Helen Gertrude Barnes (July 5, 1895 – June 1, 1925) was an American musical comedy actress and Ziegfeld Follies Girl.

Early life

Helen Gertrude Barnes was born on July 5, 1895, in Shelton, Connecticut, the first of two daughters raised by William and Anna Barnes. Her father hailed from Pennsylvania and supported his family as a

day laborer Day labor (or day labour in Commonwealth spelling) is work done where the worker is hired and paid one day at a time, with no promise that more work will be available in the future, and outside the protection of labor and civil rights laws. It i ...

and later as a

typewriter A typewriter is a Machine, mechanical or electromechanical machine for typing characters. Typically, a typewriter has an array of Button (control), keys, and each one causes a different single character to be produced on paper by striking an i ...

salesman. Barnes’s mother was born in England of Scottish parents and had come to America, presumably with her parents, at around the age of two. William and Anna married in 1894, and in July 1896 completed their family with the birth of their second daughter, Ruth. Not long after Ruth’s arrival the Barnes family relocated to Washington D.C.

Career

She began her career at the age of nineteen as a member of the

chorus line A chorus line is a large group of dancers who together perform synchronized routines, usually in musical theatre. Sometimes, singing is also performed. While synchronized dancing indicative of a chorus line was vogue during the first half of th ...

in the 1914/15 Broadway musical ''Watch Your Step'' at the

New Amsterdam Theatre The New Amsterdam Theatre is a Broadway theatre, Broadway theater at 214 West 42nd Street (Manhattan), 42nd Street, at the southern end of Times Square, in the Theater District, Manhattan, Theater District of Manhattan in New York City, New Yor ...

. In May 1915 Barnes began a four-year association with

Florenz Ziegfeld, Jr. Florenz Edward Ziegfeld Jr. (; March 21, 1867 – July 22, 1932) was an American Broadway impresario, notable for his series of theatrical revues, the ''Ziegfeld Follies'' (1907–1931), inspired by the '' Folies Bergère'' of Paris. He also ...

as performer in his annual ''

Ziegfeld Follies The ''Ziegfeld Follies'' were a series of elaborate theatrical revue productions on Broadway in New York City from 1907 to 1931, with renewals in 1934, 1936, 1943, and 1957. They became a radio program in 1932 and 1936 as '' The Ziegfeld Foll ...

'' shows at the same venue. Later in 1915 Barnes played Lotta Nichols in the musical comedy ''

Stop! Look! Listen! ''Stop! Look! Listen!'' is a musical in three acts with music and lyrics by Irving Berlin and book by Harry B. Smith. The piece had additional music by Henry Kailimai and Jack Alau and additional lyrics by G. H. Stover and Sylvester Kalama. ...

'' over its four-month run at the

Globe Theatre The Globe Theatre was a Theater (structure), theatre in London associated with William Shakespeare. It was built in 1599 at Southwark, close to the south bank of the Thames, by Shakespeare's playing company, the Lord Chamberlain's Men. It was ...

. A ''

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 ...

'' reviewer wrote in a May 14, 1918, review of the play ''The Squab Farm'' by Frederic Hatton and

Fanny Hatton Fanny Hatton (1875 – November 27, 1939) was an American playwright and screenwriter known for the works she wrote with her husband/writing partner, Frederic Hatton. The couple, who had many of their works presented on Broadway (theatre), Broad ...

, that Helen Barnes appeared to be the audience’s favorite squab. The play, a satire that compared a motion picture set to a barnyard, was performed at the Bijou Theatre with Helen Barnes playing the role of Hortense Hogan. ''The Squab Farm'' closed after a four-week run and had among its cast members sixteen-year-old

Tallulah Bankhead Tallulah Brockman Bankhead (January 31, 1902 – December 12, 1968) was an American actress. Primarily an actress of the stage, Bankhead also appeared in several films including an award-winning performance in Alfred Hitchcock's ''Lifeboat (194 ...

Barnes went on to play Georgie Van Alstyne in '' Oh, My Dear!'' (1918/19); Rhy Mac Donald in ''The Five Million'' (1919); Myrtilla Marne in ''An Innocent Idea'' (1920); and Tillie in ''

Ladies' Night A ladies' night is a promotional event, often at a bar or nightclub, where female patrons pay less than male patrons for the cover charge or alcoholic beverages. In the United States, state courts in California, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Wisco ...

'' (1920/21).

Travel

Helen Barnes turned to traveling in the early 1920s. She spent several months between 1920 and 1921 touring England and France and in 1922 embarked on a near year-long around the world tour in which she visited Scandinavia, Belgium, Monaco, Australia, New Zealand, India, Burma, Thailand, Ceylon, China, Hong Kong, Japan and Hawaii.

Death

Helen Barnes died in the early morning hours of June 1, 1925, in an automobile accident not far from Woodmont, Connecticut. She and her boyfriend, John Griffin, a junior at

Sheffield Scientific School Sheffield Scientific School was founded in 1847 as a school of Yale University, Yale College in New Haven, Connecticut, for instruction in science and engineering. Originally named the Yale Scientific School, it was renamed in 1861 in honor of Jos ...

and son of a well-to-do manufacturer from Indiana, were traveling at a high speed when their car struck a slow moving vehicle, careened into another and then rolled over a number of times killing the two almost instantly. Friends of Griffin felt the other driver, who was later cited for driving without a vehicle license, shared some the blame for the tragedy due to his erratic driving. Barnes and Griffin had gone out that morning to dine at an all-night hotdog stand in nearby East Haven. Though there had been no official announcement, Griffin had previously told friends that the two planned to marry."Two Auto Deaths Reveal Romance", ''The New York Times''; June 2, 1925; pg. 3

Sources

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barnes, Helen 1895 births 1925 deaths American stage actresses Ziegfeld girls People from Shelton, Connecticut 20th-century American actresses