Happy birthday to Katherine Helmond. She’s 81 today.
Helmond was born in Texas in 1928 and raised Irish Catholic, and then, strike three, she attended Bob Jones University—the same ultra-conservative fundamentalist Christian university in South Carolina I attended for three semesters before a nervous collapse triggered (my theory) by the conflict between my incipient, closeted homosexuality and my strict religious beliefs (e.g., at BJU I once got 75 demerits just for owning a Simon and Garfunkel tape).
Happily Helmond and I both shook free of the school’s malign influences … well, for the most part in my case. She went on to work on Broadway, then television and movies—most notably on the risqué serial sitcom Soap (1977-81).
She also played Judith Light’s quasi-nympho mother on Who’s the Boss? (1984-92). In film, she has worked with some great directors: Robert Wise (The Hindenburg), Alfred Hitchcock (Family Plot), and Terry Gilliam (Time Bandits, Brazil, and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas).
I salute Ms. Helmond, too. I salute your taste in properly interesting and talented actors for that matter. Best.
ReplyDelete(p.s. your Sunday beefcakes are sporting sporty tans these days!)