Helen Gallagher

Helen Gallagher (born July 19, 1926) is an American actress, dancer, singer and makeup artist. She was born in New York City of Irish, French, and English descent.

Gallagher was known for decades as a Broadway performer. She appeared in Make a Wish, Hazel Flagg, Portofino, High Button Shoes, Sweet Charity, and Cry for Us All. Multi-talented, but fiery, Gallagher once reportedly kicked an actor (who tried to upstage her) into the orchestra pit, according to Merv Griffin, who once appeared in Finian's Rainbow on Broadway with her.^[1]

In 1952, she won a Tony Award for her work in the revival of Pal Joey. In 1971, she won her second Tony Award for her role in the revival of the musical No, No, Nanette, which also starred Ruby Keeler and Patsy Kelly. Her show-stopping song and dance number with Bobby Van from that show, "You Can Dance with Any Girl," is preserved on the cast album of that revival, and on the internet's bluegobo.com. Helen appeared in the 1977 movie Roseland opposite Christopher Walken. An aficionada of Rodgers and Hammerstein, she appeared on a special tribute to Richard Rodgers on The Bell Telephone Hour.

Despite her extensive work on Broadway, she is perhaps best known as the gentle Irish American matriarch, Maeve Ryan, on the soap opera Ryan's Hope, a role she played for the show's entire duration, from 1975 to 1989. Creator and head writer Claire Labine had much affection for the character of Maeve, and as such, focused much loving care and attention in crafting her development. As a result, Gallagher's motherly character quickly came to be portrayed as the heart and soul of the show. She was nominated for five Daytime Emmy Awards for her work on the serial, winning in 1976, 1977, and 1988.

As the show progressed further into the 1980s, the ratings took a steep slide. When ABC executives decided to cancel Ryan's Hope, Claire Labine decided to end the final episode with Maeve at the family bar, Ryan's, singing her favorite tune, Danny Boy.

Since the cancellation of Ryan's Hope, Gallagher has appeared in All My Children and One Life to Live and in various Off-Broadway productions, although she considers herself in "semi-retirement." She currently is on the faculty of HB Studio in New York City.

References

External links

• Helen Gallagher at the Internet Broadway Database
• Helen Gallagher at the Internet Movie Database
• Helen Gallagher at the Internet Off-Broadway Database