Biography
Helen Broderick (11 August 1891 – 25 September 1959) was an American actress known for her comic character roles in stage productions and films. She began her career as a chorus girl in the first Ziegfeld Follies in 1907 and went on to appear in vaudeville with her husband, Lester Crawford, before achieving success on Broadway in revues and musicals including Fifty Million Frenchmen (1929), The Band Wagon (1931) and As Thousands Cheer (1933).
She moved to Hollywood in the early 1930s and became a familiar presence in supporting roles, notably as Madge Hardwick in Top Hat (1935) and Mabel Anderson in Swing Time (1936), both starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. Other film credits include The Rage of Paris (1938), No, No, Nanette (1940) and Stage Door Canteen (1943). She retired from the screen in 1946. Broderick was the mother of actor Broderick Crawford.
