Volume III: Biographies

HILTON, Helen *

Actress (1915)

Thanhouser Career Synopsis: Helen Hilton appeared in a Thanhouser film in 1915.

Biographical Notes: There were two actresses named Helen Hilton, who were active on the stage during the 1910-1920 decade. One may have been the Thanhouser player:

1. Helen Hilton spent her youth in San Francisco, after which she went to New York City to attend a school of drama. On graduation day she was given a letter of introduction to Henry B. Harris, the stage producer and manager, who subsequently signed her to a small part in The Lion and the Mouse, following which she joined the cast of The Chorus Lady, which toured America and England. Later, Harris assigned her to the rehearsal of The Country Boy, in Buffalo, New York, where she scored a success, after which she toured with the play in 1911 and 1912, at which time she was still a relatively young woman.

2. Helen Hilton, an older woman, made the news when, as a chorus girl bound for an engagement as a prima donna in Havana, she missed her steamer on January 31, 1903 and thus missed her promotion to this high role. Miss Hilton was with Frederick Warde's Shakespeare company on tour during the winter season of 1910-1911. Two seasons earlier, she was on stage in The Devil. The widow of Hon. Hope Polhill, solicitor general, she was at one time a prominent society figure. She appeared on stage under the name of Helen Hoose, in the role of Rosalie LaGrange in The 13th Chair, in 1919. Miss Hilton (or Hoose) was the sister of Ellison Van Hoose, a famous tenor.

Thanhouser Filmography:

1915: The Game (8-1-1915)

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