Helen Hayes

This 'First Lady of the American Theater' began her illustrious eight-decade-long career as a child actress on the Washington stage at age five. By age nine, Hayes had made her Broadway debut and was soon starring as the embodiment of sunny optimism, "Pollyanna". Around the same time, she made her film debut in the 1910 short "Jean and the Calico Cat" and appeared in other New York-produced films as a juvenile.

As a young adult, the petite, sweet-featured but plain-looking Hayes triumphed in a series of comic ingenue roles, most notably in "Dear Brutus", during the 1920s. ("I was squeezing cuteness out of my greasepaint tubes and scooping charm out of my cold cream jars", she later said.) She also proved herself a serious dramatic performer and was acclaimed for her humanized, accessible portrayals of British queens, in Maxwells Anderson's "Mary of Scotland" (1933) and--a touchstone performance--"Victoria Regina" (1935).

Hayes won an Oscar for her Hollywood debut in the weepie, "The Sin of Madelon Claudet" (1931), scripted by her husband Charles MacArthur, and was also hailed for her work in Frank Borzage's "A Farewell to Arms" (1932) and for reprising her stage role in "What Every Woman Knows" (1934) as a seemingly self-effacing, manipulative wife. Nonetheless, by 1935 MGM had given up trying to make a movie star out of her and Hayes returned to the stage for the next 15 years.

Hayes did not return to films until she was ready for character parts, beginning with her performance as the over-wrought mother of a communist son in "My Son John" (1952), followed by her moving work as the judgmental grand duchess in "Anastasia" (1956). Retiring from the stage in 1971, she found herself in demand as "cute", feisty characters, like the eccentric passenger in "Airport" (1970), a performance which netted her a second Oscar. During the same period she became a fixture in Disney films like "Herbie Rides Again" (1974) and "Candleshoe" (1977), starred opposite Mildred Natwick as mystery writers-turned-sleuths on the TV series "The Snoop Sisters" (1973-74) and even essayed the role of Agatha Christie detective Miss Marple in the 1983 made-for-TV movie "The Carribean Mystery".

Hayes was married to playwright-screenwriter Charles MacArthur from 1928 until his death in 1956; their son, James MacArthur, is an actor.

• Also Credited As:
  Helen Hayes Brown
• Born:
  October 10, 1900 in Washington, DC
• Died:
  March 17, 1993.
• Job Titles:
  Actor

Milestones

• 1905 Professional stage debut at age five as Prince Charles in the Columbia Players production of "The Royal Family" in Washington
• 1909 Broadway acting debut, "Old Dutch" (under the management of Lew Fields)
• 1910 Short film debut, "Jean and the Calico Cat"
• 1916 Starred on Broadway as the title character in "Pollyanna"; toured with production through 1918
• 1917 Feature film debut, "The Weavers of Life"
• 1931 First major Hollywood film, "The Sin of Madelon Claudet"
• 1933 Made transition from popular stage actress to serious actress with the title role in Maxwell Anderson's "Mary of Scotland"
• 1935 Starred on Broadway as Queen Victoria in "Victoria Regina"; toured in play through 1938
• 1940 Hosted own radio program, "The Helen Hayes Theatre"
• 1948 London stage debut as Amanda Wingfield in "The Glass Menagerie" (directed by John Gielgud)
• 1950 Returned to New York stage after daughter's death in "The Wisteria Tree"
• 1950 TV debut in "The Late Christopher Bean" on "Pulitzer Prize Playhouse"
• 1951 Debut as a stage producer on Broadway, "Mary Rose"
• 1955 Fulton Theater on Broadway, renamed the Helen Hayes Theater in her honor (razed in 1984 to make way for the Marriott Marquis Hotel)
• 1955 Paris stage debut as Mrs Antrobus in "The Skin of Our Teeth"
• 1961 Travelled through 28 different countries throughout South America and Europe on a US State Department sponsored tour starring in "The Glass Menagerie" and "The Skin of Our Teeth"
• 1964 Formed the Helen Hayes Repertory Company, which sponsored university tours of Shakespeare recitals
• 1966 Joined the APA-Phoenix Repertory Company
• 1971 Retired from the stage due to an allergic reaction to stage dust
• 1984 Second theater (formerly the Little Theater) renamed in her honor as the Helen Hayes Theater (after the previous theater was razed to build a hotel on the site)
• 1992 Hospitalized for exhaustion February
• First appeared on stage as Pease-Blossom in "A Midsummer Night's Dream" at Holy Cross Academy
• Member of the Columbia Players' for four season; appeared in "Little Lord Fauntleroy", "The Prince Chap" and "The Prince and the Pauper" while attending Holy Cross (usually appearing in two plays a summer)
• Raised by paternal grandmother
• Triumphed on Broadway as Harriet Beecher Stowe in "Harriet"