1891-08-11 ( 133 years old ) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
Helen Broderick (August 11, 1891 - September 25, 1959) was a wonderfully funny character comedienne with vaudeville and stage experience, a close friend of Jeanne Eagels. The story goes, that at the age of 14 she ran away from home, because her mother, who appeared in operatic comedy, was totally obsessed by the theatre. Paradoxically, all the people she met turned out to be performers, and Helen (who needed to make a living, after all) ended up where she hadn't wanted to end up - on the stage.
She started out as a chorus girl in the first Ziegfeld Follies in 1907. Her talent for comedy was discovered quite by accident. In 1911, she was understudy to the actress Ina Claire in the Broadway play 'Jumping Jupiter'. One night, Claire was unable to perform and Helen Broderick stood in as the romantic lead. She soon had the audience in stitches, trampling about the stage like an elephant, rolling her big saucer eyes and attempting to croon 'Cuddle Near Me All Day Long' in her rather unique voice. The romance was no more and instead turned into a popular farce with Helen now permanently installed in the lead role. For a while, Helen partnered her husband, Lester Crawford, in vaudeville. In the 1920's, she enjoyed success on Broadway, most notably in 'Fifty Million Frenchmen' ( a role she took to Hollywood in 1931). Her best parts in the movies were as the perennial friend or chaperone of the heroine (an earlier Eve Arden), delivering acidic wisecracks in her inimitable dead-pan manner. She was particularly amusing in Top Hat (1935) and Swing Time (1936) with Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers; and in The Rage of Paris (1938) with Danielle Darrieux.
Movies
Because of Him
1946-01-18
Love, Honor and Goodbye
1945-09-15
3 Is a Family
1944-11-23
Her Primitive Man
1944-05-29
Chip Off the Old Block
1944-02-01
Stage Door Canteen
1943-06-24
Father Takes a Wife
1941-10-03
Nice Girl?
1941-02-21
Virginia
1941-01-28
No, No, Nanette
1940-12-19
The Captain Is a Lady
1940-06-21
Honeymoon in Bali
1939-09-29
Naughty But Nice
1939-06-23
Stand Up and Fight
1939-01-06
Service de Luxe
1938-10-12
The Road to Reno
1938-08-01
The Rage of Paris
1938-06-09
Radio City Revels
1938-02-11
She's Got Everything
1937-12-31
The Life of the Party
1937-09-03
Meet the Missus
1937-06-04
We're on the Jury
1937-02-12
Smartest Girl in Town
1936-11-27
Swing Time
1936-08-28
The Bride Walks Out
1936-07-10
Murder on a Bridle Path
1936-04-17
Love on a Bet
1936-03-06
To Beat the Band
1935-11-23
Top Hat
1935-08-29
50 Million Frenchmen
1931-02-14
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