Helen Raymond

Helen Raymond (September 3, 1878 – November 26, 1965) was an American stage actress born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, who built a career spanning Broadway, vaudeville, film, and regional opera over several decades. She graduated from the Philadelphia Conservatory of Music with a concentration in piano before turning to the stage. Her Broadway appearances extended from 1906 to 1957, and she was known primarily for comedy roles.

Among Raymond's early theatrical work was the role of Mrs. Eichorn in Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch, which she performed in New York as well as on touring productions in Australia and the United States. She also performed in vaudeville alongside her stage work. Her Broadway debut came in 1915 in Very Good Eddie, and she subsequently appeared in Twin Beds, a production successful enough to bring her to London, where she performed in it for three seasons. The title was changed to Be Careful, Baby for English audiences, a change Raymond noted had no connection to the plot.

In 1931, Raymond starred in Stepping Sisters in Philadelphia, playing a burlesque queen. The production ran for seven months in Chicago and ten months in New York. In June 1941, Raymond identified that role as her greatest personal success to that point. She went on to portray Mrs. Wadsworth T. Harcourt in a 64-week run of Anything Goes in 1934. Her Broadway credits also include One Touch of Venus, The Girl From Nantucket, Empress of Destiny, and A Private Affair. Her final Broadway appearance was as Eulalie Mackecknie Shinn in The Music Man, a role she held from 1957 to 1960, which corresponds to the production listed in her verified credits as The Music Master.

Raymond performed for at least eight seasons with the Municipal Opera in St. Louis, Missouri, and also appeared with the Los Angeles Civic Light Opera at the Jones Beach Marine Theater. In the summer of 1942, she originated the role of the Wicked Witch of the West at the Municipal Opera Association of St. Louis in the first stage production of The Wizard of Oz to incorporate songs from the 1939 MGM film.

Her film career began in 1920 when she made Dangerous to Men for Realart Pictures Inc. The following year she appeared as Mary Pickford's maid in Through the Back Door. She acted in at least seven films in total, with The Huntress in 1923 being her last. In 1955, she appeared in an episode of the television series Producers Showcase titled The Women.

On November 19, 1914, Raymond married Ira John Perry, described as a wealthy St. Louisan, in Baltimore, Maryland. The couple resided in St. Louis until January 1915, when she departed to resume her stage career in New York. Perry filed for divorce on July 5, 1916, citing desertion and stating in the complaint that Raymond had told him she regretted the marriage and preferred a stage life to domestic life. Raymond died on November 26, 1965, at the Lynwood Nursing Home in New York City at the age of 87, having previously resided at 610 Cathedral Parkway.