On May 8, 1902, the Actors Fund opened a home for retired entertainers onStaten Island, aborough ofNew York City,New York. In 1928, theNew York City government took the property usingeminent domain to enlarge an adjacent city park. That year, the residents were moved to the former mansion of American businesswomanHetty Green in Englewood.[2][3] The mansion was razed in 1959, and a modern facility was erected in 1961.
In 1975, the facility was merged with the Percy Williams Home onLong Island, New York. The facilities were expanded in 1988 with a 50-bednursing home. In the same year, theEdwin Forrest wing was created at the nursing home after a merger with the Edwin Forrest Home inPhiladelphia,Pennsylvania.
In 1993, a wing was named in honor of actressNatalie Schafer, notable for her role asEunice "Lovey" Wentworth Howell on the televisionsitcomGilligan's Island (1964–1967), who left $1.5 million to the Actors Fund after her death.[2] In 2003, it was named in honor of Lillian Booth, a philanthropist who donated $2 million to the facility.[4][5]
Reginald Denham (1894–1983) English writer, theater and film director, actor, and producer who spent much of his life directing Broadway theater.
May Clark (1885–1971) English silent film actress who starred in the first film adaptation ofAlice in Wonderland.
Roland Winters (1904–1989), actor who portrayed the title character in sixCharlie Chan films in the late 1940s
Dorothy Tree (1906–1992), character actress, voice teacher and writer of books on voice
Claudia McNeil (1917–1993), actress known for the role of matriarch Lena Younger in both stage and screen productions ofA Raisin in the Sun
Cecil Roy (1900–1995), radio actress of the 1930s and 1940s, later known as the voice of Casper in theCasper the Friendly Ghost animated series of the 1940s and 1950s
Alfred Ryder (1916–1995), film, radio, and television actor. He appeared in the first aired episode of the television seriesStar Trek
Judith Malina (1926–2015)[11] German-born American theater and film actress, writer and director. She co-foundedThe Living Theatre, a radical political theatre troupe in New York City and Paris.
Grover Van Dexter (1920–2015)[12] Stage, screen, and TV actor who later served the antique toy collecting passions of his actor friends by opening Second Childhood toys in New York City.
