Helen Alexander was an actress and social activist who dedicated herself to helping the underdog.
She was bubbly, upbeat, accepting and the wife of an iconic architect, the late Cecil Alexander.
“She celebrated eccentricity and was nonjudgmental,” said her son Art Harris. “Whatever you did, it was OK; she was always forgiving and encouraging.”
Alexander started acting when she was a teen. Her family lived in several residences, including the Hotel Pierre in New York, where celebrities Coco Chanel and Audrey Hepburn stayed.
Her father, Alexander Eisemann, was a pioneer of commercial radio and sponsored Jewish people fleeing Hitler’s Germany ahead of World War II. He insisted she learn a skill while in pursuit of her acting career.
Living with her father, she “grew up in an atmosphere where the less-privileged were helped,” Harris said. She saw what her father had done, and that inspired her to continue to help those in need. She passed that inspiration on to her children.
“She inspired us to do things that would help others,” Harris said. “She had a willingness to jump in and help the underdog.”
In the early 1960s, Alexander was a part of a group of women who helped start the first speech and hearing clinic for Atlanta’s deaf African-American children.
Helen Eisemann Alexander, of Atlanta, died Monday of natural causes. She was 92. A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. Monday at The Temple, 1589 Peachtree St. N.E., Atlanta. H.M. Patterson & Sons funeral home is in charge of arrangements.
“She was very outgoing and warm,” said her daughter Jill Harris Brown. “She never complained.”
As an actress, Alexander played USO shows and performed in the movie “Stage Door Canteen.” She also performed on Broadway.She worked with Hollywood greats Katharine Hepburn, Cicely Tyson and Celeste Holm. Later in Atlanta, she was the star of a Georgia Lottery commercial, cast in driving “Miss Daisy” and performed in many other television and film productions, as well as commercials.
“She always insisted on getting the family together,” Harris Brown said. “She was adventurous and loved to wake up, get in the car and go; she didn’t need a deadline or goal.”
Alexander was a senior member of many organizations, including the Actor’s Equity Association, the Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Radio and Television Artists. As president of the American Jewish Committee in 1968 and 1969, she received an award for doubling its membership.
“She was the ultimate mother,” said another son, Alex Harris.
In addition to her daughter and two sons, Alexander is also survived by another daughter, Sophie Joel; and eight grandchildren.
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