Helen Meinardi

Helen Meinardi
Born	July 7, 1909 Chicago, Illinois, USA
Died	March 31, 1997 Carmel, California, USA
Education	Indiana University
Occupation	Screenwriter
Relatives	Hoagy Carmichael (brother-in-law)

Helen Meinardi (1909-1997) was an American screenwriter and songwriter who wrote a string of films in the 1930s.

Biography

Helen was born in Chicago, Illinois, to Garrett Meinardi and Sarah Henderson. Her parents separated when she was young, and her father won custody; however, Sarah briefly kidnapped Helen and Helen's younger sister, Ruth.[1]

She attended the Lucy Cobb Finishing School in Georgia as a young woman before graduating from Indiana University. After college, she worked in New York City for a time before heading to Los Angeles, determined to forge a career for herself in Hollywood.[2]

Helen began writing songs and screenplays in the 1930s; she wrote a number of songs for musician Hoagy Carmichael, who eventually became her brother-in-law.[3] Helen won an RKO contract after writing the story that inspired the 1937 film I Met Him in Paris. In her later years, she worked as a journalist for CBS in New York before retiring to Maine.[4]

Selected filmography

• Cross-Country Romance (1940)
• Next Time I Marry (1938)
• Maid's Night Out (1938)
• I Met Him in Paris (1937)
• Our Blushing Brides (1930)

References

1. "Mother Kidnaps Children From Home of Minister". The Dayton Daily News. 15 May 1913. Retrieved 2019-11-13.
2. Sudhalter, Richard M. (2003-09-17). Stardust Melody: The Life and Music of Hoagy Carmichael. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780195168983.
3. "Little Old Stardust". The Republic. 12 Aug 1937. Retrieved 2019-11-13.
4. "A Maine Writer: Maine State Library". www.maine.gov. Retrieved 2019-11-13.