Helen Biggar

Biography

Helen Biggar was born in the Hyndland area of Glasgow on 25th May 1909, the eldest of three daughters to Hugh and Florence Biggar. Her family were socialists and both her father and uncle were involved in local politics. Although during her childhood she suffered from various ailments and accidents, including an operation to remove a tubercular gland from her neck, and two spine injuries which left her permanently short in size. Due to this, she attended a school for handicapped children in 1918 and in 1825 she was admitted to the Glasgow School of Art (GSA). In 1929 she was awarded a diploma in textile design and followed this with post-graduate work in sculpture. Her artistic flair was put to good use over the next 15 years, mainly in Glasgow, where she worked as a sculptor in a variety of studios, producing works for local patrons. In 1934 she met Norman McLaren and began to work in film, producing a number of scripts and film treatments, usually with local or political interest. Their 1936 short Hell Unltd (1936) is still widely regarded as one of the most innovative and important political films ever made in the UK, and featured the ground-breaking use of live action and animation. She continued to make films for Glasgow Kino Film Group (these are currently not listed on IMDB). In 1938 Biggar began a long association with the Glasgow Workers'; Theatre Group, designing their agitprop stage shows, some of which toured to the Edinburgh Festival and to London. She eventually moved to Londion permanently, where, on 11th October 1948 she married collaborator and fellow artist Eli Montlake. Whilst in London she resumed her film-making activities, including a contribution to the documentary Ta-ra-ra-boom-de-day (A Century of Song) (1946), but she also continued her theatre work and in 1950 she was appointed wardrobe mistress and costume designer for the dance company Ballet Rambert. Helen Biggar died of a brain haemorrhage on 28th March 1953 at St Mary Abbot's Hoaspital in London. Her cremation, at Golder's Green was attended by her many friends and luminaries from the artistic, theatrical and ballet worlds.