Helene Whitney
American actress (1914–1990)
title: "Helene Whitney" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["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", "gardiner-family", "schuyler-family"] description: "American actress (1914–1990)" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helene_Whitney" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary American actress (1914–1990) ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox person"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Helene Whitney |
| image | Actress Helen Fortescue Reynolds, Los Angeles, 1930s, cropped.jpg |
| caption | Whitney (as Fortescue Reynolds) in Los Angeles, 1930s |
| birthname | Kenyon Fortescue |
| birth_date | |
| birth_place | Brussels, Belgium |
| death_date | |
| death_place | Atlantis, Florida, U.S. |
| years_active | 1939–1948 |
| alias | Helen Fortescue |
| Joyce Gardner | |
| Helene Reynolds | |
| spouse | J. Louis Reynolds (1936–1939; divorced) |
| parents | Granville Roland Fortescue |
| Grace Fortescue | |
| :: |
| name = Helene Whitney | image = Actress Helen Fortescue Reynolds, Los Angeles, 1930s, cropped.jpg | caption = Whitney (as Fortescue Reynolds) in Los Angeles, 1930s | birthname = Kenyon Fortescue | birth_date = | birth_place = Brussels, Belgium | death_date = | death_place = Atlantis, Florida, U.S. | years_active = 1939–1948 | alias = Helen Fortescue Joyce Gardner Helene Reynolds | spouse = J. Louis Reynolds (1936–1939; divorced) | parents = Granville Roland Fortescue Grace Fortescue
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. 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.
She grew up in Washington D.C. where she attended the National Cathedral School for Girls. She married Julian Louis Reynolds, 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.
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 aged 75 on March 28, 1990.
Filmography
As Helene Whitney/Helen Whitney ::data[format=table]
| Year | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 1939 | The Hunchback of Notre Dame | Fleur de Lys |
| 1940 | The Saint's Double Trouble | Anne Bitts |
| 1940 | Millionaire Playboy aka Glamour Boy (UK) | uncredited |
| 1940 | The Philadelphia Story | Main Line Society Woman |
| 1941 | City of Missing Girls | Katherine Crawford |
| :: |
As Helene Reynolds ::data[format=table]
| Year | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 1941 | Confirm or Deny | Dorothy |
| 1941 | Blue, White and Perfect | Helen Shaw |
| 1942 | Girl Trouble | Helen Martin |
| 1942 | Roxie Hart | Velma Wall |
| 1942 | Tales of Manhattan | Actress |
| 1942 | Moontide | Woman in boat |
| 1942 | The Man Who Wouldn't Die | Anna Wolff |
| 1943 | Dixie Dugan | Jean Patterson |
| 1943 | Heaven Can Wait | Peggy Nash |
| 1943 | Wintertime | Marian Daly (uncredited) |
| 1943 | The Meanest Man in the World | Wife (Park Ave. Neighbor) |
| 1944 | Bermuda Mystery | Angela |
| :: |
Television
As Helene Reynolds ::data[format=table]
| Year | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 1945 | The Front Page | Mollie Malloy |
| 1948 | Mirage in Manhattan (Chevrolet Tele-Theatre) | |
| :: |
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)
Family tree
References
References
- Spinzia, Raymond E.. "Those Other Roosevelts: The Fortescues". The Oyster Bay Historical Society.
- [https://www.ancestry.com/genealogy/records/kenyon-helene-fortescue_32656870 Ancestry.co Historical Person Overview: Kenyon "Helene" Fortescue], accessed May 2017.
- (Mar 31, 1990). "Obituary: Helene Fortescue Reynolds". The Washington Post.
- (July 27, 1936). "Milestones".
- (Mar 26, 1939). "Helene Reyonlds To Seek Friendly Divorce in Reno". The Washington Post.
- Fine, Mary Jane. (January 23, 1984). "Reliving a scandalous past". The Philadelphia Inquirer.
- (March 28, 1939). "Former Helen Fortesque at Reno to divorce Reynolds". The New York Times.
::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::