Helen Chandler

Helen Chandler
Helen Chandler as Mina Harker in Dracula (1931).
Born	(1906-02-01)February 1, 1906 Charleston, South Carolina, United States
Died	April 30, 1965(1965-04-30) (aged 59) Hollywood, California, U.S.
Cause of death	surgical complications
Resting place	Chapel Of The Pines Crematory
Years active	1927–1938
Spouse(s)	Cyril Hume (1930–1934) Bramwell Fletcher (1935–1940) Walter Piascik (?-1965) (her death)

Helen Chandler (February 1, 1906 – April 30, 1965) was an American film and theater actress, best known for playing Mina Seward in the 1931 horror film Dracula.

Born in Charleston, South Carolina, Chandler began her acting career in New York City at the age of nine and was on Broadway two years later in 1917. Her early performances include Arthur Hopkins' 1920 production of Richard III, which starred John Barrymore, Macbeth in 1921 with Lionel Barrymore; Hedvig in Henrik Ibsen's The Wild Duck in 1925 and Ophelia in the 1925 modern dress version of Hamlet starring Basil Sydney. By the time of her first film she had been in over twenty Broadway productions.

She made her film debut in 1927 in the silent film The Music Master and in 1930 joined Leslie Howard, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., and Beryl Mercer for the film version of the stage success Outward Bound. The unusual story told of a group of passengers on an ocean liner who gradually realise that they are all dead and will soon face the Last Judgment. Chandler, with her blonde hair and ethereal quality, was considered to be perfectly cast, and she received critical praise for her performance.

Chandler did not want to play the role for which she is probably best remembered, Mina Harker in Dracula (1931); she wanted to play Alice in Alice in Wonderland,. Chandler joined David Manners and Bela Lugosi in what became one of the most successful movies made until that time. Chandler appeared with Manners that same year in the Lost Generation celebration of alcohol in Paris, The Last Flight, also starring Richard Barthelmess and John Mack Brown. She achieved more successes in A House Divided (1931) and Christopher Strong (1933), all the while dividing her time among films, radio work, and theater roles in Los Angeles, New York and London.