Helen Foster was an American film actress.

Early life and career

Born in Independence, Kansas

Independence, Kansas

Independence is a city in and the county seat of Montgomery County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 9,483.-Geography:...

, Foster attending school in Kansas City

Kansas City, Missouri

Kansas City, Missouri is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and is the anchor city of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, the second largest metropolitan area in Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties...

 and later attended finishing school

Finishing school

A finishing school is "a private school for girls that emphasises training in cultural and social activities." The name reflects that it follows on from ordinary school and is intended to complete the educational experience, with classes primarily on etiquette...

 in Florida

Florida

Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...

. She began acting in 1924, appearing in comedy shorts and early Westerns

Western (genre)

The Western is a genre of various visual arts, such as film, television, radio, literature, painting and others. Westerns are devoted to telling stories set primarily in the latter half of the 19th century in the American Old West, hence the name. Some Westerns are set as early as the Battle of...

. In 1929, she had a role in her first sound film

Sound film

A sound film is a motion picture with synchronized sound, or sound technologically coupled to image, as opposed to a silent film. The first known public exhibition of projected sound films took place in Paris in 1900, but decades would pass before sound motion pictures were made commercially...

 Gold Diggers of Broadway

Gold Diggers of Broadway (film)

Gold Diggers of Broadway is a 1929 Warner Bros. comedy/musical film which is historically important as the second two-strip Technicolor all-talking feature length movie . Gold Diggers of Broadway was also the third movie released by Warner Bros...

, and was also named a WAMPAS Baby Star

WAMPAS Baby Stars

The WAMPAS Baby Stars was a promotional campaign sponsored by the Western Association of Motion Picture Advertisers in the United States which honored thirteen young women each year whom they believed to be on the threshold of movie stardom. They were selected from 1922 to 1934, and annual...

 that same year. In 1933, Foster starred in the exploitation film

Exploitation film

Exploitation film is a type of film that is promoted by "exploiting" often lurid subject matter. The term "exploitation" is common in film marketing, used for all types of films to mean promotion or advertising. These films then need something to exploit, such as a big star, special effects, sex,...

 Road to Ruin, a remake of the 1928 film of the same name in which Foster also starred. Following the release of Road to Ruin, Foster made only eight more film appearances in mostly uncredited roles. She made her last onscreen appearance as an extra

Extra (actor)

A background actor or extra is a performer in a film, television show, stage, musical, opera or ballet production, who appears in a nonspeaking, nonsinging or nondancing capacity, usually in the background...

 in the 1956 film Around the World in 80 Days.

Foster died on December 25, 1982 in Los Angeles

Los Ángeles

Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...

 at the age of 76.

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1925	On the Go	Nell Hall
1925	Reckless Courage	Doris Bayne	Alternative title: Flying Courage
1925	The Bandit's Baby	Esther Lacy
1925	The Tourist The Tourist (1925 film) The Tourist is a 1925 comedy film directed by Fatty Arbuckle....
1925	Maid in Morocco	The Bride
1926	Move Along	The Girl
1927	California or Bust	Nadine Holtwood
1927	The Courage of Collins	Rose Foster
1927	When a Dog Loves	Agnes Flanagan
1927	Naughty Nanette	Lucy Dennison
1927	The Outlaw Dog	Helen Meadows
1927	Hands Off	Myra Perkins
1928	13 Washington Square	Mary Morgan
1928	The Road to Ruin The Road to Ruin (1928 film) The Road to Ruin is a 1928 silent black-and-white exploitation film directed by Norton S. Parker. The film is about a teenage girl, Sally Canfield, whose life is ruined by sex and drugs. The film was the top grossing movie of 1928 and was remade as a talkie in 1934.-Cast:*Helen Foster as Sally...	Sally Canfield
1928	Haunted Island Haunted Island Haunted Island is a 1928 silent action film serial directed by Robert F. Hill. The serial was released in 10 chapters of two reels each, with the first episode released on March 26, 1928...	Rosalind Joy
1928	Won in the Clouds Won in the Clouds Won in the Clouds is a 1928 American film directed by Bruce M. Mitchell and starring Al Wilson.- Cast :*Al Wilson as Art Blake*Helen Foster as Grace James*Frank Rice as Percy Hogan*George B. French as Dr...	Grace James
1928	Hellship Bronson	Mary Younger
1928	The Mating Call The Mating Call (film) The Mating Call is a 1928 silent drama film about a WWI vet who takes on the Ku Klux Klan when he loses his wife to a womanizing Klansman. The film was produced by Howard Hughes for his Caddo Corporation, and was originally released by Paramount Pictures...	Jessie Peebles
1928	Sweet Sixteen	Cynthia Perry
1928	Should a Girl Marry?	Alice Dunn
1929	The Sky Skidder	Stella Hearns
1929	Linda	Linda
1929	Circumstantial Evidence	Jean Benton
1929	Hoofbeats of Vengeance	Mary Martin
1929	The Harvest of Hate	Margie Smith
1929	Gold Diggers of Broadway Gold Diggers of Broadway (film) Gold Diggers of Broadway is a 1929 Warner Bros. comedy/musical film which is historically important as the second two-strip Technicolor all-talking feature length movie . Gold Diggers of Broadway was also the third movie released by Warner Bros...	Violet
1929	So Long Letty	Sally Davis
1929	Painted Faces	Nancy
1929	Irish Fantasy
1929	Finders Keepers	Ninon
1931	The Primrose Path
1931	Is There Justice?	June Lawrence
1932	Ghost City	Laura Martin
1932	Temptation's Workshop Temptation's Workshop -Cast:* Helen Foster* Tyrell Davis* Dorothy Granger* Carroll Nye* John Ince* Stella Adams...		Alternative title: Youths Highways
1932	Sinister Hands	Vivian Rogers
1932	The Saddle Buster	Sunny Hurn
1932	The Boiling Point	Lora Kirk
1932	Young Blood	Gail Winters	Alternative title: Lola
1932	The Big Flash	Nadine's maid
1932	Lucky Larrigan	Virginia Bailey
1934	Road to Ruin Road to Ruin Road to Ruin is the fourth studio album by the American punk rock band The Ramones. It was released on September 22, 1978 through Sire Records...	Ann Dixon
1934	School for Girls	Eleanor
1939	North of Shanghai	Undetermined Role	Uncredited
1940	The Westerner	Janice	Uncredited
1942	Parachute Nurse	Company "C" Girl	Uncredited
1948	Call Northside 777 Call Northside 777 Call Northside 777 is a documentary-style film noir directed by Henry Hathaway. It is based on the true story of a Chicago reporter who proved that a man, who had been in prison for murder, was wrongly convicted 11 years before....	Secretary	Uncredited Alternative title: Calling Northside 777
1948	Good Sam Good Sam Good Sam is a 1948 American romantic comedy-drama film starring Gary Cooper as a Good Samaritan who is helpful to others at the expense of his own family. The film was directed by Leo McCarey and produced by McCarey's production company, Rainbow Productions.-Cast:*Gary Cooper as Samuel R....		Uncredited
1952	Never Wave at a WAC	Captain Finch	Uncredited Alternative title: The Private Wore Skirts
1956	Around the World in 80 Days	Extra	Uncredited

External links