Henny Backus
Henny Backus | |
|---|---|
 Jim and Henny Backus (1969) | |
| Born | Henrietta Kaye March 21, 1911 |
| Died | December 9, 2004 (aged 93) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Resting place | Westwood Memorial Park |
| Other names | Henriette Kaye |
| Occupation | Stage actress |
| Years active | 1936–1981 |
| Spouse(s) | Nat Karson Jim Backus (1943–89) (his death) |
Henny Backus (March 21, 1911 – December 9, 2004) was a Broadway showgirl in the 1930s whose stage credits include Orson Welles's Horse Eats Hat. She was the wife of actor and comedian Jim.
Career
Henrietta Kaye was born in Brooklyn March 21, 1911. She studied sculpture at Cooper Union, but she preferred working in the theater and appeared in Broadway musicals during the 1930s. Woking as Henriette Kaye, she was a member of the Federal Theatre Project. Described by The New York Times as "a leggy redhead with a droll sense of humor",[1] she appeared in Orson Welles's Project 891 production, Horse Eats Hat (1936), a surrealistic farce co-starring Welles, Joseph Cotten, Hiram Sherman and Arlene Francis.[2]: 182 Her husband, Nat Karson,[1] designed the sets and costumes.[2]: 182
Kaye married actor and comedian Jim Backus in 1943.[1] They co-starred in the 1960s television series, Blondie, and she appeared with her husband in the TV sitcom, Gilligan's Island, in the second-season episode "Gilligan's Mother-In-Law" (1965). She also acted with her husband in a Season 5 episode of The Love Boat.
Henny and Jim Backus also co-wrote 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 wrote Care for the Caretaker (1999), documenting her husband's battle with Parkinson's Disease and offering practical solutions for those facing such dilemmas.[1]
In 1989, Jim Backus died from complications of pneumonia. Upon her own death at age 93, following a series of strokes, Henny was buried next to her husband in Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles.[3]
References
- ^ a b c d Bayot, Jennifer (December 17, 2004). "Henny Backus, 93, an Actress and Author With Husband Jim, Dies". The New York Times. Retrieved 2015-02-02.
- ^ a b France, Richard, The Theatre of Orson Welles. Cranbury, New Jersey: Associated University Presses, Inc. 1977 ISBN 0-8387-1972-4
- ^ John Reid (2005). Cinemascope Two: 20th Century-Fox. Lulu Press, Inc. ISBN 1-4116-2248-0.
External links
- Henny Backus at IMDb
- Henrietta Kaye at the Internet Broadway Database
- Henriette Kaye at the Internet Broadway Database
- Henny Backus at Find a Grave
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