Helen Marie Twelvetrees (December 25, 1908 – February 13, 1958) was an American movie and theatre actress, who became a top female star through a series of "women's pictures" in the early 1930s.

Biography

Twelvetrees was married three times. She married her first husband, actor Clark Twelvetrees, in February 1927. During the marriage, Clark attempted suicide by jumping out a window. He was hospitalized for several months afterwards. In March 1930, she filed for divorce, citing mental cruelty. During the divorce trial, Twelvetrees claimed that Clark was an alcoholic who was drunk when they married and beat her on four occasions. Their divorce became final in March 1931. Clark Twelvetrees died in August 1938 of a skull fracture after striking his head on a curb when a man who witnessed him hitting a woman with whom he was arguing attempted to intervene.

Twelvetrees married real estate broker Frank Woody in April 1931. They had a son, Jack Bryan Woody, born in October 1932, who became a wildlife biologist. She filed for divorce in March 1936, and it was finalized the following month.

She married for a third and final time to farmer and Air Force captain Conrad Payne (13 November 1916 – 2 March 1970) in 1947. After their marriage, Twelvetrees occasionally acted in stage productions but largely retired from acting. She spent her remaining years traveling around the world with her husband, who was stationed in the United States and Europe.