Actress Helen Gilbert can be seen alongside Mickey Rooney in this photo that ran in the Sentinel in 1939.

FAIRMONT — At 7 p.m. on August 13, 2021, the Pioneer Museum in Fairmont will be showing a Helen Gilbert movie. Gilbert, an actress in the 1930’s through the 1950’s, was a resident of Fairmont at one time and still has relatives in Martin County. For more information on the showing or Gilbert herself, people are invited to contact the Pioneer Museum or it’s Website for more information.

According to information provided by the museum, Gilbert was was the daughter of Mr. & Mrs. Vaughan Gilbert, nee Scheff. In addition, according to a Sentinel article dated March 14, 1939, her grandparents were Mrs. Helen Gilbert of Fairmont and Mr. & Mrs. Frank Scheff of Welcome.

Gilbert was born in Warren, Ohio, in 1915. Her father ran a music store which gave her the opportunity to learn to play a number of musical instruments. She became an accomplished cellist and played with the MGM Orchestra in the Hollywood Bowl. This is where she was “discovered” by director W. S. Van Dyke.

According to a Sentinel article from June 30, 1939, directors who watched the orchestra noticed the beautiful girl and wanted her to have a screen test. Orchestra conductors argued “Why lose a great cellist just to have another actress?” The article states that Van Dyke then arranged a screen test, the test won a contract, and Miss Gilbert, who had never acted in her life, went on to give a great performance.

The article goes on to say that Gilbert’s family moved several times before ending up in Hollywood, and that she never had the “slightest idea” of becoming an actress. When she did finally take to acting, Gilbert stated that she would keep up with her music for pleasure, and that her greatest ambition would be to play in Carnegie Hall.

According to information provided by the museum, although she had roles in numerous movies from 1939 to 1956 with well-known actors such as Robert Young, Charles Coburn, Buster Keaton, Lionel Barrymore, and Mickey Rooney, her acting talents were considered less than stellar and greatly overshadowed by her personal life. She was frequently the topic of gossip columns as a result of her many affairs, marriages, separations, and divorces. In addition to her six marriages, she was seen publicly with many notable figures such as actors Tom Harmon and Dennis Day, billionaire businessman Howard Hughes, and many other celebrities of that era.

Her movie career, coupled with some brief TV appearances, and her colorful personal life spanned from the late 1930s to the 1950s.

Her sixth and final marriage was to H. O Bryant in 1952, ironically, a somewhat obscure figure compared to the other men in her life. This marriage lasted until Bryant’s death in 1987. Helen Gilbert passed away in 1995 in Los Angeles, California, at the age of 80.

Gilbert’s first starring role in a movie is what will be shown at the Museum. For more information please contact the Pioneer Museum at (507)-235-5718 or its website at www.fairmont.org/mchs