Helen Vinson (born Helen Rulfs, September , â€" October , ) was an
American film actress, who appeared in films between and .Vinson was
born in Beaumont, Texas, the daughter of oil man Edward Rulfs.. She
was a tall and distinguished-looking woman with brown eyes and
naturally curly hair. Her personal life included a passion for horses
she developed during her youth. She studied at the University of Texas
at Austin.In Austin, she met Mrs. March Culmore, director of the
Houston, Texas Little Theater. Culmore took Helen as a pupil and soon
the young woman was playing leads with The Little Theater
Group.[citation needed] From Texas, she moved quickly to Broadway,
where her credits included Los Angeles (), Death Takes a Holiday (),
Berlin (), and The Fatal Alibi (). A succession of performances
followed and led to a contract with Warner Bros. Later, she regretted
her quick leap to Hollywood and motion pictures. She lamented, "If I'd
stayed in New York longer, I'd be getting a much bigger salary out
here now."Vinson's screen career often featured her in roles in which
she played the part of the other woman or (pre-Code) loose women with
active romantic lives. Her first film role was Jewel Robbery (), which
starred William Powell and Kay Francis. She appeared as Doris
Delafield in The Kennel Murder Case, which starred Powell as Philo
Vance. One of her memorable roles was in The Wedding Night (), when
she played the wife of Gary Cooper's character and the rival of Anna
Sten's, in a story about the Connecticut tobacco fields. Another
performance was in the RKO film In Name Only (), in which she was cast
as the treacherous friend of Carole Lombard, Kay Francis and Cary
Grant's characters. Another standout role for Vinson was as an
undercover federal agent posing as a femme fatale opposite Richard
Cromwell in Universal Pictures's anti-Nazi action drama entitled,
Enemy Agent (). She followed that role with that of Helen Draque in
The Thin Man Goes Home. Vinson's film career ended in .
American film actress, who appeared in films between and .Vinson was
born in Beaumont, Texas, the daughter of oil man Edward Rulfs.. She
was a tall and distinguished-looking woman with brown eyes and
naturally curly hair. Her personal life included a passion for horses
she developed during her youth. She studied at the University of Texas
at Austin.In Austin, she met Mrs. March Culmore, director of the
Houston, Texas Little Theater. Culmore took Helen as a pupil and soon
the young woman was playing leads with The Little Theater
Group.[citation needed] From Texas, she moved quickly to Broadway,
where her credits included Los Angeles (), Death Takes a Holiday (),
Berlin (), and The Fatal Alibi (). A succession of performances
followed and led to a contract with Warner Bros. Later, she regretted
her quick leap to Hollywood and motion pictures. She lamented, "If I'd
stayed in New York longer, I'd be getting a much bigger salary out
here now."Vinson's screen career often featured her in roles in which
she played the part of the other woman or (pre-Code) loose women with
active romantic lives. Her first film role was Jewel Robbery (), which
starred William Powell and Kay Francis. She appeared as Doris
Delafield in The Kennel Murder Case, which starred Powell as Philo
Vance. One of her memorable roles was in The Wedding Night (), when
she played the wife of Gary Cooper's character and the rival of Anna
Sten's, in a story about the Connecticut tobacco fields. Another
performance was in the RKO film In Name Only (), in which she was cast
as the treacherous friend of Carole Lombard, Kay Francis and Cary
Grant's characters. Another standout role for Vinson was as an
undercover federal agent posing as a femme fatale opposite Richard
Cromwell in Universal Pictures's anti-Nazi action drama entitled,
Enemy Agent (). She followed that role with that of Helen Draque in
The Thin Man Goes Home. Vinson's film career ended in .
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