Wissenswertes

According to "Claude Rains: An Actor's Voice", she and Claude Rains were friends from the time they were in the Theatre Guild together in New York. When James Whale ordered Claude Rains to watch movies to observe film acting in preparation for his role in "The Invisible Man", Helen Westley was his film watching companion.

On December 12, 1942, she became the fifth famed character actress to die in within a short span of time, the others being (Dame) Marie Tempest (October 15); May Robson (October 20); Edna May Oliver (November 9); and Laura Hope Crews (November 13).

Both she and Edna May Oliver portrayed Parthy Hawks in "Show Boat" - Westley onscreen in Show Boat (1936), and Oliver onstage in 1927 and 1932. Both actresses passed away, within a month of each other, in 1942.

According to the Film Daily Year Book for 1936, she was represented by Frank Orsatti of the Simon Agency.