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.Helen Hayes - Awards http://www.helenhayes.com/about/awards2.html  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.Rick Jean.Helen HAYES (1900-1993) -- The "First Lady of Theater."  . Rootsweb.com. 1 Feb 2003. 

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).Columbia Encyclopedia: Helen Hayes.

 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.Helen Hayes at Find a Grave http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=1798

 Movies 
YearTitleRoleNotes 1917  The Weavers of Life  Peggy   1928  The Dancing Town  (leading role)  short film1931  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

 References 

 Other websites 


 Official site

Category:1900 births
Category:1993 deaths
Category:Actors from Washington, D.C.
Category:American autobiographers
Category:American movie actors
Category:American stage actors
Category:Deaths from heart failure
Category:American Emmy Award winners
Category:American Grammy Award winners
Category:American Academy Award winning actors
Category:Tony Award winning actors
Category:Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients