Helen Curry (October 22, 1896 – November 15, 1931) was an American stage actress.

Biography

Early life and family

Helen Curry was born October 22, 1896, in

Chester Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Loca ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

"Wife of Norwalk Writer Ends Life in Husband's Car"

Hartford Courant The ''Hartford Courant'' is the largest daily newspaper in the U.S. state of Connecticut, and is considered to be the oldest continuously published newspaper in the United States. A morning newspaper serving most of the state north of New Haven ...

, November 16, 1931 to Thomas A. Curry and Sarah Jeffries both of whom were playwrights. Curry had one brother, pulp fiction writer Tom Curry (1900-1976). In 1916, Curry married author F. R. Buckley.David K. Frasier
"Suicide in the Entertainment Industry: An Encyclopedia of 840 Twentieth Century Cases"
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The American Academy of Dramatic Arts

Curry studied at

The American Academy of Dramatic Arts The American Academy of Dramatic Arts (AADA) is a private performing arts conservatory with two locations, one in Manhattan and one in Los Angeles. The academy offers an associate degree in occupational studies and teaches drama and related art ...

(AADA) which at the time was housed in the Lyceum Theatre. Her father, in addition to being a playwright, was the personal secretary to theatrical impresario

David Belasco David Belasco (July 25, 1853 – May 14, 1931) was an American theatrical producer, impresario, director, and playwright. He was the first writer to adapt the short story ''Madame Butterfly'' for the stage. He launched the theatrical career of m ...

from 1914 until Belasco's death in 1931 and subsequently held the same position for

Morris Gest Morris Gest (also Maurice Guest, March 15, 1875 – May 16, 1942) was an American theatre producer, theatrical producer of the early 20th century. Early life Moishe Gershnowitz was born near Vilna (then part of the Russian empire, now Lithuania), ...

was an important early supporter of the AADA. He taught acting there and also acted as stage manager (in today's terms, director or artistic director) for several productions at the Lyceum Theatre. BlueFlame

Career

She appeared in amateur theatricals with her parents as a child. In 1913 at the age of 17 Curry had her first professional role touring with

Doris Keane Doris Keane (December 12, 1881 – November 25, 1945) was an American actress, primarily in live theatre. Early life and family Keane was born in Michigan to Joseph Keane and Florence Winter. She was educated privately in Chicago, New York, Pa ...

Edward Sheldon Edward Brewster Sheldon (Chicago, Illinois, February 4, 1886 – April 1, 1946, New York City) was an American dramatist. His plays include ''Salvation Nell'' (1908) and ''Romance'' (1913), which was made into a motion picture with Greta Garbo. ...

's play

Romance Romance (from Vulgar Latin , "in the Roman language", i.e., "Latin") may refer to: Common meanings * Romance (love), emotional attraction towards another person and the courtship behaviors undertaken to express the feelings * Romance languages, ...

. Curry played Miss Carpenter in ''Good Night, Nurse!'' , later renamed ''Sick-A-Bed'', by Ethel Watts Mumford at the Tremont Theatre in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

. She also appeared in Cleves Kinkead's '' Common Clay'' with

Jane Cowl Jane Cowl (December 14, 1883 – June 22, 1950) was an American film and stage actress and playwright "notorious for playing lachrymose parts". Actress Jane Russell was named in Cowl's honor. Biography Cowl was born Jane Bailey in Boston, Mas ...

. She played the title character in ''Mary Broome'' at the

Neighborhood Playhouse A neighbourhood (British English, Irish English, Australian English and Canadian English) or neighborhood (American English; see spelling differences) is a geographically localised community within a larger city, town, suburb or rural area, ...

, part of the early 20th century

Little Theatre Movement As the new medium of cinema was beginning to replace theater as a source of large-scale spectacle, the Little Theatre Movement developed in the United States around 1912. The Little Theatre Movement served to provide experimental centers for the dra ...

, similar to the

Off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...

movement of the 1950s. O. W. Firkins of The Weekly Review said of her "Miss Helen Curry as Mary Broome was perfect". In 1920 Curry appeared on

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

with

silent film A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, when ...

star A star is an astronomical object comprising a luminous spheroid of plasma (physics), plasma held together by its gravity. The List of nearest stars and brown dwarfs, nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked ...

Theda Bara Theda Bara ( ; born Theodosia Burr Goodman; July 29, 1885 – April 7, 1955) was an American silent film and stage actress. Bara was one of the more popular actresses of the silent era and one of cinema's early sex symbols. Her femme fatal ...

in '' The Blue Flame'', a four- act play written by

George V. Hobart George Vere Hobart (1867 – 1926) was a Canadian-American humorist who authored more than 50 musical comedy librettos and plays as well as novels and songs. At the time of his death, Hobart was "one of America's most popular humorists and playwr ...

and

John Willard John Willard ( 1657 - August 19, 1692) was one of the people executed for witchcraft in Salem, Massachusetts, during the Salem witch trials. He was hanged on Gallows Hill, Salem on August 19, 1692. At the time of the first allegations of witchc ...

Death

Curry died November 15, 1931 at the age of 35 at her home in Norwalk, Connecticut an apparent suicide. She was

interred Burial, also known as interment or inhumation, is a method of final disposition whereby a dead body is placed into the ground, sometimes with objects. This is usually accomplished by excavating a pit or trench, placing the deceased and objec ...

in Cedar Hill Cemetery,

Hartford Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since the ...

, Connecticut.

State register

Curry's former home in Norwalk, CT is listed on the Connecticut State Register of Historic Places.

References

External links

*
Helen Curry
at AboutTheArtist {{DEFAULTSORT:Curry, Helen 1896 births 1931 deaths 20th-century American actresses Actors from Norwalk, Connecticut Actresses from Connecticut American Academy of Dramatic Arts alumni American stage actresses Burials at Cedar Hill Cemetery (Hartford, Connecticut) People from Chester, Pennsylvania People from Norwalk, Connecticut Suicides by firearm in Connecticut 1931 suicides