Actress and Producer Haila Stoddard Dies at 97

Stoddard made her Broadway debut in A Woman’s a Fool – to Be Clever, and was subsequently seen in Blithe Spirit, and The Rivals. Her last appearance on Broadway came in 1963 in the original production of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?.

As a producer, Stoddard was behind such shows as A Thurber Carnival, Sail Away, The Birthday Party, and The Gingham Dog.

Her career extended beyond New York to work in regional theaters, including the Bucks County Playhouse, where she was a founding performer. On television, she was seen on such series as Studio One in Hollywood and The Web. In addition she played Aunt Pauline on the soap opera The Secret Storm, from 1954 through the 1960s.

She is survived by a son, a daughter, a stepdaughter, seven grandchildren, and six great-grand children.