American actress
Helene Stanton
|
---|
![](//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/ee/Helene_Stanton_Heavenly_Heavy_1954.jpg/220px-Helene_Stanton_Heavenly_Heavy_1954.jpg) Photo of Helene Stanton 'Heavenly Heavy' in 1954
|
Born
| Eleanor Mae Stansbury
(
1925-11-04
)
November 4, 1925
|
---|
Died
| June 7, 2017
(2017-06-07)
(aged 91)
|
---|
Resting place
| Forest Lawn Memorial Park
,
Glendale, Los Angeles
, California
|
---|
Occupation(s)
| Singer, Actress
|
---|
Years active
| 1943?1957
|
---|
Spouses
|
(
m.
1949;
div.
1953)
Morton Pinsky
(
m.
1957; died 2009)
|
---|
Children
| 2 (including
Drew Pinsky
)
|
---|
Helene Stanton
(born
Eleanor Mae Stansbury
, November 4, 1925 ? June 7, 2017) was an American singer and actress. Her career began as an
opera
singer for the Cosmopolitan Opera Company in
Philadelphia
, before moving to
Hollywood
, where she became a singer of popular music. In 1949, she married
silent film
actor
Ken Harlan
, but the marriage broke down and they divorced four years later in 1953.
After being spotted in
Las Vegas
and offered a part in the film
The Big Combo
, she moved to
Los Angeles
to pursue an acting career, starring in films alongside actors such as
Johnny Weissmuller
,
Arthur Franz
and
Tom Drake
. After several film roles during 1955 and starring in a silent role alongside comic
Ben Blue
in 1956, she retired from acting in 1957.
In 1957, she married Morton Pinsky and had two children with him, including celebrity doctor
Drew Pinsky
; they were married for over 50 years before his death in 2009.
Early life
[
edit
]
Stanton was born on November 4, 1925, in
Philadelphia
,
Pennsylvania
as Eleanor Mae Stansbury to parents William Benton Stansbury and Sarah Jane Hamilton
[1]
and was the youngest of five children.
[2]
She took ballet lessons as a child,
[3]
believing this gave her a sense of control which people who had not danced did not have.
[4]
From the age of 13, she took singing lessons.
[5]
Career
[
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]
Having originally sung
opera
for Philadelphia's Cosmopolitan Opera Company, she was asked in 1943 to sing in a stage version of
The Merry Widow
, before being persuaded to swap from classical to popular music upon coming to
Hollywood
. Following her divorce in 1953, she concentrated on her singing and became good friends with
Jimmy McHugh
, a songwriter.
[5]
Stanton and
Bill Henry
on the set of
Jungle Moon Men
in 1954
In 1955, she was spotted by a producer for
Allied Artists
while performing in
Las Vegas
, who offered her a part in the film
The Big Combo
.
[5]
She moved to
Los Angeles
in order to pursue a career in acting,
[3]
which began while singing at
Ciro's
in
West Hollywood, California
, where she played in films alongside actors such as
Johnny Weissmuller
,
Arthur Franz
and
Tom Drake
. Despite her opinion that she would typically be cast in "flashy" roles, such as a
burlesque dancer
, she would try to compensate as being "as plain as possible" when not on stage, with people commenting on how different she looked when not wearing make-up. She would usually always accept offers of new types of roles without hesitation and convey previous experience in those types of roles even if she had none. Having worked alongside various talents, she expressed how she "learned something new" from everyone she had worked with.
[6]
During a
screen test
for
Jungle Moon Men
, producer
Sam Katzman
described how she looked "like a million", with comparisons to
Rita Hayworth
in her tall and redheaded appearance.
[7]
She described how she would work out in the gym to keep her muscles toned.
[4]
She was described in 1956 as being "a provocatively sexy young lady" following a number of television roles, having won attention of filmmakers when performing "her sexy walk" on television.
[8]
She starred opposite comic
Ben Blue
in 1956, where she had to convey emotion without speech in an experience she described as "no easy task" but praised Blue as being "so great".
[6]
Her final film was as a temperamental movie star in
Universal
's 1957 film
Four Girls in Town
.
[5]
Following her marriage to Morton Pinksy in 1957, she retired from acting.
[3]
Personal life
[
edit
]
Born as Eleanor Stansbury, she changed her name at the suggestion of columnist and friend
Louella Parsons
,
[3]
as it was felt her own name was "a little staid for a singer of popular songs".
[6]
According to Parsons, Stanton had "a beautiful
soprano
voice".
[7]
In 1949, she married
silent film
actor
Ken Harlan
to become his eighth wife,
[3]
but they divorced in December 1953 after having separated in April, on grounds of cruelty, although she told reporters that the divorce was "real friendly" and noting she thought he was a nice person. The couple had been married for around four years.
[9]
She later married Dr. Morton Pinsky in 1957 and they remained together until his death in 2009.
[3]
Stanton died on June 7, 2017, in
Pasadena, California
, at the age of 91. She is buried at
Forest Lawn Memorial Park
in
Glendale, Los Angeles
[
citation needed
]
and is survived by her son
Drew Pinsky
(better known as "Dr. Drew") and daughter Dana Chelf.
[3]
Partial filmography
[
edit
]
Film and television credits:
[3]
[5]
Film
[
edit
]
Television
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
External links
[
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]