The annual Helen Hayes Awards, which have recognized excellence in professional theatre in greater Washington, D.C., since 1984, are her namesake. In 1955, the former Fulton Theatre on 46th Street in New York City's Theatre District was renamed the Helen Hayes Theatre. When that venue was demolished in 1982, the nearby Little Theatre was renamed in her honor. Helen Hayes is regarded as one of the greatest leading ladies of the 20th-century theatre.[3] Her career spanned 82 years.
A leading philanthropist in later decades, Hayes was most proud of her 49-year association with the Helen Hayes Hospital, a non-profit rehabilitative center overlooking the Hudson River in West Haverstraw, NY.
Early life
Helen Hayes Brown was born in Washington, D.C., on October 10, 1900. Her mother, Catherine Estelle "Essie" (née Hayes), was an aspiring actress who worked in touring companies.[4][5] Her father, Francis van Arnum Brown, worked at a number of jobs, including as a clerk at the Washington Patent Office and as a manager and salesman for a wholesale butcher.[5][6] Hayes's Catholic maternal grandparents emigrated from Ireland during the Great Famine.[7] Hayes attended Dominican Academy's prestigious primary school, on Manhattan's Upper East Side, from 1910 to 1912, appearing there in The Old Dutch, Little Lord Fauntleroy, and other performances. She attended the Academy of the Sacred Heart Convent in Washington and graduated in 1917.[8]
Career
Hayes began a stage career as a five-year-old singer at Washington's Belasco Theatre, on Lafayette Square, across from the White House.[9] By age 10, she had made a short silent film, Jean and the Calico Doll (1910).
In 1955, the Fulton Theatre was renamed for her. In the 1980s, business interests wished to raze that theatre and four others to construct a large hotel that included the Marquis Theatre. Hayes's consent to raze the theatre named for her was sought and given, though she had no ownership interest in the building. Parts of the original Helen Hayes Theatre on Broadway were used to construct the Shakespeare Center on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, which Hayes dedicated with Joseph Papp in 1982.[10] In 1983 the Little Theater on West 44th Street was renamed the Helen Hayes Theatre in her honor, as was a theatre in Nyack, which has since been renamed the Riverspace-Arts Center. In early 2014, the site was refurbished and styled by interior designer Dawn Hershko and reopened as the Playhouse Market, a quaint restaurant and gourmet deli.
Hayes, who spoke with her good friend Anita Loos almost daily on the phone, told her, "I used to think New York was the most enthralling place in the world. I'll bet it still is and if I were free next summer, I would prove it." With that, she convinced Loos to embark on an exploration of all five boroughs of New York. They visited and explored the city; Bellevue Hospital at night, a tugboat hauling garbage out to sea, parties, libraries, and Puerto Rican markets. They spoke to everyday people to see how they lived their lives and what made the city tick. The result of this collaborative effort was the book Twice Over Lightly, published in 1972.
It is unclear when or by whom Hayes was called the "First Lady of the Theatre". Her friend, actress Katharine Cornell, also held that title, and each thought the other deserved it.[11][12] One critic said Cornell played every queen as though she were a woman, whereas Hayes played every woman as though she were a queen.[11]
Hayes was also recognized with additional awards during her career. In January 1968, Philadelphia Art Alliance president Raymond S. Green presented her with the alliance's Award of Merit "in recognition of outstanding creative work of high artistic merit." She had been chosen unanimously by the alliance's drama committee and board of directors, according to alliance executive director James Kirk Merrick who noted, "This award isn't given every year.... It is only presented when we feel someone is deserving. I don't think there can be any question as to how we arrived at choosing Miss Hayes."[13]
Hayes delivered a seconding speech to George H. W. Bush's nomination during the roll call at the 1988 Republican National Convention.[18]
Hayes wrote three memoirs: A Gift of Joy, On Reflection, and My Life in Three Acts. Some of these books' themes include her return to Roman Catholicism (she had been denied communion from the Church for the duration of her marriage to Charles MacArthur, who was a divorced Protestant); and the polio-related death of her 19-year-old daughter, Mary (1930–1949), an aspiring actress. Hayes's adopted son, James MacArthur (1937–2010), had a successful career in acting, including as co-star to Jack Lord in Hawaii Five-O.[19] Hayes guest-starred on Hawaii Five-O in the 1975 episode "Retire in Sunny Hawaii... Forever". She and her son appeared in The Love Boat episode "No Girls for Doc/Marriage of Convenience/The Caller/The Witness".
Hayes was hospitalized a number of times for asthma, which was aggravated by stage dust, forcing her to retire from theater in 1971, at age 71.[20][1]
Her last Broadway show was a 1970 revival of Harvey, in which she co-starred with James Stewart. Clive Barnes wrote, "She epitomizes flustered charm almost as if it were a style of acting... She is one of those actors... where to watch how she is doing something is almost as pleasurable as what she is doing."[21] She spent most of her last years writing and raising money for organizations that fight asthma.
Philanthropy
Riverside Shakespeare Company Shakespeare Center Dedication with Helen Hayes, 1982
Hayes was a generous donor of time and money to a number of causes and organizations, including the Riverside Shakespeare Company of New York City. Along with Mildred Natwick, she became a founding member of the company's Board of Advisors in 1981.[10] She was also on the board of directors for the Greater New York Council of the Girl Scouts of the USA during the early 1970s.
According to her daughter-in-law, HB MacArthur, Hayes took the most pride in her philanthropic work with Helen Hayes Hospital, a physical rehabilitation hospital located in West Haverstraw, New York. She was extremely proud of the strides the hospital made toward the rehabilitation of people with disabilities, saying: "I've seen my name in lights on theater marquees and in letters 20 feet tall on Broadway billboards, but nothing has ever given me greater sense of pride and satisfaction than my 49-year association with this unique hospital."[24]
Hayes at Helen Hayes Hospital in the 1950s
Hayes became involved with the hospital in the 1940s and was named to the Board of Visitors in 1944. In 1974, the hospital was renamed in her honor. She served on the Helen Hayes Hospital Board of Visitors for 49 years, until her death in 1993. In that time, she advocated tirelessly for the hospital and successfully led a fight to prevent its relocation to Albany in the 1960s. In the 1970s, she was instrumental in lobbying for funding to transform the hospital into a state-of-the-art facility.
Hayes also contributed her enthusiastic support to hospital events and fund-raising efforts, including handing out diplomas to the children upon graduation when the hospital was still a pediatric care facility. She also faithfully attended the hospital's annual Classic Race, leading it in a classic car, handing out awards to runners, hand cyclists, and wheelchair racers, and offering the use of her home, Pretty Penny, for a dinner to launch the hospital's endowment fund.[24]
Death
Hayes died on March 17, 1993, of congestive heart failure in Nyack, New York. Hayes's friend Lillian Gish, the "First Lady of American Cinema", was the designated beneficiary of her estate, but Gish had died only 18 days earlier. Hayes was interred in Oak Hill Cemetery in Nyack[25] and was survived by her son, James Gordon MacArthur, and four grandchildren: Charles P. MacArthur, Mary McClure, Juliette Rappaport, and James D. MacArthur died 2nd March 2021 [53] .[19] In 2011, she was honored with a US postage stamp.[26]
Marco Paguia, David Oquendo, Renesito Avich, Gustavo Schartz, Javier Días, Román Diaz, Mauricio Herrera, Jesus Ricardo, Eddie Venegas, Hery Paz, and Leonardo Reyna / Jamie Harrison, Chris Fisher, Gary Beestone, and Edward Pierce (2025)
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