Helen Chandler

Her remains were cremated in accordance with her wishes but remained unclaimed at the Chapel of the Pines Crematory. Jane Darwell has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for her contribution to Motion Pictures, at 6735 Hollywood Boulevard. She died April 30, 1965 from cardiac arrest during surgery for a stomach ulcer in Hollywood, California. She died from a heart attack in Woodland Hills, California and was interred in Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery. Her alcoholism continued unabated. Always popular within the film industry, her final role as the old woman feeding the birds in Mary Poppins was personally given to her by Walt Disney. She survived but her face was badly scarred, and ruled out any chance of a comeback. By the end of her career she had appeared in more than 170 films, including Huckleberry Finn (1931), Roman Scandals (1933), Jesse James, The Rains Came, Gone With the Wind (all 1939), The Ox-Bow Incident (1943), My Darling Clementine (1946) and Caged (1950).

In 1950, Chandler was severely burned in an apartment fire, caused by her falling asleep while smoking. She won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress as Ma Joad in The Grapes of Wrath (1940), a role she was given at the insistence of the film's star, Henry Fonda. She was hospitalised several times but was unable to gain control over her life. Short, stout and plain faced she was quickly cast in a succession of films usually as the mother of one of the major characters. By this time she was battling alcoholism and her acting career declined. After a 15 year absence from films, she resumed her film career in 1930 with a role in Tom Sawyer, and her career as a Hollywood character actress began. Among her stage successes of the 1930s were Pride and Prejudice in 1935, and a reprise of her role in Outward Bound in 1938. She appeared in almost twenty films over the next two years before returning to the stage.

She achieved more successes in A House Divided (1931) and Christopher Strong (1932) and began dividing her time between Hollywood and Broadway. She began her acting career in theater productions in Chicago and made her first film appearance in 1913. Once again, Chandler received plaudits for her performance. Born Patti Woodward in Palmyra, Missouri, Darwell originally intended to become a circus performer, however her family objected and she compromised by becoming an actress. Chandler did not want to play the role for which she is probably best remembered, as Mina Harker in Dracula as she wanted to play Alice in Alice in Wonderland, but this part was given to Charlotte Henry, and Chandler, disappointed, joined David Manners and Bela Lugosi in "Dracula". Jane Darwell (October 15, 1879 – August 13, 1967) was an American theater and film actress. Chandler, with her blonde hair and ethereal quality was considered to be perfectly cast, and she received critical praise for her performance.

The unusual story told of a group of passengers on an ocean liner who gradually realise that they are all dead. She made her film debut in 1927 in 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. Within a few years she was playing Shakespearean roles opposite such highly regarded performers as John Barrymore. Born in Charleston, South Carolina, Chandler began her acting career on Broadway in 1917.

Helen Chandler (February 1, 1906 – April 30, 1965) was an American film and theater actress.