Helen Chandler (February 1, 1908 – April 30, 1965) was an American film and theatre actress, best known for playing Mina Seward in the 1931 horror film Dracula.

Career

thumb|upright=1.2|[[Douglas Fairbanks Jr. and Helen Chandler in Outward Bound (1930)]]

Chandler attended the Professional Children's School in New York and made her Broadway debut on September 2, 1918 at the Globe Theatre in Penrod, Edward E. Rose's adaptation of the like-named Booth Tarkington series of stories. Her early performances include Arthur Hopkins' 1920 production of Richard III, which starred John Barrymore, Macbeth in 1921 with Lionel Barrymore; Hedvig in Henrik Ibsen's The Wild Duck in 1925 and Ophelia in the 1925 modern dress version of Hamlet starring Basil Sydney. By the time of her first film she had been in over twenty Broadway productions.

She made her film debut in 1927 in the silent film The Music Master and in 1930 joined Leslie Howard, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., and Beryl Mercer for Outward Bound, the film version of the stage success. The unusual story told of a group of passengers on an ocean liner who gradually realize that they are all dead and will soon face the Last Judgment. Chandler, with her blonde hair and ethereal quality, was considered to be perfectly cast, and she received critical praise for her performance.

Chandler joined David Manners and Bela Lugosi in what became one of the most successful movies made at that time. Chandler appeared with Manners that same year in the Lost Generation celebration of alcohol in Paris, The Last Flight, also starring Richard Barthelmess and John Mack Brown. She achieved more successes in A House Divided (1931) and Christopher Strong (1933), all the while dividing her time among films, radio work, and theater roles in Los Angeles, New York and London.

She starred in British actor Will Hay's 1934 movie, Radio Parade of 1935 and played a role on Lux Radio in Alibi Ike with Joe E. Brown (1937). Among her later stage successes were Within The Gates in 1934, Pride and Prejudice in 1935, Lady Precious Stream in 1936 with then-husband Bramwell Fletcher, a reprise of her film role in Outward Bound in 1938 and various productions of Boy Meets Girl and Noël Coward's Tonight at 8.30

Personal life

Helen Frances Chandler was born February 1, 1908, in New York, according to family, and New York in 1909. but they divorced in 1940. From February 3, 1943 until her death, Chandler was married to Walter S. Piascik, a merchant seaman.

By the late 1930s she was battling alcoholism and her acting career declined. She was hospitalized several times but was unable to gain control over her life. In 1950, Chandler was severely burned in an apartment fire, caused by her falling asleep while smoking. She was survived by her husband, Walter Piascik.

Filmography

  • The Music Master (1927) as Jenny
  • The Joy Girl (1927) as Flora
  • Mother's Boy (1929) as Rose Lyndon
  • Salute (1929) as Nancy Wayne
  • The Sky Hawk (1929) as Joan Allan
  • Rough Romance (1930) as Marna Reynolds
  • Outward Bound (1930) as Ann
  • Mothers Cry (1930) as Beattie Williams
  • Dracula (1931) as Mina Seward
  • Daybreak (1931) as Laura Taub
  • Salvation Nell (1931) as Nell Saunders
  • The Last Flight (1931) as Nikki
  • Fanny Foley Herself (1931) as Lenore
  • A House Divided (1931) as Ruth Evans
  • Vanity Street (1932) as Jeanie Gregg
  • Behind Jury Doors (1932) as Elsa Lanfield
  • Christopher Strong (1933) as Monica Strong
  • Alimony Madness (1933) as Joan Armstrong
  • Dance Hall Hostess (1933) as Nora Marsh
  • Goodbye Again (1933) as Elizabeth Clochessy
  • The Worst Woman in Paris? (1933) as Mary Dunbar
  • Long Lost Father (1934) as Lindsey Lane
  • Midnight Alibi (1934) as Abigail 'Abbie' Ardsley as a Girl
  • Unfinished Symphony (1934) as Emmie Passeuter
  • Radio Parade of 1935 (1934) as Joan Garland
  • It's a Bet (1935) as Clare
  • Mr. Boggs Steps Out (1938) as Oleander Tubbs (final film role)
  • Renfield (2023) as Mina Seward (posthumous; archive footage)

Notes

References

  • Helen Chandler Fansite
  • Van Neste, Dan. ""Helen Chandler: Vision of Beauty"" Films of the Golden Age, Spring, 1998 [https://web.archive.org/web/20041120134137/http://www.filmsofthegoldenage.com/foga/1998/spring98/chandler.shtml].
  • Fiore, David. Hypocritic Days Insomniac Press, 2014. Toronto Star review of the novel