Helen Bennett; Actress, Beauty Queen

Helen Bennett, 89, beauty queen, model and character actress known for her blond coiffure. Born in Springfield, Mo., Bennett was named Miss Missouri in 1937. After attending the University of Missouri and the acting school of the Goodman Theater in Chicago, she became a model in New York City. She also appeared in such 1940s Broadway shows as “Dream Girl.” Monsieur Leon, a prominent New York hairstylist who championed the well-groomed “new look” in the late 1940s, named Bennett along with actresses Claudette Colbert, Kathryn Grayson, Gertrude Lawrence and Norma Shearer as the five women in America with the best-dressed hair. In Hollywood, Bennett appeared in such movie serials as “Lost City of the Jungle” and “The Scarlet Horseman” in 1946, and the movies “On the Threshold of Space” in 1956 and “Return to Peyton Place” in 1961. She had also worked in radio and was a founding member of the Pacific Pioneer Broadcasters. On Sunday in Santa Monica.