The U.S. Postal Service recently issued a stamp honoring actress Helen Hayes (1900-93). Hayes was the mother of actor James MacArthur, who played Danno on the original Hawaii Five-0.
MacArthur died last fall, just weeks after CBS’s new Hawaii Five-0 premiered. The Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported that CBS had hoped to find a role for MacArthur in its new version – and that the actor’s personal website said he had
agreed to appear in an episode.
Like mother; like son. According to his New York Times obituary: “One of his favorite Hawaii Five-0 episodes … was ‘Retire in Sunny Hawaii Forever’ (1975), because it was one of the rare times that he worked with his mother. Miss Hayes played Danno’s Aunt Clara, who visits Hawaii and helps the detectives solve a murder.”
Hayes made her Broadway debut at age 9 and remained a star for most of the 20th century. She received her first star billing at age 20 in the comedy “Bab.” She also performed on radio and in film, winning Academy Awards for Best Actress for “The Sin of Madelon Claudet” (1931), her first “talkie,” and Best Supporting Actress almost 40 years later for her role as an elderly stowaway in the disaster film “Airport” (1970).
According to Wikipedia, Hayes was one of only 12 people to win an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar and a Tony award. She also received the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Hayes and her husband, playwright Charles MacArthur, adopted James MacArthur when he was an infant.