Helen Shields

Helen Shields
Born
British Honduras 
DiedAugust 7, 1963 
Saint Clare's Hospital 
OccupationActor 
Spouse(s)John Boruff, William Alexander Kemp 

Helen Shields (died August 7, 1963) was an American actress on radio, Broadway, and television.

Helen Shields was born in British Honduras to American parents. Her father, John Shields, was an executive with United Fruit Company.[1]

Helen Shields had a long career on stage and on Broadway. Her early roles included parts in Washington Jitters (1930), The Devil Takes a Bride (1938), and Young Couple Wanted (1940). She appeared in Elia Kazan's 1940 revival of Liliom starring Burgess Meredith and Ingrid Bergman and was the understudy for Jessica Tandy and Uta Hagen in A Streetcar Named Desire for the 1948-49 season. She also appeared in Apple of His Eye, Angel Street, and The Silver Whistle.[1]

In the 1940s she made frequent appearances in radio dramas, with regular roles in Amanda of Honeymoon Hill, Aunt Jenny's Real Life Stories, Bringing Up Father, By Kathleen Norris, I Love Linda Dale, and Young Widder Brown.[2][3][4] In the 1950s and early 1960s, she had regular roles in the television soap operas Concerning Miss Marlowe (Margaret Marlowe and Dot Clayton), From These Roots (Emily Fraser Benson), As the World Turns (Edna Rice), and The Edge of Night (Hester Spode).[5][6] Her television guest roles included appearances on The Aldrich Family (1953),[7][8] Hollywood Screen Test (1953),[9] Ethel and Albert (1958),[10] and City Hospital (1952).[11] She also had supporting roles in the films The Whistle at Eaton Falls (1951) and The Wrong Man (1956).[12]

She had roles in several Broadway plays: Maxwell Anderson's Barefoot in Athens (1951) Molly Kazan's The Egghead (1957) and Seyril Schochen's The Moon Besieged (1962). Off-Broadway roles included The Apollo of Bellac (1957) and Virtuous Island (1957).[1]

Helen Shields died on 7 August 1963 in St. Clare's Hospital.[1]

Personal life

Shields married John Boruff, actor and co-writer of Washington Jitters, in 1938. They divorced in 1950.[13] In 1951, she married William Alexander Kemp.[14]

References

  1. ^ a b c d "Helen Shields, Actress, Is Dead; Had Stage, Film and TV Roles". The New York Times. 1963-08-08. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2025-04-02.
  2. ^ Lackmann, Ronald W. (2000). The encyclopedia of American radio : an A-Z guide to radio from Jack Benny to Howard Stern. Internet Archive. New York : Facts On File. ISBN 978-0-8160-4137-4.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: publisher location (link)
  3. ^ Buxton, Frank (1973). The big broadcast, 1920-1950 : the complete reference work. Internet Archive. New York : Flare Books.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: publisher location (link)
  4. ^ Sies, Leora M. (2003). The encyclopedia of women in radio, 1920-1960. Internet Archive. Jefferson, N.C. : McFarland & Co. ISBN 978-0-7864-1476-5.
  5. ^ Cox, Jim (2006). The daytime serials of television, 1946-1960. Internet Archive. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland. ISBN 978-0-7864-2429-0.
  6. ^ Julie Poll (September 1998). As the World Turns: The Complete Family Scrapbook. Internet Archive. Stoddart. ISBN 978-1-57544-110-8.
  7. ^ Ross, Wallace A. (1953). Ross reports on television. College Park University of Maryland. New York, N. Y. : Wallace A. Ross.
  8. ^ Ross, Wallace A. (1953). Ross reports on television. College Park University of Maryland. New York, N. Y. : Wallace A. Ross.
  9. ^ Ross, Wallace A. (1953). Ross reports on television. College Park University of Maryland. New York, N. Y. : Wallace A. Ross.
  10. ^ Ross, Wallace A. (1955). Ross reports on television. College Park University of Maryland. New York, N. Y. : Wallace A. Ross.
  11. ^ Ross, Wallace A. (1952). Ross reports on television. College Park University of Maryland. New York, N. Y. : Wallace A. Ross.
  12. ^ Fetrow, Alan G. (1999). Feature films, 1950-1959 : a United States filmography. Internet Archive. Jefferson, N.C. : McFarland. ISBN 978-0-7864-0427-8.
  13. ^ Rigdon, Walter Biographical encyclopaedia & who's who of the American theatre (1976). Notable names in the American theatre. Internet Archive. Clifton, N.J. : J. T. White. ISBN 978-0-88371-018-0.
  14. ^ St Andrew's College (1951). St Andrew's College Review, Christmas 1951. St. Andrew's College Archives. SAC.
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