Helen Ann Rork Light (June 12, 1908 – January 23, 1988) was an American silent film actress. She was credited under the name Ann Rork.

Early life

Helen Ann Rork was born June 12, 1908, in

Darien, Connecticut Darien ( ) is a coastal town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. With a population of 21,499 and a land area of just under , it is the smallest town on Connecticut's Gold Coast (Connecticut), Gold Coast. Situated on the Long Island ...

.ANN RORK LIGHT, 79
''

Orlando Sentinel The ''Orlando Sentinel'' is the primary newspaper of Orlando, Florida, and the Central Florida region, in the United States. It was founded in 1876 and is currently owned by Tribune Publishing Company. The ''Orlando Sentinel'' is owned by pare ...

'', January 25, 1998 Her father, Sam E. Rork, was a film producer at

First National Pictures First National Pictures was an American motion picture production and distribution company. It was founded in 1917 as First National Exhibitors' Circuit, Inc., an association of independent theatre owners in the United States, and became the count ...

, and her mother the former Helen Welch.Associated Press
Ann Rork Light, Former Actress, 79
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', January 25, 1988 Actor

Will Rogers William Penn Adair Rogers (November 4, 1879 – August 15, 1935) was an American vaudeville performer, actor, and humorous social commentator. He was born as a citizen of the Cherokee Nation, in the Indian Territory (now part of Oklahoma ...

was her godfather.

Career

She starred in silent films such as ''

The Blonde Saint ''The Blonde Saint'' is a 1926 American silent romantic adventure film directed by Svend Gade. It was produced by Sam E. Rork and released through First National Pictures. Lewis Stone and Doris Kenyon star and young newcomer Gilbert Roland is ...

'' and ''

Old Loves and New ''Old Loves and New'' is a 1926 American silent drama film directed by Maurice Tourneur in one of his final American films. The setting and story are completely typical of the desert-romance genre novelist Edith Maude Hull invented and speci ...

'' in 1926, followed by ''

The Notorious Lady ''The Notorious Lady'' is a 1927 American silent drama film produced by Sam E. Rork and distributed by First National Pictures. It was directed by veteran director King Baggot and starred Barbara Bedford and Lewis Stone. The film was based on ...

'', ''

A Texas Steer ''A Texas Steer'' is a lost 1927 American silent film directed by Richard Wallace and starring Will Rogers. It was a cinematic adaptation from an eponymous play by Charles H. Hoyt.Mordaunt HallA Texas Steer (1927) ''The New York Times'', Janu ...

'' and ''

The Prince of Headwaiters ''The Prince of Headwaiters'' is a 1927 American silent drama film directed by John Francis Dillon. Premise A maitre d' at the Hôtel Ritz Paris finds out his son, wealthy thanks to his mother, might be blackmailed by Mae Morin (played by Lily ...

'' in 1927. Her co-stars included Will Rogers and

Rudolph Valentino Rodolfo Pietro Filiberto Raffaello Guglielmi di Valentina d'Antonguella (May 6, 1895 – August 23, 1926), known professionally as Rudolph Valentino and nicknamed The Latin Lover, was an Italian actor who starred in several well-known sile ...

.Ann Rork Light
''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...

'', January 31, 1988

Personal life

She was married five times. Her first husband was

J. Paul Getty Jean Paul Getty Sr. (; December 15, 1892 – June 6, 1976) was an American petroleum industrialist who founded the Getty Oil Company in 1942 and was the patriarch of the Getty family. A native of Minneapolis, Minnesota, he was the son of pion ...

, an oil heir from

San Francisco, California San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

, from 1932 to 1935.Stacy Finz, Jaxon Van Derbeken
Getty's Secret Double Life / Second family in L.A. – 3 daughters
''

San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and M. H. de Young, Michael H. ...

'', August 21, 1999 They had two sons: John Paul Getty Jr. and

Gordon Getty Gordon Peter Getty (born December 20, 1933) is an American businessman and classical music composer, the fourth child of oil tycoon J. Paul Getty. His mother, Ann Rork Light, Ann Rork, was his father's fourth wife. When his father died in 1976, G ...

. From her first-born son, John, she had a grandson,

John Paul Getty III John Paul Getty III (; born Eugene Paul Getty II; November 4, 1956February 5, 2011) was the grandson of American oil tycoon J. Paul Getty, who was once the richest man in the world. While living in Rome in 1973, he was kidnapped by the 'Ndranghe ...

, who also became an actor. She then married a succession of three other men. In 1960, she married her fifth husband, Dr. Rudolph A. Light, an Upjohn Pharmaceutical Company heir and Professor of Neurosurgery at

Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private university, private research university in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and railroad magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provide ...

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

. Rork became the first female member of

St Catherine's College, Oxford St Catherine's College (colloquially called St Catz or Catz) is one of the Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent colleges of the University of Oxford. In 1974, it was also one of the first men's colleges to admit women. It has 528 un ...

, being awarded an Honorary Fellowship in the 1970s in recognition of her and Dr Light's philanthropic donations to the College.St Catherine's College,
International Women's Day 2024: Remembering the First Woman Member of Catz
(8 March 2024) The article does not make it clear whether Rork took up her Fellowship in 1973 or 1974.

Death

She died of emphysema and lung cancer on January 23, 1988, at the

Vanderbilt University Medical Center The Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) is a medical provider with multiple hospitals in Nashville, Tennessee, as well as clinics and facilities throughout Middle Tennessee. VUMC is an independent non-profit organization, but maintains a ...

. She is buried with her husband Dr. Rudolph Light, at the Royal Palm Memorial Gardens in

West Palm Beach, Florida West Palm Beach is a city in and the county seat of Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. It is located immediately to the west of the adjacent Palm Beach, Florida, Palm Beach, which is situated on a barrier island across the Lake Worth Lag ...

. She was seventy-nine years old.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Light, Ann Rork 1908 births 1988 deaths People from Darien, Connecticut Actresses from Nashville, Tennessee 20th-century American actresses Getty family Actresses from Connecticut American silent film actresses Deaths from emphysema Deaths from lung cancer in Tennessee Fellows of St Catherine's College, Oxford