Helen Gardner

A stage actress who was an alumni of the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, Helen Gardner made her film debut with Vitagraph Pictures in 1911. In that year she appeared in Vanity Fair (1911), to critical acclaim. The next year she formed her own film production company, Helen Gardner Productions--as far as is known, the first film actress to do so--to make feature films that would be directed by her husband, Charles L. Gaskill. Her best known picture during that period was Cleopatra (1912). After making films on her own for a few years, she returned to Vitagraph in 1915 only to retire shortly thereafter, although she did return in the early '20s for a few small parts.