Auto Accident
She was filming Heaven Only Knows when an auto accident drastically disrupted her career. On December 31, 1946, while driving the car of director Bruce "Lucky" Humberstone from Palm Springs to Hollywood, she gave a ride to three hitchiking soldiers named Robert E. Lee, Philip Mercado, and Joseph Montaldo. Near Redlands, California, the car hit a divider and flipped over, killing Lee and causing serious injuries to Helen and the other two passengers. She was charged with drunk driving and reckless driving, and Mercado brought a civil suit for $150,000 against her.
Her criminal trial for manslaughter ended with a dismissal on the motion of San Bernardino County District Attorney Jerome B. Kavanaugh.
Read more about this topic: Helen Walker
Famous quotes containing the word accident:
“As soon as I suspect a fine effect is being achieved by accident I lose interest. I am not interested ... in unskilled labor.... The scientific actor is an even worker. Any one may achieve on some rare occasion an outburst of genuine feeling, a gesture of imperishable beauty, a ringing accent of truth; but your scientific actor knows how he did it. He can repeat it again and again and again. He can be depended on.”
—Minnie Maddern Fiske (1865–1932)