Helen Menken

Helen Menken (December 12, 1901 – March 27, 1966) was an American actress.

Life and career

Menken was born Helen Meinken in New York City, to a German-French father, Frederick Meinken, and an Irish-born mother, Mary Madden. Originally a teenage actress who made her Broadway theatre debut in Parlor, Bedroom and Bath in 1917. Her greatest stage triumphs were Seventh Heaven in 1922–1924 (Janet Gaynor played her role of Diane in the 1927 classic film); Mary of Scotland in 1933–1934 as Elizabeth I opposite Helen Hayes in the title role (Katharine Hepburn played Mary in the 1936 film version); and The Old Maid, the Pulitzer Prize-winning play that starred Menken and Judith Anderson in 1935. Bette Davis would recreate Menken's role as the spinster with a secret in the 1939 film version.

Menken's final Broadway appearance was in an unsuccessful play named The Laughing Woman, which ran for less than a month in 1937. She was active on radio in the 1940s (starring in Second Husband and notably recreating her performance opposite Judith Anderson in a 1946 radio adaption of The Old Maid) and a major presence behind the scenes in the theater world, especially at the American Theatre Wing. She received a special Tony Award posthumously in 1966 for her work.