Judith Wood

Judith Wood (1 August 1906 – 6 April 2002) was an American film actress active from the last 1920s through the 1940s.

Judith Wood was born as Helen Carey Johnson on August 6, 1906, in New York City, New York.

She did her schooling in New York and studied fine arts at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, New York, after which she continued her studies for another two years in Paris. 

After retiring back to America, she became a fashion stylist for Rowland Hussey Macy's department store and subsequently worked as a commercial artist in an advertising agency. 

In the late 1920s, she relocated to Hollywood, California, to pursue an acting career. 

Wood made her acting debut in 1929, aged 9, with director Roy Del Ruth's musical comedy Gold Diggers of Broadway, starring Nancy Welford, Conway Tearle, and Winnie Lightner. She was credited as "Helen Johnson" in this and her next 5 films in the next two years: The Divorcee (1930), musical comedy Children of Pleasure(1930), crime drama Soldiers and Women (1930), Sin Takes a Holiday (1930), and It Pays to Advertise (1931).

In 1931, she was voted a WAMPAS Baby Star; she was one of the 13 girls along with actresses Marian Marsh, Karen Morley, Marion Shilling, and Barbara Weeks. Thereafter, she adopted the stage name "Judith Wood".

Her first credit at Judith Wood was in director John Cromwell's 1931 crime drama The Vice Squad, in which she played the character of "Madeleine Hunt" alongside Paul Lukas and Kay Francis.

Also in 1931, she was seen in 4 other films: drama Women Love Once, drama The Road to Reno, comedy Girls About Town, and drama film Working Girls. That year, she was injured in an automobile accident and spent months in recuperation. 

In late 1932, Wood appeared on stage in the original Broadway production of 

Edna Ferber and George S. Kaufman's play Dinner at Eight, playing the part of "Kitty Packard". In the film production of the play in 1933, the role of Kitty went to Jean Harlow.

In 1934, Wood was seen playing the role of "Blanche Flynn", a blackmailing ex-con, in director John S. Robertson's drama The Crime Doctor. After this film, Wood's career declined and she appeared in a handful of films, such as Looking for Trouble (1934), Riffraff (1936), and Rhythm Racketeer (1937). Rhythm Racketeer was also her last credited role. 

In 1939, she got married and practically retired from acting. After her divorce, she made a failed comeback, appearing in three uncredited roles in They Met in Bombay(1941), Beyond the Forest (1949), and The Asphalt Jungle (1950, her last appearance.)

She did briefly work as a radio actress, but it largely went unnoticed.

Wood once was in a relationship with actors William Powell and Robert Montgomery. She later suggested that her many affairs may have had a bearing on her declining career.

On 17 March 1939, she married Percival Rupert Christopher Wren, son of English writer Percival Christopher Wren (Beau Geste fame), in Tokyo, Japan. The marriage ended in divorce. 

Wood died of natural causes on April 6, 2002, in Los Angeles, California. She was 95.

• The Divorcee (1930)
• Children of Pleasure (1930)
• Sin Takes a Holiday (1930)
• It Pays to Advertise (1931)
• The Vice Squad (1931)
• Women Love Once (1931)
• The Road to Reno (1931)
• Girls About Town (1931)
• Working Girls (1931)
• The Crime Doctor (1934)
• Looking for Trouble (1934)
• The Asphalt Jungle (1950)