Henny Backus
Henny Backus in 1969
Born
Henrietta Kaye

(1911-03-21)March 21, 1911
Brooklyn, New York City, U.S.
DiedDecember 9, 2004(2004-12-09) (aged 93)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Resting placeWestwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery
Other namesHenriette Kaye
OccupationActress
Years active1936–1981
Spouses
  • Nat Karson
​
​
(m. 1943; died 1989)​

Henny Backus (born Henrietta Kaye, March 21, 1911 – December 9, 2004) was a Broadway showgirl in the 1930s whose stage credits include Orson Welles's Horse Eats Hat. She was the wife of actor and comedian Jim Backus.

Career

Henriette Kaye in Orson Welles's surrealistic farce Horse Eats Hat (1936)

She had the role of Bee in the Broadway play Chrysalis (1932).[1] Working as Henriette Kaye, she was a member of the Federal Theatre Project. Described by The New York Times as "a leggy redhead with a droll sense of humor",[2] she appeared in Orson Welles's Project 891 production Horse Eats Hat (1936), a surrealistic farce co-starring Welles, Joseph Cotten, Hiram Sherman and Arlene Francis.[3]: 182  Her husband, Nat Karson,[2] designed the sets and costumes.[3]: 182 

Kaye married actor and comedian Jim Backus in 1943.[2] The couple co-starred in the 1960s television series Blondie, and they performed together once on Gilligan's Island, in the sitcom's second-season episode "Gilligan's Mother-In-Law" (1965). She appeared too with her husband in a season-five episode of The Love Boat.

Henny and Jim Backus co-authored several humorous books, including What Are You Doing After the Orgy? (1962), Only When I Laugh (1965), Backus Strikes Back (1984), and Forgive Us Our Digressions (1988). Henny also wrote Care for the Caretaker (1999), documenting her husband's battle with Parkinson's disease and offering practical solutions for those facing such dilemmas.[2]

References

  1. ↑ "Henrietta Kaye". Internet Broadway Database. The Broadway League. Archived from the original on July 12, 2020. Retrieved July 12, 2020.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Bayot, Jennifer (December 17, 2004). "Henny Backus, 93, an Actress and Author With Husband Jim, Dies". The New York Times. Retrieved February 2, 2015.
  3. 1 2 France, Richard, The Theatre of Orson Welles. Cranbury, New Jersey: Associated University Presses, Inc. 1977 ISBN 0-8387-1972-4
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