Helen Ford (born Helen Isabel Barnett; June 6, 1894,

Troy, New York Troy is a city in the U.S. state of New York and the county seat of Rensselaer County. The city is located on the western edge of Rensselaer County and on the eastern bank of the Hudson River. Troy has close ties to the nearby cities of Albany a ...

–January 19, 1982,

Glendale, California Glendale is a city in the San Fernando Valley and Verdugo Mountains regions of Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, California, United States. At the 2020 United States Census, 2020 U.S. Census the population was 196,543, up from ...

) was an American actress.

Biography

Ford's 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 Troy. Ford appeared in a production of ''The Heart of Annie Wood'' in New York in 1918 and in ''Sometime'' shortly thereafter. In 1920, she had the role of Toinette in ''Always You'', Oscar Hammerstein's first musical. She was a stage actress in musicals in the 1920s. A "

Rodgers Rodgers is a patronymic surname of Old English origin derived from the Norman personal name "Roger", with the addition of the genitive suffix "-s" and meaning “son of Roger.” The intrusive “d” in Rodgers is either a Welsh or Scottish addi ...

Hart Hart often refers to: * Hart (deer) Hart may also refer to: Organizations * Hart Racing Engines, a former Formula One engine manufacturer * Hart Skis, US ski manufacturer * Hart Stores, a Canadian chain of department stores * Hart's Reptile W ...

, and Fields' favorite", she starred in three of their

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 ...

productions: ''

Dearest Enemy ''Dearest Enemy'' is a musical with a book by Herbert Fields, lyrics by Lorenz Hart, and music by Richard Rodgers. This was the first of eight book musicals written by the songwriting team of Rodgers and Hart and writer Herbert Fields, and t ...

'' (1925), ''

Peggy-Ann ''Peggy-Ann'' is a musical comedy with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Lorenz Hart and book by Herbert Fields, based on the 1910 musical '' Tillie’s Nightmare'' by Edgar Smith. Production The musical opened on Broadway at the Vanderbilt Th ...

'' (1926) and ''Chee-Chee'' (1928). She also starred in the touring production of ''Dearest Enemy''. She went on to appear in films and television programs, including '' The Raid''. 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". 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. On August 9, 1918, she married George Ford, who produced touring Shakespearean festivals. 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 Grand View Memorial Park and Crematory is a historic cemetery located in Glendale, California, in the United States. Established in 1884 as Glendale Cemetery, it changed its name to Grand View Memorial Park in 1919. The cemetery was the focus of ...

Filmography

References

External links

* * 1894 births 1982 deaths American stage actresses American film actresses 20th-century American actresses Burials at Grand View Memorial Park Cemetery {{US-tv-actor-1890s-stub