Helen Mack

Helen Mack (born Helen McDougall on November 13, 1913 in Rock Island, Illinois) was an American actress who began her career as a child performer in the silent‑film era and later became a pioneering figure in radio, Broadway, and television. Raised by a barber father, William George McDougall, and a mother, Regina Lenzer McDougall, who dreamed of acting herself, Mack attended the Professional Children’s School in New York City where she was mentored by veteran actress Vera Gordon. By the age of ten she had already appeared on Broadway, toured vaudeville circuits, and made her screen debut in the 1923 silent film Success, quickly establishing herself as a versatile youngster capable of both dramatic and comedic roles. Throughout the 1930s she transitioned to sound pictures, starring opposite major stars such as Victor McLaglen in While Paris Sleeps and John Boles in Scotch Valley, and earned lasting fame for her role as Hilda Petersen in the classic sequel The Son of Kong and as the sharp‑tongued Mollie Malloy in Howard Hawks’ His Girl Friday (1940). After her film career slowed, Mack reinvented herself behind the microphone, taking over the lead in the popular radio series Myrt and Marge and later producing and directing acclaimed programs like Richard Diamond, Private Detective and The Saint. She co‑wrote the beloved teen series A Date with Judy and continued to script stage plays and television episodes well into the 1960s, demonstrating an extraordinary ability to adapt to the evolving entertainment landscape. Mack’s personal life included two marriages—first to lawyer Charles Irwin (1935‑1938) and later to Thomas McAvity (1940‑1972)—and she passed away from cancer on August 13, 1986, in Beverly Hills, leaving behind a legacy of talent that spanned silent cinema, the golden age of radio, and early television.