28 Facts About Helen Hayes

1. Helen Hayes buried her grief in her work, fulfilling an obligation to appear opposite Ingrid Bergman in the film Anastasia.

2. At the age of twenty Helen Hayes received her first star billing in Bab.

3. Helen Hayes was the only child born to a traveling salesman, Francis Van Arnum Brown, and his wife, Catherine Estelle Hayes, a homemaker and sometime actress.

4. Helen Hayes has the honor of making the count of a select few who has a Tony Award, a Grammy, an Oscar and EGOT to their name.

5. In 1933, Helen Hayes scored more weighty roles as she played Mary of Scotland, with a tragic slant .

6. Helen Hayes was a native of Washington who was born on 10th October 1900.

7. Helen Hayes published her memoir On Reflection and her biography My Life in Three Acts (1990), written with Katherine Hatch.

8. Helen Hayes received an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts from Princeton University in 1956.

9. Helen Hayes published her autobiography, A Gift of Joy, in 1965.

10. Helen Hayes made her first appearance at the Helen Hayes Theater in New York in October 1958 as Nora Melody in A Touch of the Poet.

11. Helen Hayes received the Drama League of New York medal of 1936 for "the most distinguished performance of the year" for her portrayal of Victoria.

12. Helen Hayes was an American actress whose long career made a lasting impression in the American theater world.

13. In 1976, Helen Hayes won a Grammy Award for her work on the best spoken word album Great American Documents along with Henry Fonda, Orson Welles and James Earl Jones.

14. Helen Hayes gave her first performance as Queen Victoria in Victoria Regina in 1935.

15. In 1933, Helen Hayes portrayed the tragic royal in Mary of Scotland.

16. In 1927, Helen Hayes had a major career breakthrough with Coquette.

17. In 1920, Helen Hayes starred in one of her first leading roles as the title character in Bab.

18. At the age of 5, Helen Hayes made her professional debut in a production of The Prince Chap.

19. Helen Hayes was an American actress born on October 10, 1900, in Washington, DC The accomplished entertainer acted from age 5 to 85.

20. Helen Hayes received accolades for her Broadway performances in Mary of Scotland and Victoria Regina (1935).

21. In 1983, Helen Hayes received the Award for Greatest Public Service Benefiting the Disadvantaged, an award given out annually by Jefferson Awards.

22. In 1973, Helen Hayes was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame.

23. Helen Hayes died on March 17, 1993, of congestive heart failure in Nyack, New York.

24. Helen Hayes became involved with the hospital in the 1940s, and was named to the Board of Visitors in 1944.

25. Helen Hayes was a generous donor of time and money to a number of causes and organizations, including the Riverside Shakespeare Company of New York City.

26. Helen Hayes guest-starred on Hawaii Five-0 in the 1975 episode Retire in Sunny Hawaii.

27. Helen Hayes attended Dominican Academy's prestigious primary school, on Manhattan's Upper East Side, from 1910 to 1912, appearing there in The Old Dutch, Little Lord Fauntleroy, and other performances.

28. Helen Hayes received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, America's highest civilian honor, from President Ronald Reagan in 1986.