Constance Towers

Constance Towers

Constance Mary Towers (born May 20, 1933) is an American film, stage, and television actress, and singer. She gained prominence for her appearances in several mainstream 1950s films before transitioning to theater, starring in numerous Broadway productions through the 1970s. Her accolades include two Emmy Award nominations. A native of Montana, Towers began her career doing radio plays as a child in the Pacific Northwest before relocating to New York City where she studied music at the Juilliard School. She made her film debut in the Technicolor comedy picture Bring Your Smile Along (1955) by Blake Edwards before earning recognition for her roles in John Ford's civil war film The Horse Soldiers (1959) and western Sergeant Rutledge (1960). She later appeared in two roles in Samuel Fuller's hard-edged experimental thrillers Shock Corridor (1963) and The Naked Kiss (1964). Beginning in 1965, Towers embarked on a career in theater, making her Broadway debut in the musical Anya, opposite Lillian Gish, followed by a 1966 production of Show Boat at Lincoln Center. Towers starred in four other Broadway productions throughout the 1970s, most notably as Anna in The King and I in 1977 and 1978. Her later career largely has been based in television, with roles as matriarch Clarissa McCandless on the daytime drama Capitol from 1982 to 1987, and the villainous Helena Cassadine on General Hospital, which she began portraying in 1997.

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