Helen Hanft (April 4, 1934 â€" May 30, 2013) was an American
actress.Hanft was born in the Bronx, the eldest of three daughters
born to Esther and Benjamin Hanft. Her father was a prominent public
relations executive for several national Jewish organizations. Her
father persuaded her to audition for the High School of Performing
Arts, now part of Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and
Performing Arts, and she was admitted.She started her theatrical
career in the early 1960s in the experimental theater movement at
Off-Off-Broadway venues like La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club and
Caffe Cino. She quickly became known as "the Ethel Merman of
off-off-Broadway" for her comedic performances. Hanft often played
eccentric, raunchy characters, and was featured in many plays by Tom
Eyen, including:She performed in David Rabe's In the Boom Boom Room at
Joseph Papp's Public Theater, John Patrick Shanley's Italian American
Reconciliation, and multiple plays by Stephen Holt, including Reety in
Hell. Hanft also appeared in the following productions at La MaMa
during the 1960s and 1970s:
actress.Hanft was born in the Bronx, the eldest of three daughters
born to Esther and Benjamin Hanft. Her father was a prominent public
relations executive for several national Jewish organizations. Her
father persuaded her to audition for the High School of Performing
Arts, now part of Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and
Performing Arts, and she was admitted.She started her theatrical
career in the early 1960s in the experimental theater movement at
Off-Off-Broadway venues like La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club and
Caffe Cino. She quickly became known as "the Ethel Merman of
off-off-Broadway" for her comedic performances. Hanft often played
eccentric, raunchy characters, and was featured in many plays by Tom
Eyen, including:She performed in David Rabe's In the Boom Boom Room at
Joseph Papp's Public Theater, John Patrick Shanley's Italian American
Reconciliation, and multiple plays by Stephen Holt, including Reety in
Hell. Hanft also appeared in the following productions at La MaMa
during the 1960s and 1970s:
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