Helen Lawson

Helen Lawson is a fictional character from Jacqueline Susann's best-selling 1966 novel Valley of the Dolls, said to be based largely on legendary stage actress Ethel Merman.

Fictional character biography[]

As the novel opens, in 1945, Helen Lawson is a revered musical-comedy star of the Broadway stage. Her age is never revealed; there are only vague hints, but she's supposed to have been born ca. 1900. Her theatre history is described briefly; she has held the lead in many fictional musicals, such as Hit the Sky, Sunny Lady, Sadie's Place, Madame Bovary and Nice Lady, having followed two years of vocal studying and overnight success.

Lawson soon becomes friends with protagonist Anne Welles and describes her life: She is Irish and Scottish, and her birth name was actually Helen Laughlin. Lawson's personality can be described as egotistical, commanding and brash. She commands directors in all areas, and is sexually active and man hungry. She has had numerous relationships, including several marriages.

Lawson later has a falling-out with Anne, and develops bitter feelings toward fellow starlet Neely O'Hara (based on Betty Hutton and Judy Garland). Eventually, when O'Hara leaves the show, Lawson is not mentioned until much later in the novel.

Lawson marries again and leaves for Jamaica, but this marriage also fails. She travels back to New York and originates another musical role, but this musical is a failure. Her vicious temperament later is shown in a physical fight with O'Hara after making comments toward O'Hara's failed marriage to a supposed homosexual man, and asking if Neely's twin sons, Bud and Jud, are homosexual as well. O'Hara rips off and destroys Lawson's wig, much to Lawson's horror.

At this point, Lawson's voice has developed a slight vibrato. Later in the novel, O'Hara mentions that Lawson's voice has gone and that she has left to play a "character role" in a television series.

In other media[]

For the 1967 film adaptation Judy Garland was originally cast as Helen, and replaced by Susan Hayward.

In other novels[]

Lawson made another appearance in the 2008 novel Candy Everybody Wants by Josh Kilmer-Purcell, where she acts as a mentor to the protagonist, 15-year-old Jayson Blocher, as he is beginning his career in Hollywood.

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