Helen Ford (born Helen Isabel Barnett;[1] June 6, 1894, Troy, New York - January 19, 1982, Glendale, California) was an American actress.
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.[2]
Ford appeared in a production of The Heart of Annie Wood in New York in 1918 and in Sometime shortly thereafter.[2] In 1920, she had the role of Toinette in Always You, Oscar Hammerstein's first musical.[3] She was a stage actress in musicals in the 1920s. A "Rodgers, Hart, and Fields' favorite",[4] she starred in three of their Broadway productions: Dearest Enemy (1925), Peggy-Ann (1926) and Chee-Chee (1928).[5] She also starred in the touring production of Dearest Enemy.[6]
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".[7] 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.[7]
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 in Glendale, California.[8]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1948 | Apartment for Peggy | Della | Uncredited | |
| 1951 | The Model and the Marriage Broker | Emmy Swasey | ||
| 1952 | Secret People | Scarf Woman | ||
| 1952 | Sound Off | Mrs. Rafferty | Uncredited | |
| 1954 | The Raid | Delphine Coates | ||
| 1957 | The Curse of Frankenstein | Ellen | Uncredited | |
| 1957 | Hell Drivers | Woman at Dance | Uncredited | |
| 1957 | The Naked Truth | Dinner Guest | Uncredited | |
| 1958 | A Night to Remember | Steerage Passenger | Uncredited | |
| 1960 | Village of the Damned | Villager | Uncredited | |
| 1966 | The Ghost Goes Gear | An Old Lady | Uncredited | |
| 1967 | Carry On Doctor | Nurse | ||
| 1971 | A Clockwork Orange | Old Lady at Duke of York | Uncredited | |
| 1975 | Confessions of a Pop Performer | Old Lady with Ear Trumpet | (final film role) |