Katherine Helmond: From Jessica Tate to Mona Robinson and more

Katherine Helmond, at left, with her co-star Tony Danza in the sitcom "Who's the Boss?".

Source: https://variety.com/2019/tv/news/katherine-helmond-dead-dies-whos-the-boss-1203153175/

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Nothing defines the density of Jessica Tate better than the following conversation she had with her nephew Jodie Dallas about him being gay.

He told her some very famous people were gay, including Plato.

She got very serious, looked her nephew squarely in the eye and said:

“You mean Mickey Mouse’s dog is gay.”

It was just one of the priceless moments in the groundbreaking sitcom “Soap”, where Katherine Helmond played Jessica Tate.

That role was just coming to an end as the ‘80s started, but Katherine Helmond would soon be back with another memorable character, although this one was not just another incarnation of Jessica Tate.

It is Katherine Helmond’s birthday today, and a good chance to look back at her career, which really got rolling in the ‘80s.

Jessica Tate
Looking back, I am still quite surprised my Mom let me watch “Soap”. From the time it started, I got to watch it pretty much every Thursday night on Channel 13 on the peasant vision dial, right after “Live it Up”. It had a lot of adult themes that I still vividly remember,. It addressed all sorts of issues such as homosexuality, when that was still pretty much a taboo; celibacy; the Catholic church; cults; infidelity; and a lot more. Having not really seen soap operas before, I didn’t really appreciate the way “Soap” also spoofed the daytime drama with plot lines on alien abduction; demonic possession; infidelity; sex; and others.

Through it all, Katherine Helmond was brilliant as Jessica Tate. The show started each episode with the narrator explaining “Soap” was the story of two sisters, Jessica Tate and Mary Campbell, who was also brilliantly played by Cathryn Damon. Everything emanated out of their families.

Jessica was much better off financially than Mary, who was very blue collar. Jessica was rich, lived in a mansion, and had a butler. First it was Benson, until he got his own show, then Saunders. Jessica was a ditz, and made some poor choices, as soap opera characters do, such as having affairs. However, she was kind, sweet and vulnerable at heart. She, in particular, had a relationship with Benson that was more like family then employer and employee. That was evidenced when she called on him to return to rescue her son Billy from the clutches of a cult.

She was so ditzy, it made for some really funny moments. In the first season, she was having an affair with her tennis pro Peter Campbell, played by Robert Urich. After an afternoon quickie, he made a comment about them “boffing” as they got dressed. Jessica just laughed and couldn’t stop using the word. She said her husband Chester wouldn’t even knew what it meant, so she could say, “I boffed”, and he wouldn’t blink an eye. It kind of went on and on, and was pretty funny.

Because of that blend of sensitivity, comedy, vulnerability and everything else that made Jessica Tate, Katherine Helmond was nominated for the Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series in 1978, 1979, 1980, and 1981, all four years “Soap” was on the air. She also won a Golden Globe in 1980 for Best Actress Television Series Musical or Comedy.

“Soap” lasted four seasons and ran a total of 85 episodes.

The years before
Katherine Helmond brought a lot of experience to “Soap” in both film and television. Her first movie was “Wine of Morning” in 1955; and she would have a few roles including one in “The Hindenburg” in 1975.

Her television career began in 1962 with a guest role in “Car 54, Where Are You?”; and went on to episodes of “Gunsmoke”; “The F.B.I.”; “Adam’s Rib”; “The Bob Newhart Show”; “The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman”, a TV movie; “The Snoop Sisters”; “Hec Ramsey”; “Mannix”; “Medical Center”; “The Rookies”; “The Legend of Lizzie Borden”, a TV movie; “Barnaby Jones”; “Harry-O”; “The Six Million Dollar Man”; “The Blue Knight”; “Petrocelli”; “Joe Forrester”; “Visions”; “Spencer’s Pilots”; “The Bionic Woman”; and more.

The in-between time
After her run on “Soap” ended, Helmond reprised the role of Jessica Tate for an episode of “Benson”; had guest spots in “The Love Boat”, “Faerie Theatre”, and “Fantasy Island”; as well as roles in a number of TV movies such as “Scout’s Honor”, ”For Lovers Only”, “Rosie: The Rosemary Clooney Story”; and the miniseries “World War III”.

Things would change again when Helmond landed another defining role in her career.

Mona Robinson
The premise of “Who’s the Boss?” is simple. Tony Micelli, played by Tony Danza, is an ex-baseball player, widowed with a young daughter, Sam, played by Alyssa Milano. He goes to work as a live-in housekeeper in Connecticut, for Angela Bower, played by Judith Light, who is divorced with a son. The comedy flows from there.

Helmond played Mona Robinson, Angela’s mother. Mona is nothing like Jessica Tate. She is also kind and sensitive, but is sly, clever, and foxy. She is the cool grandma for Jonathan Bower, played by Danny Pintauro.

“Who’s the Boss?” ran eight seasons, from 1984 to 1992, for a total of 196 episodes. For her efforts, Helmond won the Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress Series, Miniseries or Television Film in 1989, and was nominated for another Golden Globe in the same category in 1986. She was also nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series in 1988 and 1989.

Helmond was in a number of films in the ‘80s as well, including “Time Bandits”, in 1981; “Brazil”, in 1985, where her face was stretched beyond measure; “Overboard”, in 1987 opposite Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn; and more.

The years after
Katherine Helmond kept right on acting, after the end of “Who’s the Boss?”

After a number of television movies, she would land two more memorable roles.

She played Doris Sherman in 19 episodes of “Coach” from 1995 to 1997, as the owner of the professional team Hayden Fox and Luther Van Dam work for. She was also Luther’s love interest.

Helmond also played Lois Whelan in 14 episodes of “Everybody Loves Raymond” from 1996 to 2004. Lois was Debra Barone’s mother, that is Ray Barone’s mother-in-law. For her efforts, Helmond won the Emmy for Outstanding Guest Appearance in a Comedy Series in 2002.

She would have guest roles in “Providence”; “Strong Medicine”; “The Tony Danza Show”, reprising her role as Mona Robinson; “The Glades”; “Melissa and Joey”; “True Blood”; “Harry’s Law”; and some television movies.

Her last role on TV was in 2012, providing her voice for an episode of “Cars Toons: Mater’s Tall Tales”.

She was also in films such as “Amore!”; “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas”; “Beethoven’s Fifth”; voiced three “Cars” cartoons; and more. Her last film role was in “Frank and Ava” in 2018, a biographical drama on the lives of Frank Sinatra and Ava Gardner.

Katherine Helmond died in 2019 from Alzheimer Disease.

She was 89 years old.

Parting thoughts
There may not be two characters much more different than Jessica Tate and Mona Robinson, yet Katherine Helmond played them both so very well. Doris Sherman and Lois Whelan were two different characters yet again.

She was recognized with awards and nominations for three of these characters, proving she was not an actor who was typecast into a particular kind of role.

Her greatest strength was her comic timing and ability to communicate so much without saying a word. It could be Jessica Tate with an utterly confused look on her face, or Mona Robinson with that knowing glance, telling us she knew something no one else did – and it was good.

Looking back, Katherine Helmond was a big part of my viewing habits in the first half of the 1980s, and for good reason – she was a great actress.