Helen Gardner (actress)

Helen Louise Gardner was an American stage and film actress, screenwriter, producer, editor and costume designer.

Gardner was born in Binghamton, New York. An alumna of the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, Gardner began her acting career as a stage actress. She became a Vitagraph Studios player in 1910 and earned critical acclaim for portraying Becky Sharp in the film version of the novel Vanity Fair. In 1912, she became the first film actor, male or female, to form her own production company, the Helen Gardner Picture Players in Tappan, New York with capital provided by her mother. Hiring her lover Charles L. Gaskill as a director and scenarist, she produced eleven feature films before closing her studio in 1914. She was known for her portrayals of strong female characters. Her first production was Cleopatra which was one of the first American fulllength films. The film was reedited and rereleased after Fox released the 1917 adaptation starring Theda Bara. Gardner was considered the screens first vamp and predated Theda Bara, Valeska Suratt and Louise Glaum in roles of this type.

Source: Wikipedia