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person_profile-Helen Broderick

Helen Broderick Died at age: 68

Actor | Producer

Fullname:

Helen Broderick

Date of Birth:

Aug 11, 1891

Country of birth:

USA

Died:

Sep 25, 1959

Biography of

Helen Broderick

    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.

Photos of

Helen Broderick

Photos ( 1 Photos

Filmography of

Helen Broderick

Found 30 Movies in total

Because of Him

Nora ( Actor )

... 1946

Love, Honor and Goodbye

Mary Riley ( Actor )

... 1945

3 Is a Family

Irma ( Actor )

... 1944

Her Primitive Man

Mrs. Winthrop ( Actor )

... 1944

Chip Off the Old Block

Glory Marlow Sr. ( Actor )

... 1944

Stage Door Canteen

Helen Broderick ( Actor )

... 1943

Father Takes a Wife

Aunt Julie ( Actor )

... 1941

Nice Girl?

Cora Foster ( Actor )

... 1941

Virginia

Theo Clairmont ( Actor )

... 1941

No, No, Nanette

Mrs. Susan Smith ( Actor )

... 1940

The Captain Is a Lady

Nancy Crocker ( Actor )

... 1940

Honeymoon in Bali

Lorna "Smitty" Smith ( Actor )

... 1939

Naughty But Nice

Aunt Martha Hogan ( Actor )

... 1939

Stand Up and Fight

Amanda Griffith ( Actor )

... 1939

Service de Luxe

Pearl ( Actor )

... 1938

The Road to Reno

Aunt Minerva ( Actor )

... 1938

The Rage of Paris

Gloria Patterson ( Actor )

... 1938

Radio City Revels

Gertie ( Actor )

... 1938

She's Got Everything

Aunt Jane ( Actor )

... 1937

The Life of the Party

Pauline ( Actor )

... 1937

Meet the Missus

Emma Foster ( Actor )

... 1937

We're on the Jury

Agnes Dean ( Actor )

... 1937

... 1936

Swing Time

Mabel Anderson ( Actor )

... 1936

The Bride Walks Out

Mattie Dodson ( Actor )

... 1936

Murder on a Bridle Path

Hildegarde Withers ( Actor )

... 1936

Love on a Bet

Aunt Charlotte ( Actor )

... 1936

To Beat the Band

Mrs. Freeda McCrary ( Actor )

... 1935

Top Hat

Madge Hardwick ( Actor )

... 1935

50 Million Frenchmen

Violet ( Actor )

... 1931