by Hal Erickson
biography
The daughter of a Texas oil executive, trim blonde actress Helen Vinson had a respectable Broadway career behind her when she made her first film, Jewel Robbery, in 1932. Seldom a leading lady, Vinson carved her cinematic niche in bewitching other-woman roles. She had the gift of conveying truculence and connivance by merely batting an eyelash or murmuring a sweet nothing. From 1935 to 1936, Vinson made films in London, the home of her then-husband, tennis star Fred Perry. Helen Vinson retired from films after her supporting role in The Thin Man Goes Home (1945).
