Henny Backus (born Henrietta Kaye, March 21, 1911 – December 9, 2004) was a

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

showgirl in the 1930s whose stage credits include

Orson Welles George Orson Welles (May 6, 1915 – October 10, 1985) was an American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter, known for his innovative work in film, radio and theatre. He is considered to be among the greatest and most influential f ...

's '' Horse Eats Hat''. She was the wife of actor and comedian Jim Backus.

Career

Henrietta Kaye was born in Brooklyn on March 21, 1911. She studied sculpture at

Cooper Union The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art (Cooper Union) is a private college at Cooper Square in New York City. Peter Cooper founded the institution in 1859 after learning about the government-supported École Polytechnique ...

, but she preferred working in the theater and appeared in Broadway musicals during the 1930s. She had the role of Bee in the Broadway play ''Chrysalis'' (1932). Working as Henriette Kaye, she was a member of the

Federal Theatre Project The Federal Theatre Project (FTP; 1935–1939) was a theatre program established during the Great Depression as part of the New Deal to fund live artistic performances and entertainment programs in the United States. It was one of five Federal Pro ...

. Described by ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' as "a leggy redhead with a droll sense of humor", she appeared in

's Project 891 production '' Horse Eats Hat'' (1936), a surrealistic farce co-starring Welles,

Joseph Cotten Joseph Cheshire Cotten Jr. (May 15, 1905 – February 6, 1994) was an American film, stage, radio and television actor. Cotten achieved prominence on Broadway, starring in the original stage productions of '' The Philadelphia Story'' and '' Sab ...

Hiram Sherman Hiram Sherman (February 11, 1908 – April 11, 1989) was an American actor. Biography Hiram Sherman was born in Boston, Massachusetts. His father, Clifford Leon Sherman, worked in the art department of ''The Boston Globe''. He made his Bro ...

and

Arlene Francis Arlene Francis (born Arline Francis Kazanjian; October 20, 1907 – May 31, 2001) was an American actress, radio and television talk show host, and game show panelist. She is known for her long-running role as a panelist on the television game s ...

. France, Richard, ''The Theatre of Orson Welles''. Cranbury, New Jersey:

Associated University Presses Associated University Presses (AUP) is a publishing company based in the United States, formed and operated as a consortium of several American university presses. AUP was established in 1966, with the first titles published through AUP appearin ...

, Inc. 1977 Her husband, Nat Karson, designed the sets and costumes. Kaye married actor and comedian Jim Backus in 1943. The couple co-starred in the 1960s television series '' Blondie'', and they performed together once on ''Gilligan's Island'', in the sitcom's second-season episode "Gilligan's Mother-In-Law" (1965). She appeared too with her husband in a season-five episode of ''

The Love Boat ''The Love Boat'' is an American romantic comedy/drama television series that aired on ABC from 1977 to 1986; in addition, four three-hour specials aired in 1986, 1987, and 1990. The series was set on the luxury passenger cruise ship MS ''Pa ...

''. Henny and Jim Backus co-authored several humorous books, including ''What Are You Doing After the Orgy?'' (1962), ''Only When I Laugh'' (1965), ''Backus Strikes Back'' (1984), and ''Forgive Us Our Digressions'' (1988). Henny also wrote ''Care for the Caretaker'' (1999), documenting her husband's battle with

Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a long-term degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that mainly affects the motor system. The symptoms usually emerge slowly, and as the disease worsens, non-motor symptoms beco ...

and offering practical solutions for those facing such dilemmas. Jim Backus died from complications of

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severit ...

in 1989. Fifteen years later, Henny died at the age of 93 following a series of strokes. She was buried next to her husband in

Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery Pierce Brothers Westwood Village Memorial Park & Mortuary is a cemetery and mortuary located in the Westwood Village area of Los Angeles. It is located at 1218 Glendon Avenue in Westwood, with an entrance from Glendon Avenue. The cemetery was ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Backus, Henny 1911 births 2004 deaths American stage actresses American humorists 20th-century American memoirists Burials at Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery Federal Theatre Project people American women memoirists Women humorists 20th-century American actresses 20th-century American people 21st-century American women