Helen Bonfils

Helen Gilmer Bonfils (November 16, 1889 – June 6, 1972) was an American actress, theatrical producer, newspaper executive, and philanthropist. Born in Peekskill, New York, to newspaper publisher Frederick Gilmer Bonfils and his wife Belle Barton Bonfils, she was raised in a strict Catholic household alongside her older sister, Mary Madeline Bonfils. The family relocated first to Kansas in 1894 and then to Denver in 1895, where her father and his partner Harry Heye Tammen acquired and renamed The Denver Post. Bonfils attended an elite private girls' school in Denver before completing her education at the National Park Seminary in Forest Glen Park, Maryland.

Her theatrical ambitions took root in Denver, where she performed with the Elitch Stock Theatre and participated in the Civic Theatre at the University of Denver. She also acted at the Bonfils Memorial Theatre and appeared on Broadway under the stage name Gertrude Barton, her mother's maiden name. Her Broadway credits include the 1947 play Topaze.

Bonfils married English actor and theatrical producer George Somnes in 1936, having met him when he was engaged by the Elitch Theatre that same year. Together they formed the Bonfils & Somnes Producing Co., through which they co-produced plays in Denver and New York City, including The Greatest Show on Earth in 1938, in which Bonfils also performed. Following Somnes' death from liver failure in February 1956, she continued producing work on Broadway and in London through Bonard Productions, a partnership with actress Haila Stoddard and Donald Seawell, and through Bonfils-Seawell Enterprises. That latter partnership produced the Broadway musical Sail Away in 1962, The Hollow Crown in 1963, The Last Analysis in 1964, and Sleuth, which earned the 1971 Tony Award for Best Play.

In 1933, following her father's death, Bonfils assumed management of The Denver Post as secretary-treasurer of the corporation, eventually becoming president of the company in 1966. She inherited $14 million from her father's estate and a further $10 million upon her mother's death in 1935. A protracted legal dispute with her sister May over their mother's estate resulted in May receiving $5 million, 15% of Denver Post stock, and additional assets, further severing the sisters' relationship. In 1934, Bonfils introduced a free summer series of Broadway plays and light opera staged outdoors at the Cheesman Park Pavilion under the auspices of The Denver Post, drawing audiences of up to 20,000 per performance; the series continued annually until her death in 1972.

In 1959, at the age of 69, Bonfils married her chauffeur, Edward Michael Davis, who was 28 at the time. She filed for divorce in December 1971, which was granted on grounds of cruelty. Davis received the Wood–Morris–Bonfils House, $1.6 million in promissory notes, and $50,000 in cash as part of the settlement.

Lacking heirs, Bonfils directed her fortune toward cultural, educational, and humanitarian causes in Denver and Colorado. She inherited the presidency of the Frederick G. Bonfils Foundation after her father's death, and between 1936 and 1973 the foundation distributed nearly $11 million. Her philanthropic efforts included the establishment of the Belle Bonfils Blood Bank in 1943 in memory of her mother, the Bonfils Tumor Clinic in her father's memory, and the funding of Holy Ghost Catholic Church at a cost of $1.2 million. In 1953 she dedicated the 550-seat Bonfils Memorial Theatre at 1475 Elizabeth Street in Denver, a $1.25 million facility that served as headquarters for the Denver Civic Theatre. She also supported the University of Denver, the Denver Zoo, the Dumb Friends League, the Denver Symphony Orchestra, the Central City Opera, and numerous churches and synagogues.

Upon her death in 1972, both the Frederick G. Bonfils Foundation and the Helen G. Bonfils Foundation redirected their funds to a permanent endowment for the Denver Center for the Performing Arts. Bonfils was posthumously inducted into the Colorado Women's Hall of Fame in 1985 and the Colorado Performing Arts Hall of Fame in 1999.