Helen Twelvetrees

Helen Marie Jurgens was born in Brooklyn, where she attended Public School 119. Her family moved to Flatbush, where her younger brother was born. In the winter of 1919, the family's four-bedroom apartment caught fire and her brother perished.{{cn|date=November 2022}}

She attended Brooklyn Heights Seminary and then the Art Students League of New York, where she studied for a year before enrolling at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts.{{cite book|last1=Parish|first1=James Robert |last2=Leonard |first2=William T. |title=Hollywood Players, The Thirties|year=1976|publisher=Arlington House|isbn=0-87000-365-8|page=516}} While attending AADA, she met actor Clark Twelvetrees, whom she married at age 19 in 1927. She adopted her husband's surname and used it as her professional name.{{cite book|last=Brettell|first=Andrew |author2=Imwold, Denis |author3=Kennedy, Damien |author4= King, Noel |others=Leonard, Warren Hsu; von Rohr, Heather|title=Cut!: Hollywood Murders, Accidents, and Other Tragedies|publisher=Barrons Educational Series|year=2005|page=287|isbn=0-7641-5858-9}}

File:HelenTwelvetrees.jpg

With some stage experience, Twelvetrees went to Hollywood with a number of other actors to replace the silent stars who could not or would not make the transition to talkies. Her first job was with Fox Film Corporation, and she appeared in The Ghost Talks (1929). After three films with Fox, she was released from her contract. However, she was signed by Pathé shortly thereafter, and along with Constance Bennett and Ann Harding, Twelvetrees starred in several lachrymose dramas, not all of which were critically acclaimed.

When Pathé was absorbed by RKO Radio Pictures, she found herself at various times miscast in mediocre films. With the arrival of Katharine Hepburn at RKO, Twelvetrees left the studio to freelance (Harding and Bennett would also subsequently depart).

The 1930 film Her Man set the course of Twelvetrees' screen career, and she was cast in a series of roles portraying suffering women fighting for the wrong men. Later she appeared with Spencer Tracy in Now I'll Tell (also known as When New York Sleeps); with Donald Cook in The Spanish Cape Mystery; and with Maurice Chevalier in Paramount's A Bedtime Story. She also starred in two Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films, which prompted author John Douglas Eames to note that she "had a gift for projecting emotional force with minimal visible effort."{{cite book|last=Eames|first=John Douglas|title=The MGM Story: The complete History of Fifty Roaring Years|date=1975|publisher=Octopus Books|isbn=0-904230-14-7|page=85|edition=3}}

File:Film actor Helen Twelvetrees and her 1935 Pontiac, Cinesound Studios, Sydney, 1936 - Sam Hood (3566267470).jpg

In 1936, Twelvetrees traveled to Australia to star in the Cinesound Studios production Thoroughbred, about the rise of a Melbourne Cup winning racehorse. The film was produced at Cinesound Studios in Bondi Junction. After filming completed, Twelvetrees returned home to Brooklyn, where she fell ill. After a slow recovery, she returned to acting in the USO production of The Man Who Came to Dinner.{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=eoUfAAAAIBAJ&pg=2229,21524&dq=helen+twelvetrees+conrad+payne&hl=en|title=For Nine Years No Tears After Long, Briny Career|last=Lowry|first=Cynthia|date=August 1, 1955|work=Daytona Beach Morning Journal|access-date=February 25, 2013}} She made her final two films, Persons in Hiding and Unmarried, in 1939.{{cite book|last=Staggs|first=Sam|title=When Blanche Met Brando: The Scandalous Story of "A Streetcar Named Desire"|date=2005|publisher=Macmillan|isbn=0-312-32164-3|page=[https://archive.org/details/whenblanchemetbr00stag/page/275 275]|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/whenblanchemetbr00stag/page/275}}

Twelvetrees left film in favor of summer stock and made her Broadway debut in Jacques Deval's Boudoir in 1941. The play folded after only 11 performances, and she largely retired after marrying for a third time. She continued to act occasionally, such as in the role of Blanche DuBois in A Streetcar Named Desire in summer stock in Sea Cliff, New York in August 1951. Fellow cast member Naomi Caryl recalled that Twelvetrees had "... the saddest eyes I'd ever seen ... it was also obvious that she had an extremely fragile psyche."{{cite web|last=Caryl|first=Naomi|title=Streetcar|url=http://sitteninthehills64.blogspot.com/2006/01/streetcar-i-originally-posted-this-on.html|publisher=sitteninthehills64.blogspot.com|date=January 17, 2006}}

Twelvetrees was married three times. She married her first husband, actor Clark Twelvetrees, in February 1927. During the marriage, her husband attempted suicide in the middle of a dinner party by jumping out of a Manhattan hotel window. He struck two awnings before landing on a parked taxi and was hospitalized for several months. In March 1930, she filed for divorce, citing mental cruelty.{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=vNAgAAAAIBAJ&pg=5359,6843337&dq=helen+twelvetrees+mental+cruelty&hl=en|title=Helen Twelvetress Is Granted Divorce|date=March 26, 1930|work=The Lewiston Daily Sun|page=4|access-date=February 25, 2013}} During the divorce trial, Twelvetrees claimed that her husband was an alcoholic who was drunk when they married and beat her on four occasions.{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=myAbAAAAIBAJ&pg=3259,1643686&dq=helen+twelvetrees+clark+divorce&hl=en|title=Actress Divorced|date=March 26, 1930|work=The Pittsburgh Press|page=8|access-date=February 25, 2013}} Their divorce became final in March 1931.{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=SeE0AAAAIBAJ&pg=4032,5358989&dq=helen+twelvetrees+clark&hl=en|title=Actress Keeps Secret 3 Weeks|date=April 17, 1931|work=The Deseret News|access-date=February 25, 2013}} Clark Twelvetrees died in August 1938 of a skull fracture after striking his head on a curb when a man, who witnessed Clark hit a woman to the ground with whom he was arguing, physically intervened. Murder charges against the man, 29-year-old painter James Paskovics, were dismissed.{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1787&dat=19380823&id=eYUcAAAAIBAJ&pg=4491,3709936|title=Painter Held In Death Of Clark Twelvetrees|date=August 23, 1938|work=Sarasota Herald-Tribune|page=3|access-date=February 25, 2013}}{{cite web | url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/128411958/ | title=The Des Moines Register from des Moines, Iowa | date=2 September 1938 }}

Twelvetrees married again in April 1931, this time to WWI Marine Corps veteran Frank "Jack" Bryan Woody. Woody was a Hollywood stuntman and realtor, who would later become a full-time actor and seasonal hunting guide in California's Sierra Nevada.Hollywood Stunt Performers, 1910s-1970s: A Biographical Dictionary, 2d ed. By Gene Scott Freese The two met on set while filming Her Man (1930) in Havana, Cuba. They had a son, Jack Bryan Woody, born October 1932 (d. 2016),{{cite news|title=Helen Twelvetrees Becomes Mother of Seven Pound Boy|date=October 27, 1932|work=Chicago Daily Tribune|page=22}}{{cite news|title=Actress Poses With Baby Son|date=November 20, 1932|work=Chicago Daily Tribune|page=13}} who became a prominent US Fish and Wildlife biologist.{{Cite web|url=https://seaturtles.org/remembering-jack-woody/|title = Remembering Jack Woody | Turtle Island Restoration Network|date = 13 May 2016}}{{cite news |title=Not Your Basic Pretty Pictures |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-01-20-vw-13624-story.html |date=January 20, 1994 |access-date=January 26, 2014 |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |first=Michael |last=Haederle |quote=His father was a wildlife biologist }} Twelvetrees divorced Woody in 1936, citing that he was essentially unemployed and living off her earnings. Post-divorce, the pair looked to continue their respective Hollywood careers and sent their child to Brooklyn to be raised by Twelvetrees' relatives. The failed marriage was the basis for the plot of the film I’m Still Alive (1940).{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=6VhgAAAAIBAJ&pg=3833,1271219&dq=helen+twelvetrees+woody+son&hl=en|title=Helen Twelvetrees, Husband Part|date=March 24, 1969|work=Rochester Journal|page=1|access-date=February 25, 2013}}{{cite news|title=Decree to Helen Twelvetrees|date=April 16, 1936|work=The New York Times}}

She married for a third and final time to farmer and Air Force Captain Conrad Payne in 1947.{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=ltwvAAAAIBAJ&pg=2279,2320155&dq=helen+twelvetrees+conrad+payne&hl=en|title=Hollywood|last=Dixon|first=Hugh|date=December 20, 1947|work=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette|page=8|access-date=February 25, 2013}} She spent her remaining years traveling the world with her husband, who was stationed in the U.S. and Europe.

On February 13, 1958, Twelvetrees was found unconscious on the floor of her living room at her home in Middletown, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.{{cite book|last=Roberts|first=Jerry |title=The Hollywood Scandal Almanac: 12 Months of Sinister, Salacious and Senseless History!|year=2012|publisher=The History Press|isbn=978-1-60949-702-6|page=54}} She was taken to Olmstead Air Force Base Hospital in Middletown, where she died. According to the county coroner, Twelvetrees had been suffering from a kidney ailment for some time and took an overdose of sedatives.{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=hiYzAAAAIBAJ&pg=635,5975485&dq=helen+twelvetrees+olmstead&hl=en|title=Helen Twelvetrees, Movie Star Of 1930s|date=February 14, 1958|work=The Miami News|page=4A|access-date=February 25, 2013}}{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=1XdYAAAAIBAJ&pg=6846,2788669&dq=helen+twelvetrees+suicide&hl=en|title=Death Called Suicide|date=February 18, 1958|work=The News-Dispatch | location=Jeannette, Pennsylvania |page=4|access-date=February 25, 2013 | via=Google newspapers }} Her death was ruled a suicide.

Twelvetrees' remains were later cremated. Her funeral service was attended by only her widower and a close friend, Geraldine Uglow, who was also living on the base with her military husband. Her ashes were interred in a grave in Middletown Cemetery. The gravesite was left unmarked until January 2013, when her family placed a headstone.

For her contribution to the motion-picture industry, Twelvetrees has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, located at 6263 Hollywood Boulevard.{{cite web|url=http://projects.latimes.com/hollywood/star-walk/helen-twelvetrees/|title=Hollywood Star Walk|work=Los Angeles Times|access-date=February 25, 2013}}

The play I'm Looking for Helen Twelvetrees explores Twelvetrees' life through the eyes of another actor who saw her perform on Long Island. Parallels are explored between the life of Helen Twelvetrees and the character whom the other actor played (Blanche DuBois).{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/23/theater/review-im-looking-for-helen-twelvetrees-explores-an-obsession-with-an-early-movie-star.html|title=Review: 'I'm Looking for Helen Twelvetrees' Explores the Life of an Early Talkies Movie Star|work=The New York Times|access-date=March 22, 2015}}

The famed Sloppy Joe's Bar in Havana, Cuba sold a cocktail named after Helen Twelvetrees in the 1930s.{{cite web | url=https://euvs-vintage-cocktail-books.cld.bz/1938-Sloppy-Joe-s-Bar/49/ | title=1938 Sloppy Joe's Bar }}{{cite web | url=https://euvs-vintage-cocktail-books.cld.bz/1933-Sloppy-Joe-s-Cocktails-Manual/42 | title=1933 Sloppy Joe's Cocktails Manual }} Twelvetrees and her second husband were regulars at the establishment while filming Her Man (1930). The drink consists of 1 part Gordon Dry Gin, 2 parts pineapple juice, and drops of Perfect Love. Shake with cracked ice and serve in a tall glass.

• {{cite book |last=Eames |first=John Douglas |year=1979 |title=The MGM Story |publisher=Crown Publishers, Inc. |location=New York City }}
• {{cite book |last=Eames |first=John Douglas |year=1985 |title=The Paramount Story |publisher=Crown Publishers, Inc. |location=New York City }}
• {{cite book |last=Jewell |first=Richard B. |year=1982 |title=The RKO Story |publisher=Arlington House, a division of Crown Publishers, Inc. |location=New York City }}
• {{cite book |last=Katz |first=Ephraim |year=1981 |title=The Film Encyclopedia |publisher=Harper Perennial |location=New York City }}

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{{commons category|Helen Twelvetrees}}

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• {{IMDb name|0878546}}
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• [http://film.virtual-history.com/person.php?personid=945 Photographs of Helen Twelvetrees]
• {{Find a Grave|6632885}}

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Category:1908 births

Category:1958 suicides

Category:1958 deaths

Category:20th-century American actresses

Category:20th Century Studios contract players

Category:Actresses from Brooklyn

Category:American Academy of Dramatic Arts alumni

Category:American film actresses

Category:American stage actresses

Category:Art Students League of New York alumni

Category:Drug-related suicides in Pennsylvania

Category:People from Flatbush, Brooklyn

Category:RKO Pictures contract players

Category:Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer contract players