Helen Gallagher, a Tony Award winner best known for her role
as Maeve Ryan in all 13 seasons of the daytime soap Ryan’s
Hope, has passed away. Gallagher died on November 24,
but no cause of death has been disclosed. The actress was 98.
Playbill confirmed the news on Instagram.
Born on July 19, 1926, in New York City, Gallagher was already a seasoned performer in singing, dancing, and acting on numerous Broadway shows when she was cast as Gladys Bumps in the 1952 Chicago-based musical Pal Joey. Co-starring with Harold Lang and Vivienne Segal, she earned the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical, per Deadline.
She continued her career with roles in iconic Golden Age Broadway musicals like The Pajama Game, Mame, Finian’s Rainbow, and Sweet Charity, where she earned a second Tony nomination for Featured Actress, sharing the stage with Gwen Verdon and Ruth Buzzi as Mickie.
She also performed in revivals of classic shows like Guys and Dolls and Brigadoon.
In 1970, she was cast as the original Lucille Early in Broadway’s No, No, Nanette. The performance earned her a Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical. The production ran from January 1971 to February 1973 at the 46th Street Theatre, now known as the Richard Rodgers Theatre.
She made her return to Broadway in the 1972-73 production of Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing.
