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| Helen Gardner became a star playing Becky Sharp in Vitagraph's VANITY FAIR (1911). In early 1912, she launched her own independent production company, Helen Gardner Picture Players, and established a studio on the border between Old Tappan, NJ and Tappan, NY. Gardner was the first United States film star to form her own production company. Hers was the first company formed around a single star and the first dedicated solely to the production of full-length feature films, then a new and controversial idea. | ||||||||
| Her first independent production was CLEOPATRA (1912), in which she also starred. CLEOPATRA was the country's first full-length, 6000' feature film. It won critical and popular acclaim and played for many years throughout the United States, Britain, Europe, and Russia. A SISTER TO CARMEN (1913), Gardner's third independent production, was restored by her granddaughter, Dorin Gardner Schumacher, with the help of a grant from New York Women in Film and Television. Because of the roles Gardner played in CLEOPATRA, A SISTER TO CARMEN and her other productions, she is considered the screen's first vamp. |  | |||||||
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| In addition to being an actress and pioneering producer, she was one of the earliest women scenarists, directors, and film editors. From 1910 to 1924, Gardner appeared in at least 62 films, including the 10 independent features she produced. Sixteen of the films in which she appeared are known to survive, in whole or in part. Dorin Gardner Schumacher gives talks on Helen Gardner and presents screenings of A SISTER TO CARMEN. She is writing a book about Gardner's life and career. For more information, contact her at doringardner@gmail.com | ||||||||