Helen Lynd, also known as Helene Lynch, (January 18, 1902 – April 1, 1992) was an American actress and comedienne active on stage and in film.
Born in Jersey City, New Jersey on January 18, 1902,[1] Helen Lynd began her career in 1919 as a chorus girl in Ned Wayburn's Demi Tasse Revue at the Capitol Theatre on Broadway.[2] In her early career she performed under the name Helene Lynch, and it was this name that she used in tryout performances of a new musical, Phil Charig's Yes, Yes, Yvette, in Boston in May 1927.[2] By the time Yes, Yes, Yvette reached Broadway's Sam H. Harris Theatre on October 3, 1927, she was billed as Helen Lynd in the role of Mabel Terry; her first significant part on the stage for which The New York Times reviewer praised her execution of "low comedy".[3]
In 1928 Lynd returned to Broadway as Frankie Shultz in the Jack Yellen and Milton Ager musical Rain or Shine at George M. Cohan's Theatre which was written as a starring vehicle for comedian Joe Cook.[4] She left that production later in the year to star as Penny in Oscar Hammerstein II and Vincent Youmans's short lived musical Rainbow at the Gallo Opera House.[5] After this she starred in the music revues The Little Show (1929-1930) and The Earl Carroll Vanities (1931-1932).[1] Her other Broadway credits included Ladies' Money (1934, as Margie), Battleship Gertie (1935, as Gertie), The Hook-up (1935, as Virginia Bryce), and The Illustrators' Show (1936, multiple roles).[1]
After the mid-1930s, Lynd was primarily active as a film actress in California into the late 1940s. She began her film career in 1930 starring in the short films Purely an Accident[6] andWedding Bells.[7]
Helen Lynd died in Beverly Hills, California on April 1, 1992.[1] She was married to the talent agent Al Melick.[8]