{{Short description|American actress (1929–1990)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=April 2015}} {{Infobox person | name = Helene Stanley | image = Thesnowsofkilimanjaro.jpg | caption = Stanley in ''The Snows of Kilimanjaro'' (1952) | birth_name = Dolores Diane Freymouth | birth_date = {{birth date|1929|07|17}} | birth_place = Gary, Indiana, U.S. | death_date = {{death date and age|1990|12|27|1929|07|17}} | death_place = Los Angeles, California, U.S. | other_names = Dolores Diane | occupation = Actress | years_active = 1942–1961 | spouse = {{plainlist| * {{marriage|Johnny Stompanato|1953|1955|end=divorced}} * {{marriage|David Niemetz|1959|1990|end=died}} }} | children = 1 }}
'''Helene Stanley''' (born '''Dolores Diane Freymouth'''; July 17, 1929 – December 27, 1990) was an American actress who was the live model for ''Cinderella'', Aurora in ''Sleeping Beauty'', and Anita Radcliffe in ''One Hundred and One Dalmatians''.
==Early life== Stanley was born in Gary, Indiana. Her parents were Michael Freymouth, who was an acrobat who worked in Europe, and Gerty Freymouth (née Seigert).{{Citation needed |date=March 2023}} She spent most of her childhood in southern California. <ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20250618214753/https://www.chicagotribune.com/2022/06/22/potempa-helene-stanley-actress-from-gary-found-walt-disney-film-fame/</ref>
At the age of four, she won the World’s Fair Contests of Contests in Chicago as an acrobatic dancer, winning a $25 prize. <ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20250618214753/https://www.chicagotribune.com/2022/06/22/potempa-helene-stanley-actress-from-gary-found-walt-disney-film-fame/</ref>
==Career== Stanley used the stage name "Dolores Diane." In 1946, she received a contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and began to use the stage name "Helene Stanley,"<ref>{{cite web|author1=Sandra Brennan, Rovi|title=Helene Stanley|url=https://www.nytimes.com/movies/person/67595/Helene-Stanley/biography|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141109062922/http://www.nytimes.com/movies/person/67595/Helene-Stanley/biography|url-status=dead|archive-date=November 9, 2014|department=Movies & TV Dept.|work=The New York Times|date=2014|accessdate=November 9, 2014}}</ref> with one of her most notable appearances being a brief role in John Huston's ''The Asphalt Jungle'' (1950).
Her collaboration with Disney started around 1948. She became the live-action model for both the main character and one of the stepsisters Anastasia Tremaine in ''Cinderella'',<ref>{{cite web | work=Disney Archives | title=Cinderella Character History|url=http://disney.go.com/vault/archives/characters/cinderella/cinderella.html |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20030803224356/http://disney.go.com/vault/archives/characters/cinderella/cinderella.html |archivedate=August 3, 2003}}</ref> Aurora in ''Sleeping Beauty'',<ref name="audio">{{cite AV media|title=''Sleeping Beauty'' Platinum Edition (Disc 1)|chapter=Audio-commentary for ''Sleeping Beauty''|type=DVD|publisher=Walt Disney Home Entertainment|year=2008}}</ref><ref name="Special">{{cite AV media|title=''Sleeping Beauty'' Special Edition (Disc 2)|type=DVD|publisher=Walt Disney Home Entertainment|chapter=Once Upon a Dream: Making of ''Sleeping Beauty''|year=2003}}</ref> and Anita Radcliffe in ''One Hundred and One Dalmatians''.<ref>{{cite book|author=John Grant|title=The Encyclopedia of Walt Disney's Animated Characters|year=1987|pages=228|isbn=0060157771}}</ref><ref name="mentalfloss">{{cite web|last1=Conradt|first1=Stacy|title=Helene Stanley|url=http://mentalfloss.com/article/48955/9-things-you-didnt-know-about-disneys-cinderella|work=Mental Floss|accessdate=November 5, 2014}}</ref> In the season three episode of ''Walt Disney's Disneyland'' (1957), ''Tricks of Our Trade'', Stanley appears as herself performing a ballet routine for several studio animation directors animating scenes from the Dance of the Hours segment of Fantasia.
==Personal life== Helene Stanley was married to Johnny Stompanato<ref>{{cite news|title=4th Stompanato Marriage Hinted|newspaper=Albany Democrat-Herald |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/4306157/albany_democratherald/|agency=Albany Democrat-Herald|date=April 15, 1958|location=Oregon, Albany|page=2|via = Newspapers.com|accessdate = February 13, 2016}} {{Open access}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Star's Child Tells of Killing|newspaper=Independent |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/4306200/independent_presstelegram/|agency=Independent Press-Telegram|date=April 6, 1958|location=California, Long Beach|page=3|via = Newspapers.com|accessdate = February 13, 2016}} {{Open access}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Another Woman Linked With Johnny as Police Continue To Search Into Past of Slain 'Gigolo'|newspaper=The San Bernardino County Sun |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/4306214/the_san_bernardino_county_sun/|agency=The San Bernardino County Sun|date=April 16, 1958|location=California, San Bernardino|page=4|via = Newspapers.com|accessdate = February 13, 2016}} {{Open access}}</ref> on January 17, 1953, with their divorce dated February 10, 1955.<ref>{{cite news|title=Police Hang Gigolo Tag On Johnny Stompanato|newspaper=Tucson Daily Citizen |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/4306249/tucson_daily_citizen/|agency=Tucson Daily Citizen|date=April 5, 1958|location=Arizona, Tucson|page=8|via = Newspapers.com|accessdate = February 13, 2016}} {{Open access}}</ref>
After Stompanato, Stanley married a physician from Beverly Hills, David Niemetz. They had a son, David Niemetz Jr., in 1961.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.glamourgirlsofthesilverscreen.com/show/255/Helene+Stanley/register.php|title=Helene Stanley - the Private Life and Times of Helene Stanley. Helene Stanley Pictures}}</ref> After they were married, Stanley formally retired from show business in 1962, one year after the birth of her son.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Potempa |first1=Philip |title=Potempa: Helene Stanley, actress from Gary, found Walt Disney film fame |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/post-tribune/opinion/ct-ptb-potempa-col-st-0623-20220622-i32o5hxfkjfkxdycmbzfnv4hwu-story.html |website=Chicago Tribune |access-date=9 July 2023 |date=22 June 2022}}</ref>
==Death== Stanley died on December 27, 1990, in Los Angeles of ovarian cancer.{{Citation needed |date=March 2023}}
==Filmography== {{div col}} *1942: ''Girls' Town'' - Sally *1943: ''Hi, Buddy'' - Specialty *1943: ''Moonlight in Vermont'' - A Jivin' Jill *1945: ''Patrick the Great'' - Member, Jivin' Jills (uncredited) *1945: ''Thrill of a Romance'' - Susan *1946: ''Holiday in Mexico'' - Yvette Baranga *1947: ''Brick Bradford'' - Carol Preston *1948: ''My Dear Secretary'' - Miss 'Clay' Pidgeon (uncredited) *1949: ''Mr. Soft Touch'' - Donna (uncredited) *1949: ''Bandit King of Texas'' - Cynthia Turner *1949: ''All the King's Men'' - Helene Hale (uncredited) *1950: ''Cinderella'' (As live-action model for Disney animators to use as a guide) (Cinderella and Anastasia Tremaine) *1950: ''A Woman of Distinction'' - Minor Role (uncredited) *1950: ''The Asphalt Jungle'' - Jeannie - Girl in Diner (uncredited) *1952: ''Diplomatic Courier'' - Airline Stewardess *1952: ''Wait till the Sun Shines, Nellie'' - Eadie Jordan *1952: ''We're Not Married!'' - Mary (uncredited) *1952: ''Dreamboat'' - Mimi *1952: ''The Snows of Kilimanjaro'' - Connie *1953: ''Roar of the Crowd'' - Marcy Parker *1953: ''Once I Will Return'' - Gloria *1954: ''Carnival Story'' - Peggy *1954: ''Circus of Love'' - Lore *1955: ''Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier'' - Polly Crockett (archive footage) *1955: ''Dial Red O'' - Connie Wyatt *1957: ''Walt Disney's Disneyland'' ''Tricks of Our Trade'' - Herself *1959: ''Sleeping Beauty'' (As live-action model for Disney animators to use as a guide) - Aurora *1959: ''Perry Mason'' The Case of the Foot-Loose Doll" - Fran Driscoll *1961: ''One Hundred and One Dalmatians'' (As live-action model for Disney animators to use as a guide) - Anita {{div col end}}
==References== {{Reflist}}
== External links == * {{IMDb name|0822492}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Stanley, Helene}} Category:1929 births Category:1990 deaths Category:American film actresses Category:American television actresses Category:20th-century American actresses Category:Actresses from Gary, Indiana