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 (arts), 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 ...

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 Alexander Graham Bell (, born Alexander Bell; March 3, 1847 – August 2, 1922) was a Scottish-born inventor, scientist and engineer who is credited with patenting the first practical telephone. He also co-founded the American Telephone and Te ...

, 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 Reynolds may refer to: Places Australia *Hundred of Reynolds, a cadastral unit in South Australia *Hundred of Reynolds (Northern Territory), a cadastral unit in the Northern Territory of Australia United States * Reynolds, Mendocino County, Calif ...

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 Longstre ...

'' (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