Helen Lord (d. 1911),
American musical comedy actress,
as she appeared as successor to Edna May as Violet Gray in The Belle of New York
(photo: C.J. Horner, Boston, USA, circa 1899)
This real photograph cigarette card in one of the series issued in England about 1900 with Ogden’s Guinea Gold Cigarettes shows Helen Lord in one of the costumes for Violet Gray in which she succeeded Edna May, the originator of that part in The Belle of New York.
‘Wonder if Hugh Morton realized when he dashed off the book of The Belle of New York that he was creating therein a character which would bring prominence to everyone who played it? “Violet Gray,” the Salvation Army lassie, certainly takes first place among the light characters creations of the last dozen years. It is not because of its originality nor yet is it due to any remarkably meritorious music that “Violet” scores so heavily. It is the decided and pleasant contrast which the character offers to every other in the play, in all probability, that lends to it its peculiar charm. Edna May’s unparalleled career could only have been made possible by such a part. Helen Lord, her successor and a chorus girl, therefore, has become prominent since she essayed the character. Now the news comes from Australia that Louise Willis Hepner, the pretty but not overtalented blonde who used to play “Jack” in Jack and the Beanstalk, has aroused the greatest enthusiasm in the same character.
‘The Belle of New Yor, by the way, has made a success in Australia. In Melbourne they did not take so very kindly to it, but that was a guarantee that in Sydney, if it had the least merit, it would certainly meet with a fair share of success. It has “caught on” in the latter city beyond every expectation and the individual “hits” in the cast have been many. Belle Bucklin plays the little French candy girl, made popular by Phyllis Rankin. Oscar Girard wobbles [sic] not unpleasantly in “Dan” Daly’s shoes and other not widely known actors are spoken highly of.’
(The Herald, Syracuse, New York, Sunday, 2 July 1899, p.10a)
‘In Gay Paree at the new York.
‘the management of the New York Theatre announces the last week of The Man in the Moon, Jr. In Gay Paree, with a new book by Edgar Smith, music by Ludwig Englander, and new costumes, will be put on Nov. 6 for two weeks. This move has been made by Mr. Lederer in order to open his new theatre, the Columbia, in Boston, with The Man in the Moon, Jr., which will be transferred there. The cast of In Gay Paree will include Joseph Ott, Ferris Hartman, Gilly Gregory, Billy Gould, William Cameron, Kitty Loftus, Helen Lord, Maude Young, and others. Fougere and a new travesty by George V. Hobart on Barbara Frietchie will be special features.’
(The New York Times, New York, Monday, 30 October 1899, p.7e)
Helen Lord as Violet Gray in The Belle of New York
(photo: unknown, USA, circa 1900)
‘Helen Lord, who made an excellent impression in Edna May’s part in The Belle of New York, has decided to go into vaudeville, presenting a singing act.’
(The Sunday Herald, Syracuse, New York, Sunday, 9 December 1900, p.18e)
‘Miss Helen Lord, who is now with Frank Daniels in Miss Simplicity will be starred in an opera company of her own next year.’
(The North Adams Transcript, North Adams, Massachusetts, Monday, November 1901, p.4d)
‘Helen Lord and Raymond Hubbell, composer of The Runaways, are to be married shortly.’
(The Fort Wayne News, Fort Wayne, Indiana, Saturday, 4 July 1903, p.3b)
‘Composer’s Wife Passes Away.
‘Hornell, N.Y., Jan. 8 [1911] – – Helen Lord Hubbell, wife of Raymond Hubbell, the composer is dead here. Mrs. Hubbell as Helen Lord had a brilliant stage career a few years ago when she succeeded Edna May in The Belle of New York.’
(The Evening Telegram, Elyria, Ohio, Tuesday, 3 January 1911, p.5e)
Footlight Notes 