Anne Helm

Anne Helm is a Canadian-born actress and children's author who was active in performance from the early 1940s through 1986. Born on September 12, 1938, she began her training in ballet at age 12 with the National Ballet Guild of Canada and continued her studies at the Metropolitan Opera Ballet School at age 14.

Helm's professional career began on Broadway, where she performed as a dancer in three musicals during the 1940s: High Kickers in 1941, Lady in the Dark in 1943, and Mexican Hayride in 1944. She returned to Broadway in 1958 as an actress, taking on the role of Sally Reece in the comedy Cloud 7 and the role of Edwina Booth in the play Edwin Booth. Her Broadway work thus spanned from 1941 to 1958. During the intervening years of the 1950s, Helm modeled clothing for teenage girls in New York, appeared in commercials, and danced at the Copacabana nightclub.

Helm's television career began with a guest appearance on The Phil Silvers Show, in which she played a contestant in a beauty pageant. Her 1958 performance in the title role of Shirley Temple's Storybook's presentation of "The Sleeping Beauty" was covered in an article in Life magazine. She made her motion picture debut in 1960, the same year she was cast as Linda Moon in the episode "A Thief or Two" on CBS's The DuPont Show with June Allyson, opposite co-star Lew Ayres.

In 1961, Helm appeared in an episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents titled "The Changing Heart" and later in a second episode of that series, "The Big Kick." That year she also guest-starred in the premiere episode of ABC's Bus Stop, appeared in the Route 66 episode "The Clover Throne," played Glamis Barlow in the Perry Mason episode "The Case of the Duplicate Daughter," and appeared as a drug-addicted gun moll in The Untouchables episode "Mankiller." She also appeared in the syndicated crime drama The Brothers Brannagan and guest-starred in an episode of the CBS sitcom My Sister Eileen with Elaine Stritch and Shirley Bonne.

Helm gained national recognition in 1962 for playing Holly Jones, the love interest of Elvis Presley, in the film Follow That Dream. That same year she appeared in The Magic Sword opposite Basil Rathbone and Gary Lockwood, the British comedy The Iron Maiden, and The Interns. She was originally cast as Joan Crawford's daughter Carol in William Castle's 1964 film Strait-Jacket but was replaced before filming. Additional film credits from the decade include Honeymoon Hotel in 1964, The Unkissed Bride in 1966, and the horror film Nightmare in Wax in 1969.

Her television work continued extensively through the 1960s. She appeared in two episodes of the CBS Western Rawhide in 1961 and 1962, and made three separate appearances on Wagon Train between 1962 and 1963, each time in a different role. In January 1963 she guest-starred in the Laramie episode "Protective Custody," playing Alicia, the estranged daughter of a stage line official. She played two separate characters across two episodes of Gunsmoke, and appeared in the series finale of Empire in 1963. She returned to Route 66 in 1963 for the episode "Narcissus On An Old Red Fire Engine." In 1962 she was cast as Jennie Metcalf in the Death Valley Days episode "Girl with a Gun."

In 1964, Helm appeared as Nora Martin in The Fugitive episode "Ballad for a Ghost" and as Sable Delacroix in a 1964 episode of Burke's Law. She held the recurring role of Amy in the ABC drama The Long, Hot Summer from 1965 to 1966, and appeared twice in The Big Valley, both times in episodes involving main cast member Lee Majors — first in October 1965 as Brydie Hanrahan and again in March 1968 as Nancy. In 1967 she appeared in Twelve O'Clock High, and in 1968 she made her third appearance on The F.B.I. within three years, appeared as Irene Park in the first season of Hawaii Five-O, and appeared in a season nine episode of Bonanza as a teacher. In 1969 she played Karen Mallory in The Virginian episode "Journey to Scathelock."

Helm had the recurring role of Molly Pierce in five episodes of the mid-1960s series Run for Your Life during its 85-episode run, and served as a regular cast member on the ABC soap opera General Hospital from 1971 to 1973, playing nurse Mary Briggs. Her final screen credit came in 1986 with an appearance in the episode "The Doll" on Steven Spielberg's anthology series Amazing Stories.

Following the conclusion of her acting career, Helm turned to writing children's books under the name Annie Helm. Her book The Sunshine Angel Book for Angel Workers of All Ages was published in 1992, followed by The Little Angel Workbook for Children of all Ages in 1993, and Babystar in 2018.

In her personal life, Helm was married to author John Sherlock from 1968 to 1969, with whom she had a son, Peter Sherlock. Her second marriage, to actor Robert Viharo in 1971, produced a daughter, Serena Viharo, who also became an actress. Helm and Viharo divorced in 1979.