American film, theatre, and television actress and director, known for her starring role as ditzy matriarch Jessica Tate on the ABC prime time soap opera sitcom Soap (1977–1981) and her co-starring role as feisty mother Mona Robinson on Who’s the Boss? (1984–1992). She also played Doris Sherman on Coach and Lois Whelan, (the mother of Debra Barone) on Everybody Loves Raymond. She also appeared as a guest on several talk and variety shows.
She was raised by her mother and grandmother, both devout Catholics. She attended a Catholic primary school and appeared in numerous school plays. After her stage debut in As You Like It, she began working in New York in 1955. She later operated a summer theatre in the Catskills for three seasons and taught acting in university theatre programs. She made her television debut in 1962, but would not achieve fame until the 1970s. She was also busy onstage, earning a Tony nomination for her performance on Broadway in Eugene O’Neill’s The Great God Brown (1973).
Helmond had supporting roles in Alfred Hitchcock’s Family Plot (1976), and in Brazil (1985) as Jonathan Pryce’s mother. In 1983, she studied at the American Film Institute’s Directing Workshop, and went on to direct four episodes of the television series Benson, as well as one episode of Who’s the Boss? (1984). She picked up Emmy nominations for her roles in Who’s the Boss and Everybody Loves Raymond. Helmond continued working, receiving acclaim for her stage performance in Eve Ensler’s The Vagina Monologues.
In 1957 Helmond married George N. Martin. After their divorce she married her second husband, David Christian; the couple were together since 1962. She had no children. She and her husband were practising Buddhists.
Helmond died on 23 February 2019, aged 89, from complications of Alzheimer’s disease at her home in Los Angeles.
Link to Wikipedia biography