RIP Helen Gallagher

[verywellthensigh]

Posted: 11/26/24 at 9:37pm

I'm sure a lot of people on this board don't know who she is, but...damn.  What a career.

https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Tony-and-Emmy-Winning-Actor-Helen-Gallagher-Dies-At-Age-98-20241126

https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/helen-gallagher-67578

 

[broadwaybaybee22]

Posted: 11/27/24 at 6:44am

verywellthensigh said: "I'm sure a lot of people on this board don't know who she is, but...damn. What a career.

https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Tony-and-Emmy-Winning-Actor-Helen-Gallagher-Dies-At-Age-98-20241126

Being older not only do I recall Miss Gallagher and her amazing talents as both a theater actress winning 2 Tony Awards but also the many years she was on ABC daytime television  portraying Irish matriarch Maeve Ryan on ABC'S Ryan's Hope. That show was a career start for many great tv and movie actors including Kate Mulgrew and  Marg Helgenberger. Gallagher  said on interviews that the theater has always been her calling.  🙏 RIP Helen Gallagher.  

 

Updated On: 11/27/24 at 06:44 AM

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 11/27/24 at 7:47am

She was also the original Nickie in Bob Fosse’s original 1966 Broadway production of SWEET CHARITY and she was Gwen Verdon’s Charity understudy, filling in for her during her vacation break and taking over the role till the show closed on Broadway in July 1967. 

[inception]

Posted: 11/27/24 at 8:13am

Found this on YouTube. 

 

[robertsouth]

Posted: 11/28/24 at 1:59am

verywellthensigh said: "I'm sure a lot of people on this board don't know who she is, but...damn. What a career.

https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Tony-and-Emmy-Winning-Actor-Helen-geometry dash lite-Gallagher-Dies-At-Age-98-20241126

https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/helen-gallagher-67578

"

 

What other notable roles did she play on Broadway?

 

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 11/28/24 at 4:03am

I grew up knowing how beloved she was on Ryan's Hope (even though it was cancelled when I was 9, I do remember her annual singing of Danny Boy.)

It wasn't until I bought the remastered OBCR of Sweet Charity (I think it came out in 1999?) that I realized what a Broadway name she was at the time.  The OBCR has bonus tracks that include interviews with cast and stars attending the opening of SC.  And so much of the excitement is about Helen Gallagher making her Broadway "comeback" (I believe she hadn't been on Broadway in about 9 or 10 years, since Portofino.)  Which made me realize just how highly she was regarded.

It's too bad that when Gwen left Sweet Charity she only got to play the role for three weeks before they decided to close the show.  She returned to the role of Nickie for the first tour.