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.

[Impeach2017]

Posted: 11/28/24 at 8:31pm

I think she was in the revival of No No Nanette back in the seventies, so she goes way back.  

[verywellthensigh]

Posted: 11/28/24 at 8:59pm

robertsouth said: "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?

"

Her Broadway credits are in the second link I posted. 

[Jarethan]

Posted: 11/28/24 at 9:06pm

I saw her in 3 Broadway shows: Sweet Charity as Nickie, twice in No No Nanette, twice in Who to Love / Cry for Us All (title changed after Boston.  She was a very talented performer who had a lot of charisma.  I don't know how the Gods decide who is going to be a star vs. a respected performer.  She should have been a star.  Talent and stage presence.

May she rest in piece.

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 11/28/24 at 9:48pm

Impeach2017 said: "I think she was in the revival of No No Nanette back in the seventies, so she goes way back."

 

[Zeppie2022]

Posted: 11/28/24 at 11:00pm

"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."

She was great on "Ryans Hope" which I thought was very good soap opera. Ms. Gallagher was one of the few cast members to stay with the show its entire run. The series concluded with Ms. Gallager singing "Danny Boy". RIP Helen Gallagher.

[thirtythirtyninety]

Posted: 11/29/24 at 8:42am

I’ve always loved her performance on the No No Nanette cast album, one of my all time favorite cast recordings ♥️

RIP

[goldenboy]

Posted: 11/30/24 at 9:46am

Helen Gallagher was Broadway

She was the maid  Nancy in High Button Shoes which made Broadway notice her in a supporting dancing role.

That lead to Jule Styne creatiing Hazel Flagg for which she played the lead. It's claim to fame is that it became a Jerry Lewis movie with Jerry starring in the role of Hazel now changed to Homer.

 Her star faded a bit a  s Gwen Verdon came to light in Can Can and stole some of the dancing limelight from Helen Gallagher.

She came back strong supporting Gwen Verdon in Sweet Charity as well as understudying Verdon.

She created the lead role in Cry for Us All.. the musical version of Hogan's Goat -- a play that a few years earlier launched  Faye Dunaways career.

She took over as Gooch in Mame  from Jane Connell but the Revival of No No Nanette opposite Bobby Van and Ruby Keelr  made her Broadway Royalty again and she won a Tony Award.

She taught for many years at HB Studio teaching Musical Theatre.

Other credits include Sugar Babies, Brigadoon as a dancer, Finians Rainbow, Guys and Dolls, Billion Dollar Baby and she took over for Carole Haney in Pajama Game

Gallagher was Broadway and she will be missed.