Wikipedia

Percy Helton

Percy Alfred Helton (January 31, 1894 – September 11, 1971)[2] was an American stage, film, and television actor. He was one of the most familiar faces and voices in Hollywood of the 1950s.

Percy Helton
Helton in 1913
Born
Percy Alfred Michel[1]

(1894-01-31)January 31, 1894
Manhattan, New York City, U.S.
DiedSeptember 11, 1971(1971-09-11) (aged 77)
Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Resting placePierce Brothers Westwood Village Memorial Park and Mortuary
OccupationActor
Years active1896–1970
Spouse
Edna Eustace Helton
​
​
(m. 1931)​

Career edit

Helton was born in Manhattan. He began acting at the age of two, appearing in vaudeville acts with his British-born father William Alfred "Alf" Helton.[3][4] He was a cast member in the Broadway production of Julie BonBon (1906).[2] Helton performed in stock theater[5] and in other Broadway plays.

Helton joined the United States Army in World War I. Deployed to Europe with the American Expeditionary Forces, he was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for his duty with the 77th Infantry Division's 305th Field Artillery.[6]

 
Stage juvenile Helton (early 1900s)

A change in his voice altered Helton's career. He remained in acting but chiefly as a character actor in a wide range of films and television programs in the 1950s and 1960s. Among those programs were three guest appearances on Perry Mason, including the role of Asa Cooperman in the 1961 episode "The Case of the Pathetic Patient", as a pawn broker in the 1961 episode "The Case of the Torrid Tapestry", and as a hotel clerk in the 1965 episode "The Case of the Careless Kitten."

Films in which he performed include the comedy Miracle on 34th Street (1947), the films noir Criss Cross (1949), The Crooked Way (1949), The Set-Up (1949), Wicked Woman (1953), and Kiss Me Deadly (1955), and the comic Western Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969).

Partial filmography edit

Television appearances edit

Commercial appearances edit

  • Mandom, Japanese Perfume Commercial (1976) as Hotel Doorman

References edit

  1. ^ https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:2W9T-X41
  2. ^ a b "Percy Helton". Internet Broadway Database. The Broadway League. Archived from the original on March 4, 2020. Retrieved March 4, 2020.
  3. ^ "What's-His-Name Is Really Last of Leprechauns". Valley Times. California, North Hollywood. March 15, 1969. p. 20. Retrieved March 4, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ https://www.familysearch.org/search/ark:/61903/1:1:2W9T-X41
  5. ^ "Juvenile Roles Were Specialty of Percy Helton". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Pennsylvania, Philadelphia. April 21, 1935. p. 57. Retrieved March 4, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ Obituary, "Percy Helton, Actor in 200 Films, Is Dead." The New York Times. September 14, 1971. Retrieved April 6, 2017.

External links edit

 
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