- Born
- Died
- Birth nameHelen Mary Gahagan
- This beautiful Broadway singer and actress appeared in only one film, portraying the forever-young ice goddess ("she who must be obeyed"), the title character in RKO's 1935 adaptation of H. Rider Haggard's tale, She (1935), opposite Randolph Scott. In the latter 1940s, having entered politics, she would serve two terms in the lower house of the U.S. Congress as a Representative from the state of California. (Her bid in 1950 for a seat in the upper house, the United States Senate, saw defeat at the hands of one Richard Nixon).
- IMDb mini biography by: Bill Takacs <kinephile@aol.com>
- SpouseMelvyn Douglas(April 5, 1931 - June 28, 1980) (her death, 2 children)
- The appearance of the Evil Queen in Walt Disney Productions film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) was inspired by Ms. Gahagan's performance in the movie She (1935).
- Was the last Democrat to be endorsed by Ronald Reagan. Reagan later supported Nixon for President in 1960, '68, and '72.
- In an April 2016 Slate article, Karina Longworth reported that during Helen Gahagan Douglas's 1950 US Senate race against Richard Nixon, Nixon stooped to antisemitic and racist tactics to turn the electorate against her: "In the days before robocalls, human Nixon campaign staffers would call voters at home and ask if they knew that Helen Douglas 'was married to a Jew' and suggest that she was just another 'movie Jew' trying to take the country away from 'real' Americans. And white communities were mail-bombed with postcards in support of Helen, signed by the Communist League of Negro Women--a completely made-up organization whose name alone was crafted to strike fear in the hearts of white homeowners".
- Popularized the nickname "Tricky Dick" during her Senate race against Richard Nixon. She herself picked up the term from an editorial in The Independent Review.
- Lost the Senate race to Richard Nixon in 1950 by 680,000 votes.
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content
