Helen Menken (Paperback)

High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Helen Menken was an American actress, born Helen Meinken to a German-French father, Frederick Meinken, and an Irish-born mother, Mary Madden. Born in New York City, Menken was originally a teenage actress who made her Broadway theatre debut in Parlor, Bedroom and Bath in 1917. Her greatest stage triumphs were Seventh Heaven in 1922 - 1924 (Janet Gaynor played her role of Diane in the 1927 classic film); Mary of Scotland in 1933 - 1934 as Elizabeth I opposite Helen Hayes in the title role (Katharine Hepburn played Mary in the 1936 film version); and The Old Maid, the Pulitzer Prize-winning play that starred Menken and Judith Anderson in 1935. Bette Davis would recreate Menken's role as the spinster with a secret in the 1939 film version