Helen Westcott (born Myrthas Helen Hickman, January 1, 1928 – March 17, 1998) was an American stage and screen actress and former

child actress The term child actor or child actress is generally applied to a child acting on stage or in movies or television. An adult who began their acting career as a child may also be called a child actor, or a "former child actor". Closely associated ...

. She is best known for her work in ''

The Gunfighter ''The Gunfighter'' is a 1950 American Western film directed by Henry King and starring Gregory Peck, Helen Westcott, Millard Mitchell and Karl Malden. It was written by screenwriters William Bowers and William Sellers, with an uncredited rewr ...

'' (1950).

Early years

Westcott was the daughter of singer Hazel Beth McArthur and

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...

studio A studio is an artist or worker's workroom. This can be for the purpose of acting, architecture, painting, pottery (ceramics), sculpture, origami, woodworking, scrapbooking, photography, graphic design, filmmaking, animation, industrial design ...

actor

Gordon Westcott Gordon Westcott (born Myrthus Hickman, November 6, 1903 – October 30, 1935) was an American film actor. Biography Born in St. George, Utah, in 1903, Westcott studied architecture at the University of Chicago, where he was also lightweight ...

. Her father died when Helen was seven years old, in 1935. When she was two, Westcott appeared in

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic composition ...

with her mother. At age seven, she began a nine-year run playing the daughter on stage in a production of ''

The Drunkard ''The Drunkard; or, The Fallen Saved'' is an American temperance play first performed on February 12, 1844.

'' in Los Angeles. Westcott attended

Los Angeles City College Los Angeles City College (LACC) is a public community college in East Hollywood, Los Angeles, California. A part of the Los Angeles Community College District, it is located on Vermont Avenue south of Santa Monica Boulevard on the former campu ...

Film

When Westcott was 4 years old, she appeared in a series of

short film A short film is any motion picture that is short enough in running time not to be considered a feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes ...

s. At 5, she appeared in the full-length ''

Thunder Over Texas ''Thunder Over Texas'' is a 1934 American populist contemporary Western film directed by Edgar G. Ulmer under the alias Joen Warner (the name of Ulmer's previous wife) and produced by two nephews of Universal Pictures head Carl Laemmle, Arthu ...

''. She appeared opposite

Gregory Peck Eldred Gregory Peck (April 5, 1916 – June 12, 2003) was an American actor and one of the most popular film stars from the 1940s to the 1970s. In 1999, the American Film Institute named Peck the 12th-greatest male star of Classic Hollywood ...

in the

western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

classic ''The Gunfighter'' released in 1950. She was also known in part for her role in

Charles Lamont Charles Lamont (May 5, 1895 – September 11, 1993) was a prolific filmmaker, directing over 200 titles and producing and writing many others. He directed several Abbott and Costello comedies and many Ma and Pa Kettle films. Biography A Calif ...

's 1953

comedy horror Comedy horror, also known as horror comedy, is a literary genre, literary, television genre, television, and film genre that combines elements of comedy and horror fiction. Comedy horror has been described as able to be categorized under three ty ...

film '' Abbott and Costello Meet Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde''.

Television

Helen Westcott in Bonanza (The Fear Merchants)

Westcott moved from the big screen to television

roles A role (also rôle or social role) is a set of connected behaviors, rights, obligations, beliefs, and norms as conceptualized by people in a social situation. It is an expected or free or continuously changing behavior and may have a given indiv ...

in the late 1950s. In 1958 she appeared on ''

Perry Mason Perry Mason is a fictional character, an American criminal defense lawyer who is the main character in works of detective fiction written by Erle Stanley Gardner. Perry Mason features in 82 novels and 4 short stories, all of which involve a c ...

'' as murderer Marcia Greeley in "The Case of the Haunted Husband." She also made guest appearances on ''

Bonanza ''Bonanza'' is an American Western television series that ran on NBC from September 13, 1959, to January 16, 1973. Lasting 14 seasons and 432 episodes, ''Bonanza'' is NBC's longest-running western, the second-longest-running western series on U ...

'', ''

The Twilight Zone ''The Twilight Zone'' is an American media franchise based on the anthology television series created by Rod Serling. The episodes are in various genres, including fantasy, science fiction, absurdism, dystopian fiction, suspense, horror, su ...

'' and '' Wanted Dead Or Alive''.

Later years

Westcott also appeared on

the stage ''The Stage'' is a British weekly newspaper and website covering the entertainment industry and particularly theatre. It was founded in 1880. It contains news, reviews, opinion, features, and recruitment advertising, mainly directed at those wh ...

later in her career, as well as in films including

Anthony Mann Anthony Mann (born Emil Anton Bundsmann; June 30, 1906 – April 29, 1967) was an American film director and stage actor. Mann initially started as a theatre actor appearing in numerous stage productions. In 1937, he moved to Hollywood where ...

's ''

God's Little Acre ''God's Little Acre'' is a 1933 novel by Erskine Caldwell about a dysfunctional farming family in Georgia obsessed with sex and wealth. The novel's sexual themes were so controversial that the New York Society for the Suppression of Vice asked a ...

'' in 1958.

Personal life

Westcott wed actor Don Gordon on February 18, 1948. In 1950, they had a daughter, Jennifer. They were divorced in 1953. Westcott was a registered

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

and a member of

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Christianity, Christian church that considers itself to be the Restorationism, restoration of the ...

Death

Westcott died of cancer in

Edmonds, Washington Edmonds is a city in Snohomish County, Washington, United States. It is located in the southwest corner of the county, facing Puget Sound and the Olympic Mountains to the west. The city is part of the Seattle metropolitan area and is located ...

on March 17, 1998. Her body was cremated.

Filmography

Source: ''The Encyclopedia of Fantastic Film: Ali Baba to Zombies''

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Westcott, Helen 1928 births 1998 deaths 20th-century American actresses 20th-century American singers Actresses from California American child actresses American film actresses American television actresses Deaths from cancer in Washington (state) People from Greater Los Angeles Western (genre) film actresses American Latter Day Saints