Helene Turner

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Helene Turner
Born1899 or 1900
DiedNovember 10, 1969; aged 69
OccupationFilm editor
Years active1929–1941; 1954–1962
Spouse(s)J. Raymond Friedgen
(? – 1966, his death)
Dick Currier
(m. 1969)

Helene Turner (1899 or 1900 – November 10, 1969), sometimes credited as Helen Turner, was an American film editor who worked in the industry for over 30 years, beginning during the silent era.[1][2][3]

Career

For part of her career, she worked as a cutter at Florida's Sun Haven Studios.[4] There was also a period where she was employed by Paramount.[5][6] She received a writing credit on the 1958 film noir Hong Kong Affair. She was noted for cutting a number of serials for Republic,[7] which may help explain how she came to be onstage in the July 1937 debut production of the recently formed Republic Studio Club, a farce entitled Buckshot and Butterflies, penned by cast member King Kennedy and directed by Ralph Byrd.[8] She would appear in at least one additional RSC production, another actor-penned original, in April 1940.[9]

Personal life and death

Until his death in 1966, Turner was married to her onetime writing partner, producer John Raymond Friedgen.[10] In July 1969, she married her fellow former editor, Dick Currier.[1]

Although little is known of Turner's life, either pre- or post-Hollywood, one very brief item–"Turner Given Leave," published by the Hollywood Reporter in 1939, may shed light on both.[11]

Survived by her husband, Turner died, following a short illness, on November 20, 1969, aged 69, in Laguna, California.[1]

Selected filmography

References

  1. "Obituaries: Helene Friedgen". Variety. November 19, 1969. p. 71. ProQuest 962987487. Helene Turner Friedgen, 69, retired film editor, died Nov. 10 after short illness in Laguna, Calif. She was a charter member of Motion Pictures Film Editors, Local 776. Surviving is husband Dick Currier, also a retired film editor, whom she married last July.
  2. Cochard, Chuck (July 15, 1945). "Hollywood Star-Lites". The Iberville South. p. 17. Retrieved August 18, 2026 – via Newspapers.com. Woman's place in the cinematic sun is growing. [...] A woman film editor won the Academy Award this year–Barbara McLean, for editing 'Wilson' [...] Ann Bauchens won the award a few years ago. Other film editors who have been handling big and important pictures include Dorothy Spencer, Margaret Booth, Eda Warren, Viola Lawrence, Alma Ruth Macrorie, Helene Turner, Irene Morra, Marguerite, Francisco, Blanche Sewell and Adrienne Fazan. In the writing there are many top writers on the distaff side ... In creative work, the female of the species is fully as capable as the male— so the records prove anyway.
  3. Koszarski, Richard (2008-08-27). Hollywood on the Hudson: Film and Television in New York from Griffith to Sarnoff. Rutgers University Press. ISBN 9780813545523.
  4. "13 Oct 1933, 7 - Tampa Bay Times at Newspapers.com". Newspapers.com. Retrieved 2019-02-16.
  5. "25 Jun 1933, 4 - The Tampa Tribune at Newspapers.com". Newspapers.com. Retrieved 2019-02-16.
  6. Hole, Kristin Lené; Jelača, Dijana; Kaplan, E. Ann; Petro, Patrice (2016-11-10). The Routledge Companion to Cinema & Gender. Routledge. ISBN 9781317408048.
  7. Starbrite (1999). Forgotten Horrors - The Definitive Edition by George E. Turner and Michael H. Price (Starbrite).
  8. "Studio Club Will Present Play Four Times". Los Angeles Examiner. March 2, 1938. p. 8. Retrieved August 18, 2026 – via Newspapers.com. REPUBLIC STUDIO CLUB will present its first annual play for four performances, starting tonight at the Professional Players Theater, 1642 North Las Palmas, in Hollywood. Titled 'Buckshot and Butterflies,' it is a farcial comedy, written by King Kennedy and directed by Ralph Byrd. The cast includes King Kennedy, Helene Turner, William Thompson, Helen Wix, Irving Berlin, Marian Williams, Ezra Paul, Mary Polson, Robert Walker, Jeanette Cohen, Milla Lucille Walker, Granate, Jack Lawrence, Hinda Means, Billy Gilbert and Margaurite Draper.
  9. "Rep. Studio Club In Play Wednesday Night". The Hollywood Reporter. April 15, 1940. p. 11. ProQuest 2297343289. The Republic Studio Club will present an original stage show, 'Presented at Court,' written by members of the Club, at the Troupers theatre on Las Palmos avenue Wednesday night and for three nights thereafter. The show is being produced by Walter Goetz and directed by Eddie Kay. In the cast are Lillian Jensen, Eddie Tree, Johnny McCarthy, Toby Rosenbloom, Helene Trner.
  10. California, Deaths and Burials, 1776-2000", FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:HG7F-WL2M : Mon Aug 10 03:33:31 UTC 2026), Entry for John Raymond Friedgen and Friedgen, 3 March 1966.
  11. "Turner Given Leave". The Hollywood Reporter. April 15, 1939. p. 3. ProQuest 2297276351. Helene Turner, Republic film editor, draws a three-month leave of absence. She will go east for a rest.
  12. Walliser, Mary Louise (July 29, 1935). "Anglers' Dreams Come True in Deep Sea Fishing Picture". San Antonio Evening News. p. 7. Retrieved August 18, 2026 – via Newspapers.com. SHARING honors in excitement with "Scarface" at the Aztec Theater this week is one of the most vivid and interesting short subjects yet to appear this year. It is called 'Fish From Hell', and presents three reels of the sort of deep-sea fishing so many enthusiasts of the rod and reel dream about but never really experience. [...] Narrated exceptionally well by Wilfred Lucas, who also wrote the continuity of the film, 'Fish From Hell' has been edited from random shots into a picture of fairly clever consistency. [...] Helene Turner handied the editing of the many feet of film which the fishermen brought back with them from the trip.
  13. Martin, Len D. (2001). The Allied Artists Checklist: The Feature Films and Short Subjects of Allied Artists Pictures Corporation, 1947–1978. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company. p. 64. ISBN 0-7864-1113-9. "SP : Herman G. Luft, Paul F. Heard, J. Raymond Friedgen, Helene Turner"