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Helen Dale
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born:
06 December 1900* (*circa) Norfolk, Virginia, United States of America |
died:
14 March 1946 Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, United States of America (congestive heart disease/alcoholism, age 40s) |
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Blonde (formerly Titian-haired) American actress whose film career began in the early 1920s in silent comedies, including serving as leading lady for Bobby Dunn in some of his Arrow comedies of 1922, and continued through the 1930s at latest. Trying to figure out Helen Dale's origins is a complicated process. We have three different birthplaces to work with (Kansas, Illinois, and [Norfolk,] Virginia), possible birth years ranging from 1896 to 1907, and her full name, and her parents' names and birthplaces, all seemed to change ever so slightly (especially her mother's) from record to record. Adding to these complications is the fact that I (Jesse) cannot locate her nor her family in earlier United States Censuses (1900 or 1910), nor can I locate records for her parents. In listing her information below, I opted to take the "narrative" record by record (rather than try to tell a linear story as I usually would). The birth years listed below by her ages as given on various records are relative to the 6 December birthdate as given on her death certificate. On 20 August 1918, Hazel Dell Williams married auto salesman Frank Crofford Smith (age 26, from Kansas City, Missouri) in San Francisco, California. On the certificate, Hazel lists her age as 21 (b. 1896), her birthplace as Kansas, and her parents as Bert Williams (b. Illinois) and Sarah Smith (birthplace not known); she resides at the Bernard Hotel. The Smiths are listed together in the 1920 Census, with Frank C. (age 26 -- again -- and b. Missouri) working as a clothing store salesman and Hazel D. (a.k.a. Helen; age 21 -- again, so now b. 1898 -- and now b. Illinois, with her father b. in the United States and her mother b. Virginia) working as a motion picture actress. Helen was granted a divorce from Mr. Smith in September 1921, citing desertion and cruelty. On 27 August 1924 -- six years and one week after her first knot-tying -- Hazel Helen Dellmae Williams, daughter of Jane Lee Helen (Dale) and Bert L. Williams, married then-assistant director and future Roach director Lewis R. Foster. This certificate gives her age as -- once again -- 21 (now b. 1902), and has her living at 1710 Harvard in Hollywood, CA; it gives her birthplace as Virginia, which is also given as the birthplace for both of her parents. Los Angeles newspapers show that Hazel H. Foster filed for divorce from Louis [sic] R. in November 1929; by the 1930 Census, she and Lewis were living separately, with Helen Mae Foster -- age 25 (b. 1904), she and parents all b. VA -- living at 421½ Stanley Ave. in Los Angeles. The L.A. papers list Hazel H. Foster as filing again in August 1930, and this time, the divorce was granted a month later. Sometime between 1942 and 1946, it appears Helen married Paul Odell Bragdon (1894-1948); in the 1942 Los Angeles City Directory, both Helen and Paul were living at Whitley Heights Apartments at 1930 Whitley Avenue (Helen was living there as early as 1935, per the 1940 Census, which lists her as living in the "same house" then as she was in 1940). She and Paul were living at the Regent Hotel (6162 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood, CA) at the time of her death. Helen Dale Bragdon, a "retired actress" of "stage and screen," died there at 4:00pm on 14 March 1946, of congestive heart disease (12 months) due to malnutrition and alcoholism. Helen's death certificate (with information provided by Bragdon) adds still more confusion to her origins; it now gives us a full date of birth -- specifically, 6 December -- but gives the year as 1907 (in the 1940 Census, Helen gives her age as 32, which also suggests a claim of 1907). Her birthplace is given as Norfolk, Virginia (which, statewise, matches the 1924 marriage record and the 1930 and 1940 Censuses), and her parents are listed as Bert Anthrim (rather than Williams, which, based on earlier records, I am going with as the actual family name) and Sarah Mae Dale (birthplaces of both unknown). She was buried at Inglewood Park Cemetery in Inglewood, California on 19 March 1946. |
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Real name: Hazel Helen Dell Williams |
Films listed on this page: complete Hal Roach filmography. |
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