Helen Gahagan

Illeana Douglas is her grand-daughter. She currently stars in Monarch of the Glen. In 1950 she ran for the United States Senate, but was defeated by Richard Nixon in a race considered by her supporters to be a prototypical smear campaign. In 1969, she starred as Sarah Churchill in The First Churchills, and in 1974, she played the lead in another 26-part serial, The Pallisers. In the 1940s she enterered politics, and was elected to the United States House of Representatives from California for two terms. Susan Hampshire appeared in several long-running television serials, notably in the BBC's blockbuster, The Forsyte Saga (1967), in which she played Fleur. Gahagan starred in one Hollywood movie, She, in 1935, playing The Ice Goddess ("She who must be obeyed"). In her autobiography, Susan's Story, she publicised her experiences, and her work on behalf of dyslexics eventually led to her being awarded the O.B.E.

She became a well known star on Broadway in the 1920s. In 1931 she married actor Melvyn Douglas. Her appeal was that of an "English rose", and few people were aware of her problem with dyslexia. Gahagan was born in Boonton, New Jersey. Soon afterwards, she was taken up by Walt Disney, and starred in The Three Lives of Thomasina and The Fighting Prince of Donegal.
Helen Gahagan in the 1920s. She first became famous after playing the lead in a 1962 BBC adaptation of What Katy Did. She was also known as The Pink Lady. Susan Hampshire (born 12 May 1938) is an English actress best known for her many film and television roles.

Helen Gahagan (25 November 1900 - 28 June 1980) was a United States actress and (under the name Helen Gahagan Douglas) a politician.