classics |access-date=January 23, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120127045751/http://www.amclass.org/pa.html |archive-date=January 27, 2012 }}</ref> Ford starred in three of their Broadway productions: ''Dearest Enemy'' (1925, as Betsy Burke), ''Peggy-Ann'' (1926, as Peggy-Ann) and ''Chee-Chee'' (1928, as Chee-Chee).{{sfn|Benjamin| Rosenblatt|2006|page=263-264}} She also starred in the touring production of ''Dearest Enemy''.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Taaffe |first1=Agnes |title=Helen Ford, Charles Purcell, Met Stars; Marie Gale, Shubert |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/12579159/the_minneapolis_star/ |access-date=9 January 2019 |work=The Minneapolis Star |date=October 22, 1926 |location=Minnesota, Minneapolis |page=28|via = Newspapers.com}}</ref> In 1926, Ford was involved in a court case in District Court in New York City. The trial related to her appearance at the Knickerbocker Theater "clad only in a barrel".<ref name="bde">{{cite news |last1=Diamond |first1=Emanuel |title=More Reporters in Trouble |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/27009160/helen_ford/ |access-date=9 January 2019 |work=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle |date=May 30, 1926 |location=New York, Brooklyn |page=E 3|via = Newspapers.com}}</ref> The trial focused on whether her husband, George Ford, had committed perjury when he told a grand jury that the barrel did not contain champagne.<ref name=bde/>
In 1933-1934 Ford played the role of Adele in the Broadway musical ''Champagne, Sec''; a production which began at the Morosco Theatre and then transferred to the Shubert Theatre before ending its run at the 44th Street Theatre.{{sfn|Dietz|2018|pages=288-289}} She returned to Broadway as Freelove Clark in Frederick Loewe's 1938 musical ''Great Lady'' which had a short run at the Majestic Theatre.{{sfn|Dietz|2018|pages=527-528}} She went on to appear in films and television programs, including ''The Raid''.{{sfn|Lentz|2015|page=46}}
She died of a stroke on January 19, 1982. She was cremated and her ashes interred in the crypt below the chapel at Grand View Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California.{{sfn| Wilson|2016|page=251}}
== Filmography == {| class="wikitable" |- ! Year ! Title ! Role ! Notes |- |1948|| ''Apartment for Peggy'' || Della || Uncredited |- |1951|| ''The Model and the Marriage Broker'' || Emmy Swasey || |- | rowspan="2" |1952|| ''Secret People'' || Scarf Woman || |- | ''Sound Off'' || Mrs. Rafferty || Uncredited |- |1954|| ''The Raid'' || Delphine Coates || |- | rowspan="3" |1957|| ''The Curse of Frankenstein'' || Ellen || rowspan="6" | Uncredited |- | ''Hell Drivers'' || Woman at Dance |- | ''The Naked Truth'' || Dinner Guest |- |1958|| ''A Night to Remember'' || Steerage Passenger |- |1960|| ''Village of the Damned'' || Villager |- |1966|| ''The Ghost Goes Gear'' || An Old Lady |- |1967|| ''Carry On Doctor'' || Nurse || |- |1971|| ''A Clockwork Orange'' || Old Lady at Duke of York || Scene deleted |- |1975|| ''Confessions of a Pop Performer'' || Old Lady with Ear Trumpet || (final film role) |}
==References== ===Citations=== {{reflist}} ===Bibliography=== *{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/whosangwhatonbro0000benj/mode/2up|title=Who sang what on Broadway, 1866-1996: Volume I, The Singers A-L|year=2006|last= Benjamin|first=Ruth|last2=Rosenblatt|first2= Arthur|publisher=McFarland & Company|isbn=9780786415069|chapter=Helen Ford}} *{{cite book|first1=Dan|last1=Dietz|title=The Complete Book of 1920s Broadway Musicals|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Publishers|year=2019|isbn=9781442245280|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LRmGDwAAQBAJ}} *{{cite book|first1=Dan|last1=Dietz|title=The Complete Book of 1930s Broadway Musicals|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Publishers|year=2018|isbn=9781538102770|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=L0hNDwAAQBAJ&q=The+Complete+Book+of+1930s+Broadway+Musicals}} *{{cite book |last1=Hischak |first1=Thomas S. |title=Enter the Players: New York Stage Actors in the Twentieth Century |year=2003 |publisher=Scarecrow Press |isbn=9780810847613 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=d3NJn0zF3nQC&q=%22Helen+Isabel+Barnett%22&pg=PA112}} *{{cite book |title=The Oxford Companion to the American Musical |isbn=9780195335330 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XbBz3C4Gr0EC&q=%22Helen+Isabel+Barnett%22&pg=PA258|last1=Hischak |first1=Thomas S. |year=2008 |publisher=Oxford University Press}} *{{cite book|title=Lee Marvin: His Films and Career|first= Robert J.|last= Lentz |publisher=McFarland & Company|year=2015|isbn=9781476604053}} *{{cite book |last1=Nolan |first1=Frederick |title=Lorenz Hart: A Poet on Broadway |date=1995 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=9780195102895|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w0_nCwAAQBAJ&q=%22Helen+Isabel+Barnett%22&pg=PA37}} *{{cite book|last=Wilson|first=Scott|title=Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons|location=Jefferson, N.C.|publisher=McFarland & Company|year=2016|isbn=9780786479924|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FOHgDAAAQBAJ}}
==External links== {{commons category|Helen Ford}} *{{IMDb name|0285676}} *{{IBDB name}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Ford, Helen}} Category:1894 births Category:1982 deaths Category:American stage actresses Category:American film actresses Category:20th-century American actresses Category:Burials at Grand View Memorial Park Cemetery