HELEN BEGAM
Actress, director, theater activist. Arizona Republic, Oct. 23, 2007

Helen G. Begam, 81, died on October 20, 2007. Born and raised in Connecticut, Helen met her husband at Yale where they both were involved with the Drama School. Helen’s passion for theater continued throughout her life.

She acted professionally in Connecticut, New York and Arizona, where she was a founder of Arizona Repertory Theatre. Valley theatergoers will remember her roles as Blanche in “A Streetcar Named Desire,” Maggie in “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof,” Princess Cosmonopolous in “Sweet Bird of Youth,” the title role in “Candida, ” Eleanor of Aquitaine in “Lion in Winter” and, most memorably, Martha in “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?”
Over the years she has been active in many cultural and community organizations, including Arizona Theatre Company, Phoenix Theatre, Boys and Girls Club of Phoenix, Ballet Arizona, Arizona Humane Society and the Weizmann Institute of Science.

Above all, Helen was a loving and caring wife and mother. She is survived by Robert, her husband of fifty-eight years, two sons, Richard and Michael, a daughter Lorinda, and two granddaughters, Robyn and Stayce.
Her immediate family was with her during her last illness and at her side at the time of her death. She suffered no pain at the end. She died as she lived, with grace and dignity.