Helen Menken (née Meinken; December , â€" March , ) was a major
American stage actress.Menken was born in New York City to a
German-French father, Frederick Meinken, and an Irish-born mother,
Mary Madden. Her parents were deaf, and her early communication came
via sign language. She did not begin talking until age . Her sister,
Grace Menken, was also an actress. At age , she was sent to a school
in Brighton, England.Before she turned , Menken performed in
vaudeville for a season, primarily playing character parts with her
brother-in-law. A dispute when the troupe was in Dallas led to her
walking out and joining a Shakespearean company that was also in
Dallas.Billed as Helen Meinken, Menken acted in in Brooklyn and in
with the Orpheum Players in Reading, Pennsylvania. She made her
Broadway theatre debut as a teenage actress in Parlor, Bedroom and
Bath (). Her greatest stage triumphs were Seventh Heaven in â€" (Janet
Gaynor played her role of Diane in the film version); Mary of
Scotland in â€" as Elizabeth I opposite Helen Hayes in the title role
(Katharine Hepburn played Mary in the film version); and The Old
Maid, the Pulitzer Prize-winning play that starred Menken and Judith
Anderson in . Bette Davis would play Menken's role as the spinster
with a secret in the film version. Menken's final Broadway appearance
was in an unsuccessful play named The Laughing Woman, which ran for
less than a month in .
American stage actress.Menken was born in New York City to a
German-French father, Frederick Meinken, and an Irish-born mother,
Mary Madden. Her parents were deaf, and her early communication came
via sign language. She did not begin talking until age . Her sister,
Grace Menken, was also an actress. At age , she was sent to a school
in Brighton, England.Before she turned , Menken performed in
vaudeville for a season, primarily playing character parts with her
brother-in-law. A dispute when the troupe was in Dallas led to her
walking out and joining a Shakespearean company that was also in
Dallas.Billed as Helen Meinken, Menken acted in in Brooklyn and in
with the Orpheum Players in Reading, Pennsylvania. She made her
Broadway theatre debut as a teenage actress in Parlor, Bedroom and
Bath (). Her greatest stage triumphs were Seventh Heaven in â€" (Janet
Gaynor played her role of Diane in the film version); Mary of
Scotland in â€" as Elizabeth I opposite Helen Hayes in the title role
(Katharine Hepburn played Mary in the film version); and The Old
Maid, the Pulitzer Prize-winning play that starred Menken and Judith
Anderson in . Bette Davis would play Menken's role as the spinster
with a secret in the film version. Menken's final Broadway appearance
was in an unsuccessful play named The Laughing Woman, which ran for
less than a month in .
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