Lillian Booth Actors Home Explained

Lillian Booth Actors Home of The Actors Fund
Type:	Assisted-living facility
Purpose:	Assisting American entertainment and performing arts professionals
Location:	Englewood, New Jersey, United States
Parent Organization:	Actors Fund

The Lillian Booth Actors Home of The Actors Fund is an American assisted-living facility, in Englewood, New Jersey. It is operated by the Actors Fund,^{[1] [2]} a nonprofit umbrella charitable organization that assists American entertainment and performing arts professionals.

History

On May 8, 1902, the Actors Fund opened a home for retired entertainers on Staten Island, a borough of New York City, New York. In 1928, the New York City government took the property using eminent domain to enlarge an adjacent city park. That year, the residents were moved to the former mansion of American businesswoman Hetty Green in Englewood.^{[2] [3]} The mansion was razed in 1959, and a modern facility was erected in 1961.

In 1975, the facility was merged with the Percy Williams Home on Long Island, New York. The facilities were expanded in 1988 with a 50-bed nursing home. In the same year, the Edwin Forrest wing was created at the nursing home after a merger with the Edwin Forrest Home in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

In 1993, a wing was named in honor of actress Natalie Schafer, notable for her role as Eunice "Lovey" Wentworth Howell on the television sitcom Gilligan's Island (1964 - 1967), who left $1.5 million to the Actors Fund after her death.^[2] In 2003, it was named in honor of Lillian Booth, a philanthropist who donated $2 million to the facility.^{[4] [5]}

Notable former residents

(year of birth - year of death; sorted by year of death)

• Irene Franklin (1876–1941), actress and singer, best known for her work in musical comedy on the Broadway stage of the early 20th Century.
• Maida Craigen (1861–1942), actress and clubwoman, known for Shakespearean roles
• Leslie Stowe (1867–1949), film actor^[6]
• Russ Brown (1892–1964), Tony Award winning actor of stage and film remembered by audiences as Captain Brackett in South Pacific.
• Nance O'Neil (1874–1965), actress of stage and silent cinema of the early 20th century, dubbed the American Bernhardt.^[7]
• Charles Dale (1885–1971), vaudeville performer, who, with Joe Smith, was part of the inseparable and very popular Smith & Dale duo^[8]
• Zoel Parenteau (1883–1972), composer of Broadway musicals^[9]
• Wendy Barrie (1912–1978) English actress who worked in British and American films, goddaughter of J.M. Barrie
• Glenn Anders (1889–1981, actor, most notable for his work on the Broadway stage, appearing in three Pulitzer Prize winning productions
• Joe Smith (1884–1981) American vaudeville performer, who, with Charlie Dale, was part of the inseparable and very popular Smith & Dale duo.^[8]
• Esther Luella Sherman (1893–1982) American Indian Classic Dancer
• Reginald Denham (1894–1983) English writer, theater and film director, actor, and producer who spent much of his life directing Broadway theater.
• May Clark (1885–1971) English silent film actress who starred in the first film adaptation of Alice in Wonderland.
• Roland Winters (1904–1989), actor who portrayed the title character in six Charlie Chan films in the late 1940s
• Dorothy Tree (1906–1992), character actress, voice teacher and writer of books on voice
• Claudia McNeil (1917–1993), actress known for the role of matriarch Lena Younger in both stage and screen productions of A Raisin in the Sun
• Cecil Roy (1900–1995), radio actress of the 1930s and 1940s, later known as the voice of Casper in the Casper the Friendly Ghost animated series of the 1940s and 1950s
• Alfred Ryder (1916–1995), film, radio, and television actor. He appeared in the first aired episode of the television series Star Trek
• Joey Faye (1909–1997), comedian and actor who appeared with Phil Silvers in two Broadway shows, High Button Shoes and Top Banana, and later as a guest star on many TV shows
• Ray Heatherton (1909–1997)
• Ed Herlihy (1909–1999)
• Imogene Coca (1908–2001) Emmy award-winning actress (Best Actress for Your Show of Shows, 1951) who was notable in later years for playing the role of "Aunt Edna" in National Lampoon's Vacation.
• Nancy Coleman (1912–2001)
• Rosetta LeNoire (1911–2002)
• Hildy Parks (1926–2004)
• Pamela Duncan (1924–2005)
• John Fiedler (1925–2005)
• Joseph Bova (1924–2006)
• Franklin Cover (1928–2006)
• Robert Earl Jones (1910–2006), boxer and actor
• Dody Goodman (1914–2008)
• Louisa Horton Hill (1920–2008)
• Marilyn Cooper (1934–2009)
• Susanna Foster (1924–2009)
• Aaron Schroeder (1926–2009)
• Dolores Sutton (1927–2009)
• Leslie Barrett (1919–2010)
• Jane Nossette Jarvis (1915–2010)
• Jane Sherman (1908–2010)
• Ted Sorel (1936–2010)
• Dolores Mae Wilson (1928–2010)^[10]
• Graham Brown (1924–2011)
• Clarice Taylor (1917–2011)
• Margaret Whiting (1924–2011)
• Carrie Smith (1925–2012)
• Jane Connell (1925–2013)
• Sheila MacRae (1921–2014)
• Judith Malina (1926–2015)^[11] German-born American theater and film actress, writer and director. She co-founded The Living Theatre, a radical political theatre troupe in New York City and Paris.
• Grover Van Dexter (1920–2015)^[12] Stage, screen, and TV actor who later served the antique toy collecting passions of his actor friends by opening Second Childhood toys in New York City.
• Vivian Nathan (1916–2015)^[13] Stage and screen actress and an original founding member of the Actors Studio. She served on the Actors Studio's board of directors until 1999.
• Mark Murphy (1932–2015)
• Tammy Grimes (1934–2016)
• Earle Hyman (1926–2017)
• Joseph Jarman (1937–2019) Jazz musician, composer, and Shinshu Buddhist priest^[14]
• Max Wright (1943–2019)^[15]
• Marshall Efron (1938–2019)^[16]
• Allan Rich (1926–2020)^[17]
• Janet Lawson (1940–2021)
• Marvin Kitman (1929–2023)^[18]
• Lelia Goldoni (1936–2023)^[19]

In popular culture

The facility was the subject of the short documentary film Curtain Call (2000), directed by Charles Braverman; the film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary (Short Subject).

See also

• Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital
• The Lillian Booth Actors Home of The Actors Fund. Retrieved June 10, 2023

Notes and References

1. News: Staff . Forgotten Hollywood Actors Retire in Style . The Motion Picture and Television Fund Country House in California and the Actors Fund Homes in New Jersey are retirement communities that take care of little guys in the entertainment industry – supporting stars and extras who lived by the maxim that there are no small parts, only small actors. . . May 23, 2002 . August 17, 2012 .
2. Web site: Staff . n.d. . The Lillian Booth Actors Home. . August 17, 2012 . The Lillian Booth Actors Home of The Actors Fund in Englewood, New Jersey is an assisted living and skilled nursing care facility, which provides a comfortable living environment on six acres of property for 124 entertainment professionals..
3. Book: New Jersey – A Guide to the State . Westergaard, Barbara . 95 . New Brunswick, New Jersey . . 2006 . 978-0-813-51242-6 .
4. Malcolm, Andrew H. (November 5, 1991). "Our Towns; Secrets of an Elusive Lady Bountiful". The New York Times. Retrieved August 17, 2012.
5. La Gorce, Tammy (January 18, 2004). "Life's Dramas Play at Home For Actors". The New York Times. Retrieved August 17, 2012. "The home here was renamed for the philanthropist Lillian Booth just last spring, after she presented it a $2 million gift. Mrs. Booth, not a part of the Booth theatrical family, is the widow of Ferris Booth, a private investment counselor and heir to an I.B.M. fortune."
6. https://www.nytimes.com/1949/07/19/archives/leslie-stowe.html "Leslie Stowe"
7. News: Nance O'Neil, 90, Tragedienne Of Stage in Early 1900s, Dead . Nance O'Neil, an actress who starred in dozens of tragic roles in the early part of the century, died yesterday in Englewood, N.J. She was 90 years old. ... . . February 8, 1965 . 2015-01-06 .
8. News: Joe Smith, 97, A Star Of Vaudeville As Part Of Comedy Team 73 Years . Joe Smith, a partner for 73 years in the vaudeville team of Smith and Dale, died yesterday at the Actors' Fund Home in Englewood, N.J., five days after celebrating his 97th birthday . . February 23, 1981 . 2015-01-06 .
9. News: Zoel Parenteau, Stage Composer. The New York Times. September 15, 1972. 40.
10. News: Fox, Maraglit . Margalit Fox . Dolores Wilson, Met Soprano, Dies at 82 . Dolores Wilson, a Metropolitan Opera soprano of the 1950s who later sang in Broadway musicals, died on Sept. 28 in Englewood, N.J. She was 82 and lived in Englewood. A friend, Karin Farrell, confirmed the death, saying Ms. Wilson died of natural causes. . . October 4, 2010 . March 22, 2011.
11. Web site: Judith Malina, Founder of the Living Theater, Dies at 88. Bruce. Weber. 10 April 2015. 5 January 2018. NYTimes.com.
12. Web site: Selling Toys to the Young at Heart - The New York Sun. www.nysun.com. 5 January 2018.
13. News: Mike. Barnes. Vivian Nathan, Original Member of The Actors Studio, Dies at 98 . . 2015-04-10 . 2015-04-25.
14. Web site: Chinen, Nate . Joseph Jarman, 81, Dies; Mainstay of the Art Ensemble of Chicago . The New York Times . 20 April 2019.
15. Web site: Padnani, Amisha . Amy Padnani . Max Wright, Who Went From Theater Roles to ‘ALF,’ Dies at 75 . The New York Times . July 3, 2019.
16. News: Genzlinger . Neil . Marshall Efron, Funny Cog in the PBS ‘Dream Machine,’ Dies at 81 . 9 October 2019 . . 8 October 2019.
17. Web site: Allan Rich, Character Actor Who Overcame the Blacklist, Dies at 94. The Hollywood Reporter. Mike. Barnes. August 24, 2020. August 24, 2020.
18. Web site: Roberts . Sam . Marvin Kitman, Satirist Whose Main Target Was TV, Dies at 93 . . June 29, 2023 . June 29, 2023.
19. Web site: Barnes . Mike . Lelia Goldoni, Actress in ‘Shadows’ and ‘Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore,’ Dies at 86 . . July 27, 2023 . August 2, 2023.