Helen Gallagher Dies: Two-Time Tony Winner & ‘Ryan’s Hope’ Matriarch Was 98
deadline.comHelen Gallagher, who won Tony Awards for Pal Joey and No, No, Nanette before starring as Maeve Ryan for all 13 seasons of daytime soap Ryan’s Hope, died November 24.
She was 98. Playbill confirmed the news of social media. Gallagher already was a singing, dancing and acting veteran of numerous Broadway shows when she was cast as Gladys Bumps in the Chicago-set 1952 musical Pal Joey.
Starring opposite Harold Lang and Vivienne Segal, she won the Tony for Best Featured Actress in a Musical. She went on to appear in such Golden Age Broadway musicals as The Pajama Game, Mame, Finian’s Rainbow and Sweet Charity, earning a second Featured Actress Tony nom for playing Mickie alongside Gwen Verdon and Ruth Buzzi.
She also performed in revivals of such classics as Guys and Dolls and Brigadoon. In 1970 she was cast as the original Lucille Early in Broadway’s No, No, Nanette, earning a Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical.
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