Helen Biggar

Helen Biggar

(1909 - 1953)

Sculptor, film maker, costume designer

Born in Glasgow. Helen Biggar studied textiles at Glasgow School of Art and then went on to make sculpture. Biggar was politically active and during the 1930s used film and then theatre (she was closely involved with the Glasgow Workers' Theatre Group from 1938) to express her radical views. One of her more important collaborations was 'Hell Unlimited', a short co-produced with Norman McLaren in 1936. Biggar later moved to London where she continued to work in film and theatre design. She died of a brain haemorrage in St Mary Abbot's Hospital, Paddington, London.

A documentary about Biggar's life and work was produced by the Birmingham Film Workshop. It was based on an unpublished biography by her niece, Anna Shepherd called 'Traces Left'.

In 2014 a detailed account of Helen Biggar's life was published by Anna Shepherd entitled 'Helen Unlimited: a Little Biggar'.