Ellen Hanley

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ellen Hanley
Born(1926-05-15)May 15, 1926
Lorain, Ohio
DiedFebruary 12, 2007(2007-02-12) (aged 80)
Norwalk, Connecticut
Spouse(s)Ronny Graham (1951-1963)

Ellen Hanley (May 15, 1926 – February 12, 2007) was a musical theater performer best known for playing Fiorello H. LaGuardia's first wife in the Pulitzer Prize-winning Fiorello!. She was related to the British writers James and Gerald Hanley, and the playwright, novelist, and scriptwriter William Hanley was her brother.

Biography[]

Ellen Hanley was born in Lorain, Ohio, one of three children of William Gerald and Anne Rodgers Hanley.[1] William Hanley, Sr. was born in Liverpool, England in 1899,[2] of Irish Catholic immigrants. He was a seaman prior to settling in the US, and then worked as a housepainter.[3]

In 1951, Hanley married Ronny Graham, a fellow actor. They adopted two children, Nora and Julian. The couple divorced in 1963.[4]

Ellen Hanley made her Broadway debut in Annie Get Your Gun in 1946 playing the part of Mary. The following year she appeared in Barefoot Boy With Cheek and won a Theater World award for her performance as Clothilde Pfefferkorn.[4] in thel ate 1940s and 1950s she "toured extensively in summer-stock shows" and also during the 1950s performed in Julius Monk's revues.[5] In 1952 she had a part in the musical revue Two's Company, introducing the song "Roundabout". In 1959 she took over the leading role in First Impressions from Polly Bergen, playing Elizabeth Bennett in a musical based on Pride and Prejudice. Later that year she sang in Fiorello!. The Jerry Bock-Sheldon Harnick musical was a hit which ran for nearly 800 performances.[4] She acted in The Boys From Syracuse in 1963, a Richard Rodgers-Lorenz Hart musical based on Shakespeare's The Comedy of Errors.[6]

Hanley died on February 12, 2007, aged 80, in Norwalk, Connecticut, of a stroke after a long battle with cancer.[6]

Appearances[]

Awards[]

  • Theatre World Award (1947) for Clothilde Pfefferkorn in Barefoot Boy With Cheek.[7]

Notes[]

  1. ^ Heves, Dennis (June 3, 2012). "William Hanley, Playwright and TV Writer, Dies at 80". The New York Times. Retrieved August 13, 2018.
  2. ^ "James Hanley's Life" in James Hanley's The Closed Harbour. London: Oneworld Classics, 2009, p. 202
  3. ^ James Hanley, Broken Water: An Autobiographical Excursion. London: Chatto & Windus, 1937, p.130, 134, 140, 246; Lorain Public Library System, local authors, Lorain.lib.oh.us
  4. ^ Jump up to: a b c Ellen Hanley, 80, Actress in Musicals, Dies
  5. ^ "Ellen Hanley, 80, Actress in Musicals, Dies".New York Times 14 February 2007, [1]
  6. ^ Jump up to: a b Broadway performer Ellen Hanley dies
  7. ^ New York Public Library

References[]

External links[]

Retrieved from ""