Wednesday, December 4, 2024

RIP Helen Gallagher, 98, Two Time Tony Award Winner, Emmy Winning Star of “Ryan’s Hope”

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Helen Gallagher has passed away at age 98.

What a life! Winner of two Tony Awards on Broadway, Gallagher was best known to TV audiences as the star of the ABC soap, “Ryan’s Hope.” She played wise matriarch Maeve Ryan from 1975 to 1989 when the show ended.

One of Gallagher’s Tony Awards was for the revival of “No, No, Nanette,” the massively successful musical.

But it was “Ryan’s Hope” that became the cornerstone of her career. She won three Daytime Emmy Awards as Best Actress for playing Maeve with a lilting Irish accent. She was clearly from the stage world, and on a whole different level than most TV stars during daytime or primetime.

She will be sorely missed and always remembered.

Roger Friedman
Roger Friedmanhttps://www.showbiz411.com
Roger Friedman began his Showbiz411 column in April 2009 after 10 years with Fox News, where he created the Fox411 column. His movie reviews are carried by Rotten Tomatoes, and he is a member of both the movie and TV branches of the Critics Choice Awards. His articles have appeared in dozens of publications over the years including New York Magazine, where he wrote the Intelligencer column in the mid 90s and covered the OJ Simpson trial, and Fox News (when it wasn't so crazy) where he covered Michael Jackson. He is also the writer and co-producer of "Only the Strong Survive," a selection of the Cannes, Sundance, and Telluride Film festivals, directed by DA Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus.

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