Helen Hayes

Photo of Helen Hayes

Biography

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 …

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Job Title

Actor

Born

January 1, 1970

Career Milestones

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"

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

Awards

1932

Academy Award for Actress in The Sin of Madelon Claudet

1947

Tony Award for Actresses (Dramatic)

1956

Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama in Anastasia

1958

Primetime Emmy Award for Actress-Best Single Performance-Lead or Support in The Alcoa Hour

1958

Tony Award for Actress (Dramatic)

1970

Academy Award for Actress In a Supporting Role in Airport

1972

Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Single Performance By an Actress In a Leading Role in Do Not Fold, Spindle or Mutilate

1974

Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Comedy Or Musical in Herbie Rides Again

1976

Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress For a Single Performance in Hawaii Five-O

1978

Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress In a Drama or Comedy Special in A Family Upside Down

1980

Tony Award for Lawrence Langner Memorial Award for Distinguished Lifetime Achievement in the American Theatre

1988

Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Technical Direction/Electronic Camera/Videon Control For a Miniseries or a Special in The Kennedy Center Honors: A Celebration of the Performing Arts