Katherine Helmond

Helmond was born on July 5, 1929, in Galveston, Texas, to Thelma Louise (née Walker) and Patrick Joseph Helmond, a firefighter. Her name on her birth certificate was misspelled as "Catherine". She had a younger sister, Jo Ann, born three years later, who died in infancy. Helmond experienced economic hardship during her childhood: ‘we were very poor...from as early as I can remember I had to work to help support the family. I had to learn to stand on my own two feet’. She was raised by her mother and grandmother, both devout Catholics. Her father left the family and her mother eventually remarried in 1937, to Marshall Phillips. She attended a Catholic primary school and appeared in school plays. ==Career==

After graduating from high school, she moved to Houston, Dallas and New York. She was not professionally trained, but learned her craft through experience: ‘My training was all practical and on the job'. She also acted on stage, earning a Tony Award nomination for her performance on Broadway in Eugene O'Neill's The Great God Brown (1973). Helmond appeared in such feature films as Family Plot, Time Bandits, Brazil, in which she played the mother of Jonathan Pryce's character, and Overboard. In 1983, she studied at the American Film Institute's Directing Workshop. She picked up Emmy nominations for her role as Mona Robinson in ''Who's the Boss and as Lois Whelan in Everybody Loves Raymond''. She also received acclaim for her stage performance in Eve Ensler's The Vagina Monologues. Helmond appeared in The Legend of Lizzie Borden (1975) as Emma Borden, the title character's sister. She appeared in an episode of the short-lived 1976 CBS adventure series, ''Spencer's Pilots, starring Gene Evans. Helmond gained prominence as Jessica Tate, the ditzy matriarch of the Tate family in Soap (1977–1981) on ABC. From 1984 to 1992, she played the role of Mona Robinson on the ABC sitcom Who's the Boss? She appeared in a 1993 episode of The Upper Hand, the British version of Who's the Boss? From 1995 to 1997, she starred in the ABC sitcom Coach as Doris Sherman, eccentric owner of the fictional Orlando Breakers professional football team. From 1996 to 2004, she had a recurring role on Everybody Loves Raymond'' as Lois Whelan (Ray Barone's mother-in-law). On July 25, 2010, she guest-starred on A&E Network's The Glades and as Caroline Bellefleur on HBO's True Blood. She was also the voice of Lizzie in the Cars film franchise. ==Award nominations==

Helmond was nominated for Broadway's 1973 Tony Award as Best Supporting or Featured Actress (Dramatic) for Eugene O'Neill's The Great God Brown. She was nominated for an Emmy for her role on Soap four times in a row (1978–1981) as Best Actress in a Comedy Series. In 1988 and 1989, she was nominated as Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for her role on ''Who's the Boss? In 2002, she was nominated as Guest Actress in a Comedy Series for her role in Everybody Loves Raymond. She won two Golden Globe awards for Who's the Boss? and Soap''. ==Personal life==

In 1959, Helmond married George N. Martin in New York; they divorced in 1962. She met her second husband, David Richard Christian, in 1962, when he was 19. They married in 1969, in New York, after dating for 7 years. They remained married until her death, residing in Los Angeles, New York City, Long Island, and London. After Helmond died, her husband said: ‘She was the love of my life...We spent 57 beautiful, wonderful, loving years together, which I will treasure forever… The night she died, I saw that the moon was exactly half-full, just as I am now … half of what I’ve been my entire adult life.’ ==Death==

Helmond died on February 23, 2019, from Alzheimer's disease at her home in Los Angeles, aged 89. ==Selected filmography==

Film Television ==References==