- Gained fame for her portrayal of an adventurous young woman in the "Hazards of Helen" serials, a series of films in which railroads played a great part (she was either jumping onto, off, running across the tops of, or escaping from railroad cars, locomotives, train stations, etc.). By coincidence, when she was growing up in Chicago her father was an employee of the Illinois Central Railroad. The films were directed by her then-husband, J.P. McGowan. Also by coincidence, when McGowan was growing up in Australia his father, who had immigrated from Scotland, worked for the South Australian and later the New South Wales Railways.
- Performed her own stunts in the Kalem serial The Hazards of Helen (1914).
- Introduced to her husband J.P. McGowan by Mabel Normand.
- Entered films with Mack Sennett at Keystone in 1912.
- Co-founded, with husband J.P. McGowan, production company Signal Films.
- Holmes is now celebrated in Las Vegas, where she did pioneer filming, and where a copy of a tribute song is held. Also known in South Australia, where J.P. McGowan was born in 1880 and is still celebrated in his birthplace, Terowie. The centenary of their Hazards of Helen series was written up in Neatorama.
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