HELEN STENBORG - AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED 03/04/1967 - HFSID 318433

HELEN STENBORG
The stage and film star wrote this letter to Editor John Willis, submitting her resume to Theatre World
Autograph letter signed: "Helen Stenborg" in blue ink. 1 page, 5x8. New York City, March 4, 1967. In full: "Dear Mr. Willis, Enclosed is a picture and the information you requested [items not included]. Thank you. My husband, Barnard Hughes, who is also an actor, and I have so enjoyed our copies of Theatre World. Yours truly,". Helen Stenborg (1925-2011) was an American stage and film actress who performed for over 60 years. After growing up the daughter of a dentist in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Stenborg moved to New York City when she was 17 to pursue acting. She debuted in her first screen role in 1947 in the TV movie A Christmas Carol. After meeting and marrying her husband actor Barnard Hughes, Stenborg joined Hughes and the Tenthouse Theatre, touring with the company throughout the 1950's. She later earned screen credits on The Doctors and the Nurses (1962-1965), One Life to Live (1968-2013), and the TV movie Screaming Skull (1973). As her film career gained momentum, so did her stage career. Stenborg made her Broadway debut in the 1970 play Sheep on the Runway. She and Hughes continued to work together on the Broadway stage as well; the couple was in Da (1978-1980), for which Hughes won a Tony award for Best Actor. Stenborg was nominated for a Tony Award for her performance in Noel Coward's Waiting in the Wings (1999).  That same year, she was awarded the Drama Desk Lifetime Achievement Award.  She made her last stage performance in 2010 in Vigil, for which she received the Richard Seff Award for best performance by a veteran female actress. John A. Willis (1916-2010), active in Theatre World from the beginning, became its chief editor in 1965, holding that position until 2008. Willis is regarded as one of the foremost theatre and film historians of the 20th century. While producing (and presenting) the annual Theatre World Awards, Willis also served on the nominating committee for the Tony Awards. Theatre World, which received its own Tony for Excellence in Theatre in 2001, continues under chief editor Ben Hodges.  Fine condition.