Constance Towers

Constance Towers
Towers in January 1963
Born	(1933-05-20) May 20, 1933 (age 83) Whitefish, Montana, U.S.
Occupation	Actress, singer
Years active	1952–present
Spouse(s)	Eugene McGrath (m. 1959; div. 1966) John Gavin (m. 1974)
Children	2

Constance Mary Towers (born May 20, 1933) is an American actress and singer.

A native of Montana, Towers began her career doing radio plays as a child in the Pacific Northwest before relocating to New York City where she professionally studied at the Juilliard School of Music. She made her film debut in the Technicolor picture Bring Your Smile Along (1955) before earning recognition for her roles in John Ford's westerns The Horse Soldiers (1959) and Sergeant Rutledge (1960). She would later appear in two controversial roles in Samuel Fuller's experimental thrillers Shock Corridor (1963) and The Naked Kiss (1964).

Beginning in 1965, Towers embarked on a career in theater, making her Broadway debut in the musical Anya, opposite Lillian Gish, followed by a 1966 production of Show Boat at Lincoln Center. Towers would star in four other Broadway productions throughout the 1970s, most notably as Anna in The King and I from 1977–1978. Her later career has largely been based in television, with notable roles as matriarch Clarissa McCandless on the daytime drama Capitol and the villainous Helena Cassadine on General Hospital, the latter of whom she began portraying in 1997.

Towers was born in Whitefish, Montana, the daughter of Ardath L. (née Reynolds) and pharmacist Harry J. Towers. Both of her parents were Irish immigrants. In 1940, when Towers was in first grade, she was discovered by talent scouts visiting Montana in search of child actors for radio programs. She then worked as a child voice actress in Pacific Northwest-based radio programs for three years. According to her official website, Towers was offered a contract with Paramount Pictures at age 11, but the offer was declined by her parents. At age 12, she worked at a small local movie theater in her hometown of Whitefish. In her adolescence, her family relocated to New York City for her father's work. There, she attended the Juilliard School of Music and American Academy of Dramatic Arts. She studied singing with well known voice teacher Beverley Peck Johnson.