Louise Heims Beck

Louise Payton Heims Beck (February 23, 1889 – March 16, 1978 ), sometimes referred to as Mrs. Martin Beck, was an American librarian who became a vaudeville performer and the wife of theatre impresario Martin Beck. She assisted her husband in his theatrical enterprises until his death in 1940, after which she took over the management of his eponymous Broadway theatre. Along with Antoinette Perry and several other women, she co-founded the American Theater Wing (ATW) in its revived and revised version in 1940. She served as one of the directors of the ATW in its early years, and played a critical role in establishing both the Stage Door Canteen during World War II and the Tony Awards in 1947. She was chairperson of the governing board of the Actors' Fund of America from 1960 until her death in 1978.

Life and career Born Louise Payton Heims in Osceola, Pennsylvania, she graduated in 1911 from the Drexel Institute of Art, Science and Industry (now Drexel University) with a degree in Library Science. In 1915 she relocated to New York City and assumed a position as a librarian with the New York Public Library. He employed impresario Martin Beck to hire the talent for his theaters. Prior to their marriage, her husband had founded Broadway's Palace Theatre in Times Square in 1912. She was one of the ATW's directors from 1940 until 1946 when Perry died; serving as the organization's first Vice President. She played an integral role in the establishment of both the Stage Door Canteen during WWII and the Tony Awards in 1947.

In addition to her work with the ATW, Heims Beck was dedicated to the Actors Fund of America; serving first as a trustee of the organization and then chairman of its governing executive committee from 1960 until her death eighteen years later. She concurrently served as the director of the Percy G. Williams Home; a retirement home for impoverished elderly actors. In 1958 she was the recipient of a Special Tony Award for her service to the theatre community. She was also the recipient of an honorary doctorate from Drexel University in 1977. In 1977 she was given the Actors Fund Medal of Honor on the occasion of her 88th birthday.

Louise Heims Beck died at Lenox Hill Hospital in Manhattan on March 16, 1978, at the age of 89.