Helene Whitney (born Kenyon Fortescue, July 4, 1914 – March 28, 1990) was an American
actress
An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...
who appeared in films in the late 1930s and 1940s. She was known as Helene Reynolds after her marriage.
Biography
Whitney was born Kenyon Fortescue in 1914, but was known as Helene.
[Ancestry.co Historical Person Overview: Kenyon "Helene" Fortescue]
accessed May 2017. Through her mother,
Grace Fortescue
Grace Hubbard Fortescue, (''née'' Bell) (November 3, 1883 – June 24, 1979), was a New York City socialite who murdered a man, later proven innocent, who was accused of raping her daughter. After being convicted of manslaughter at a sensatio ...
, she was a grandniece (and cousin twice removed) of
Alexander Graham Bell, who invented the telephone.
Through her father
Granville Roland Fortescue
Granville Roland Fortescue (October 12, 1875 – April 21, 1952) was an American soldier, a Rough Rider serving with his cousin, Colonel Theodore Roosevelt in Cuba, a presidential aide in the first Roosevelt administration and later, a journalist ...
, she was a
first cousin once removed
Most generally, in the lineal kinship system used in the English-speaking world, a cousin is a type of familial relationship in which two relatives are two or more familial generations away from their most recent common ancestor. Commonly, ...
of US President
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...
.
She grew up in
Washington D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, Na ...
where she attended the
National Cathedral School for Girls.
She married Julian Louis Reynolds,
son of
Richard S. Reynolds, Sr. and heir to the
Reynolds aluminum and tobacco fortunes, on July 15, 1936, in Washington, becoming Helene Fortescue Reynolds.
After three years of marriage, they divorced in May 1939.
[ "Mrs. Helen E. Fortesque Reynolds arrived here today by plane from New York, prepared to take up residence to divorce Julian Louis Reynolds, tobacco heir."]
She became an actress, using the stage names of Joyce Gardner, Helene Whitney and Helene Reynolds, appeared in films in the late 1930s and 1940s and later in stage productions.
After her acting career ended, she became a Manhattan art gallery proprietor and artist in the 1960s.
She died of pneumonia at the John F. Kennedy Medical Center in
Atlantis, Florida
Atlantis is a city in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 2,142.
Geography
Atlantis is located at .
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which ...
aged 75 on March 28, 1990.
Filmography
As Helene Whitney/Helen Whitney
As Helene Reynolds
Television
As Helene Reynolds
Stage
*''
Oh, Captain!
''Oh, Captain!'' is a musical comedy based on the 1953 film ''The Captain's Paradise'' with music and lyrics by Jay Livingston and Ray Evans and the book by Al Morgan and José Ferrer. The basis of the musical was the 1953 film ''The Captain's ...
'' (February 4, 1958 – July 19, 1958)
*''
Happy Hunting'' (December 6, 1956 – November 30, 1957)
*''
Call Me Madam
''Call Me Madam'' is a musical written by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse, with music and lyrics by Irving Berlin.
The musical is a satire on politics and foreign policy that spoofs postwar America's penchant for lending billions of dollars to ...
'' (October 12, 1950 – May 3, 1952)
*''
Miss Liberty
''Miss Liberty'' is a 1949 Broadway musical with a book by Robert E. Sherwood and music and lyrics by Irving Berlin. It is based on the sculpting of the Statue of Liberty (''Liberty Enlightening the World'') in 1886. The score includes the song ...
'' (July 15, 1949 – April 8, 1950)
*''
High Button Shoes
''High Button Shoes'' is a 1947 musical with music by Jule Styne, lyrics by Sammy Cahn and book by George Abbott and Stephen Longstreet. It was based on the semi-autobiographical 1946 novel ''The Sisters Liked Them Handsome'' by Stephen Longs ...
'' (October 9, 1947 – July 2, 1949)
*''Yours Is My Heart'' (September 5, 1946 – October 5, 1946)
Family tree
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Whitney, Helene
1914 births
1990 deaths
20th-century American actresses
20th-century American singers
20th-century American women singers
American film actresses
American musical theatre actresses
American people of Dutch descent
Deaths from pneumonia in Florida
National Cathedral School alumni
Roosevelt family
Schuyler family