Helene Whitney (born Kenyon Fortescue, July 4, 1914 – March 28, 1990) was an American actress 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, she was a grandniece (and cousin twice removed) of Alexander Graham Bell, who invented the telephone. Through her father Granville Roland Fortescue, she was a first cousin once removed of US President Theodore Roosevelt.
Whitney grew up in Washington D.C. 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. "The papers crowed about the wedding, when Helen Fortescue and Julian Reynolds married on July 15, 1936, in Washington, DC, where Helene had grown up. They gloated over the divorce a few years later in story after sparing nary a detail.... The divorce was granted in May of 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."
Whitney later 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 aged 75 on March 28, 1990.
Filmography As Helene Whitney/Helen Whitney Year Title Role 1939 The Hunchback of Notre Dame Fleur de Lys NYT 1940 The Saint's Double Trouble Anne Bitts IMDb 1940 Millionaire Playboy aka Glamour Boy (UK) uncredited IMDb 1940 The Philadelphia Story Main Line Society Woman IMDb 1941 City of Missing Girls Katherine Crawford IMDb
As Helene Reynolds Year Title Role 1941 Confirm or Deny Dorothy IMDb 1941 Blue, White and Perfect Helen Shaw NYT 1942 Girl Trouble Helen Martin IMDb 1942 Roxie Hart Velma Wall IMDb 1942 Tales of Manhattan Actress IMDb 1942 Moontide Woman in boatIMDb 1942 The Man Who Wouldn't Die Anna WolffNYT 1943 Dixie Dugan Jean PattersonIMDb 1943 Heaven Can Wait Peggy NashIMdb 1943 Wintertime Marian Daly (uncredited)NYT 1943 The Meanest Man in the WorldWife (Park Ave. Neighbor)IMDb 1944 Bermuda Mystery AngelaIMDb
Television As Helene Reynolds Year Title Role 1945 The Front Page Mollie MalloyIMDb 1948 Mirage in Manhattan (Chevrolet Tele-Theatre) IMDb
Stage Oh, Captain! (February 4, 1958 – July 19, 1958) Happy Hunting (December 6, 1956 – November 30, 1957) Call Me Madam (October 12, 1950 – May 3, 1952) Miss Liberty (July 15, 1949 – April 8, 1950) High Button Shoes (October 9, 1947 – July 2, 1949) Yours Is My Heart (September 5, 1946 – October 5, 1946)
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