Helen Kane

Photo Gallery

Click on any of these thumbnails to see the full-size image, which will open in a new window. If you have any pictures of Helen that you'd like to share, please don't hesitate to send them to me!

Helen looks very innocent in this early autographed photo. It reads, 'To H.C. Branch--/Very Sincerely/Helen Kane.'Sheet music for 'I Owe You,' a ballad from the 1930 film 'Dangerous Nan McGrew.'Helen striking a pose on the sheet music for 'He's So Unusual.'  In the corner it says, 'Introduced with great success by Miss Helen Kane/The Musical Comedy Star.'A photo sent out to fans by Helen's official fan club.Sheet music for 'Ain'tcha?', a song from the 1930 film 'Pointed Heels.'Helen on the cover of the sheet music for 'Bashful Baby,' a song by Cliff Friend and Abner Silver. If anyone has the lyrics for this song, please let me know.

A very cute still of a confused Helen, from the film 'Pointed Heels.'A still from the 1929 film 'Nothing But the Truth,' with Helen (center), Lynn Gibson (left), and Richard Dix.This photo was sent out by by the film studio at the request of fans, and has her 'autograph' printed in the corner.Beautifully colorized sheet music cover for 'Don't Be Like That.'A cute still from the film 'Sweetie,' with Jack Oakie.A pretty picture of Helen from a 1929 issue of 'Photoplay' magazine.

Another Helen picture from 'Photoplay.'  This one appeared in a 1920 issue.  The captions read: 'Hot from Broadway came little Helen Kane—dimples, contours, pouts, baby voice and great big, begging eyes.  So successful were her dimples, etc., that in four months she had worked in three talking and singing pictures for Paramount, the latest being 'Pointed Heels.'  Now she 'boopa-doops' for joy! // Helen Kane was born in the Bronx, New York City, on August 4, ???  She is five feet two inches tall; weighs 119 pounds and has brown hair and brown eyes.  Helen’s real name is Schroeder'Helen KaneSheet music for 'I Have to Have You,' from the movie 'Pointed Heels.'A glamourous shot of Helen on the cover of the sheet music for 'Do Something.'This picture accompanied an article about Helen in a magazine called 'Films of the Golden Age.'  The article was written by Eve Golden, and can be read in its entirety in the 'Biography' section of this website.This autographed picture reads, 'Good Wishes, Helen Kane.'

Sheet music from the Paramount extravaganza 'Paramount on Parade,' which co-starred Helen.  She did not sing this particular song, however.A cute wallet picture in typical Helen Kane style.The cover of the CD 'Helen Kane: The Original Boop-Boop-a-Doop Girl.'  Click on the 'Discography' section to buy this album for yourself!A promo for Helen's second film, 'Sweetie.'  Helen is pictured at the bottom of the poster.  On March 13, 1930, 'Sweetie' was the first talkie ever screened at the Minor Theatre (the oldest movie theater in the United States).Sheet music for one of Helen's popular songs, 'Don't Be Like That.'  The caption reads, 'Helen Kane (The Personality Girl.'  This photo appeared on the cover of many of Helen's sheet music releases.Helen Kane

A beautiful picture of Helen.A later Helen Kane album, recorded in the mid-50s after her appearance on the popular television show 'This Is Your Life.'Sheet music for 'That's My Weakness Now.'An unusually serious and very glamourous shot of Helen, autographed in the corner, 'To Jerome Zipkici [?]/Sincerely/Helen Kane.'From a postcard, circa 1930.Helen's autograph: 'To Audrey/Most Sincerely/Helen Kane/Boop-boop-a-do.'

A cartoon by Bernard Schmittke.A lobby photo for 'Dangerous Nan McGrew,' a movie in which Helen starred.'To Eddie/My very best wishes/Helen Kane/Boop boop/a do.'Some sort of handbill or promotional poster for the 1929 film 'Sweetie,' starring Helen Kane and Jack Oakie.  On the right you can see a small picture of Helen sitting on a loveseat, and another of Helen and Jack together.A melancholy autographed picture.  The autograph says, 'To Richard/My little friend/Boop boop a do.'A simple and very pretty picture of Helen.  The autograph reads, 'To Sylvan/dearest wishes/to you/Helen Kane/Boop boop a do.'

Helen in white fur.  Thank you to John T. Chiarella for donating this picture!A photograph of Helen's tombstone donated by John T. Chiarella.A picture of Long Island National Cemetery in Farmingdale, NY, where Helen is buried.  This photograph was donated by John T. Chiarella.A photograph of Helen from the height of her career.  This picture appeared in a newspaper in the 1950s.This 1953 photo of Helen in good spirits was printed in a newspaper in the 1950s, alongside a picture from her younger years.Sheet music for the popular song 'I'd Go Barefoot All Winter Long (If You'd Fall for Me in the Spring).'

An advertisement for the film 'Sweetie,' featuring Helen in a top hat.  The picture is billed as a 'Campus Romance - Set to Music.'A colorized photograph.A very cute portrait of a young Miss Kane.'The Gem Dance Folio of 1929,' which features the songs 'Don't Be Like That' and 'Is There Anything Wrong in That?,' among others.A rare color still of Helen as she appeared in the film 'Dangerous Nan McGrew.'Helen looking glamorous in a fur stole and fashionable hat.

Daydreaming?A sexy, seemingly Mae West-inspired photograph from the early days.Another picture of Helen with her hat and fur stole.This picture is both unusual and cute!  Helen sits coyly at a piano in a lovely dress adorned with flowers.A newspaper clipping about Helen's legal battle.  The headline reads, 'Boop-a-Doop Girl Sues for Damages.'  The caption underneath Helen's photograph reads, 'Helen Kane, famous boop-boop-a-doop girl, who is suing film producers for $250,000 damages the charge that they stole her style of booping, is here shown in New York's Supreme Court as she demonstrated her art.'Appearing very delicate and vulnerable.

Another newspaper clipping about Helen's legal battles - in this one, a photo of Helen appears next to a photo of Bonnie Poe and Mae Questal, two women who provided voices for Betty Boop.  Both women testified that they did not attempt to copy Helen's voice or mannerisms for the character of Betty Boop.  (It should be noted that Questal was chosen as the voice of Betty Boop after winning a Helen Kane sound-alike contest.)Helen on the cover of 'London Life' magazine, June 7, 1930.'The BOOP-BOOP-A-DOOP Girl!,' an LP that Helen released in the 1950s in an attempt to revive her career.A photocopy of a newspaper article about Helen's legal woes.  The headline reads, 'Sues for $250,000.'An advertisement for the film 'Nothing But the Truth,' starring Richard Dix and Helen Kane.One of Helen's modest headshots.

Helen has an idea while reading 'Romantic History.'The caption to this picture reads, 'Helen Kane as she appeared in the Paramount college comedy <i>Sweetie</i> (1929).'A little picture of Helen in a fabulous ruffled party dress.An exceptionally beautiful but uncommonly sad photograph of Helen.A still from the 1930 film 'Heads Up.'A very soft and pretty autographed picture.  'To Kurtz Myers/Sincerely/Helen Kane/Pooh-Pooh-a-do.'

By far the most beautiful picture I have ever seen of Helen!  This is my new personal favorite.  The inscription reads, 'To Mr. Mick - To a pleasant week at the mansion and a Merry Xmas - Helen Kane'A happy portrait.Helen as a schoolteacher, spanking an unruly student.  This is a reference to her role in the 1930 studio-wide extravaganza, 'Paramount on Parade.'A very colorful slide from the film 'Sweetie.'  Notice that Helen receives star billing - above the title! - despite the fact that this is only her second film.A still from 'Sweetie'.  I'm not sure if Helen appears in this photograph - is she the brunette in the middle in the first row?

Click here to go home