Helen Hayes

**Helen Hayes Brown** (October 10, 1900 – March 17, 1993) was an American actress. Her career lasted for almost 70 years. Known as the "First Lady of the American Theatre", she is one of only twenty one  people to win all four main American entertainment awards - Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony. Hayes also received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1986, the National Medal of Arts in 1988 and was awarded at the Kennedy Center Honors in 1981. Two Broadway theaters are named after her.

## Early life

Hayes was born in Washington D.C. on October 10, 1890. She was an only child. Her mother, Catherine Estelle Hayes, was an actress of Irish ancestry. Her father, Francis van Arnum Brown, was a meat salesman.

Hayes was an accomplished child. She went to a dancing school and sang very well. She began a stage career at the age of five, pushed by her mother. She also took her mother's maiden name as her stage name. By the age of ten, she had made a short movie. In 1917 Hayes graduated from the Academy of the Sacred Heart Convent in Washington.

## Career

Her first sound movie _The Sin of Madelon Claudet_ (1931) brought her Academy Award for Best Actress. The part she played in it was written by her husband, Charles MacArthur. Among her other successful movies of that time were _Arrowsmith_ (1931), _A Farewell to Arms_ (1932), _What Every Woman Knows_ (1934).

Hayes liked working in theatre. Her most famous performance on Broadway was  the role of Queen Victoria in a play _Victoria Regina_ (1938). She played leading parts in _Coquette_ (1928) and _Mary Of Scotland_ (1933) as well. _Harvey_ (1970) became her last hit on stage. Hayes had to retire from theatre because of her asthma condition.

She continued her work in movies. Hayes won her second Academy Award in 1970 for _Airport_. This time for Supporting role. During the later part of her career she was often in series and movies made for television. She successfully portrayed legendary character Miss Marple in several movies in 80s.

## Personal life

Hayes met her husband, Charles MacArthur, a playwright, in 1927. They married in August 1928. They had a daughter, Mary, born in 1930. She became involved in acting, but died from polio at age 19. In 1938 Hayes and Charles adopted a son, James MacArthur, who grew up to be an actor.

Charles MacArthur died in 1956. He had many years of illness and grief caused by his daughter's untimely death. Hayes never married again.

She published four autobiographies: _A Gift of Joy_ (1965), _On Reflection_ (1968), _Twice Over Lightly_ (1972), and _My Life in Three Acts_ (1990).

## Death

Hayes died on March 17, 1993 from heart failure in the hospital of Nyack, New York. She was 92. She was buried in the Oak Hill Cemetery, next to her husband and daughter.

## Movies

|Year|width="225"|Title|width="250"|Role|Notes|
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|1917|_The Weavers of Life_|Peggy||||
|1928|_The Dancing Town_|(leading role)|short film|||
|1931|_The Sin of Madelon Claudet_|Madelon Claudet|Academy Award for Best Actress|||
|_Arrowsmith_|Leora Arrowsmith|||||
|1932|_A Farewell to Arms_|Catherine Barkley||||
|_The Son-Daughter_|Lian Wha 'Star Blossom'|||||
|1933|_The White Sister_|Angela Chiaromonte||||
|_Another Language_|Stella 'Stell' Hallam|||||
|_Night Flight_|Madame Fabian|||||
|1934|_Crime Without Passion_|Extra in hotel lobby|(uncredited)|||
|_What Every Woman Knows_|Maggie Wylie|||||
|1935|_Vanessa: Her Love Story_|Vanessa Paris||||
|1938|_Hollywood Goes to Town_|Herself|Short film|||
|1943|_Stage Door Canteen_|Herself||||
|1952|_My Son John_|Lucille Jefferson||||
|1953|_Main Street to Broadway_|Herself||||
|1956|_Anastasia_|Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna|Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress - Motion Picture Drama|||
|1959|_Third Man on the Mountain_|Tourist|uncredited|||
|1961|_The Challenge of Ideas_|Herself - Narrator|Short movie, documentary|||
|1969|_Arsenic and Old Lace_|Abby Brewster|TV movie|||
|1970|_Airport_|Ada Quonsett|Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress|||
|1971|_Do Not Fold, Spindle, or Mutilate_|Sophie Tate Curtis|TV movie;  Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress - Miniseries or a Movie|||
|1972|_Harvey_|Veta Louise Simmons|TV movie|||
|1974|_Herbie Rides Again_|Mrs. Steinmetz|Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress in Musical or Comedy|||
|1975|_One of Our Dinosaurs Is Missing_|Hettie||||
|1976|_Victory at Entebbe_|Etta Grossman-Wise|TV movie|||
|1977|_Candleshoe_|Lady St.Edmund||||
|1978|_A Family Upside Down_|Emma Long|TV movie; Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress – Miniseries or a Movie|||
|1982|_Murder Is Easy_|Lavinia Fullerton|TV movie|||
|1983|_A Caribbean Mystery_|Miss Jane Marple|TV movie|||
|1985|_Murder with Mirrors_|Miss Jane Marple|TV movie|||

## Other websites

- Official site

## Infobox (person)

- **name**: Helen Hayes
- **image**: What Every Woman Knows 1934.JPG
- **imagesize**: 230px
- **caption**: from _What Every Woman Knows_ (1934)
- **birth name**: Helen Hayes Brown
- **birth place**: Washington, D.C., United States
- **death place**: New York (state), New York, United States
- **occupation**: Actress
- **years active**: 1917–1985
- **spouse**: (his death)