Helen Gallagher Solomon (died 1943) was a Ziegfeld girl

Ziegfeld girl

Ziegfeld Girls were the chorus girls from Florenz Ziegfeld's theatrical spectaculars known as the Ziegfeld Follies , which were based on the Folies Bergère of Paris....

 and restaurateur

Restaurateur

A restaurateur is a person who opens and runs restaurants professionally. Although over time the term has come to describe any person who owns a restaurant, traditionally it refers to a highly skilled professional who is proficient in all aspects of the restaurant business.-Etymology:The word...

 who co-founded Gallagher's Steak House

Gallagher's Steak House

Gallagher's Steak House, located at 228 W 52nd St in New York City, was founded in November 1927 by Helen Gallagher, a former Ziegfeld girl, the wife of Edward Gallagher , and Jack Solomon, a colorful gambler with a large loyal following from the sporting element...

. She was the wife of Ed Gallagher

Edward Gallagher

Edward Gallagher was a vaudeville actor and half of the act Gallagher and Shean. Their story was told in an animated movie Mr. Gallagher and Mr. Shean by Max Fleischer and Dave Fleischer who also created Koko the Clown and Betty Boop...

 (1873–1929), of the "Mister Gallagher and Mister Sheen" comedy team.

She had been a Ziegfeld Girl until the mid-1920s and the wife of Ed Gallagher, who with Al Shean

Al Shean

Al Shean was the stage name for comedian Abraham Elieser Adolph Schönberg, although other sources give his birth name variously as Adolf Schönberg, Albert Schönberg, or Alfred Schönberg. He is most remembered for being half of the vaudeville team Gallagher and Shean, and as the uncle of the Marx...

 made up the comedy team of Gallagher and Shean

Gallagher and Shean

Gallagher & Shean was a highly successful double act on vaudeville and Broadway in the 1910s and 1920s, consisting of Edward Gallagher and Al Shean .-Career:...

. In November 1927 she and Jack Solomon

Jack Solomon

Jack Solomon was a colorful gambler-and-sports enthusiast turned restaurateur. He co-founded Gallagher's Steak House in 1927 with Helen Gallagher, the wife of Ed Gallagher ....

, a colorful gambler with a large loyal following from the sporting element, opened Gallagher's at 228 West 52nd Street next door to the Alvin Theater. These were the days of Prohibition

Prohibition

Prohibition of alcohol, often referred to simply as prohibition, is the practice of prohibiting the manufacture, transportation, import, export, sale, and consumption of alcohol and alcoholic beverages. The term can also apply to the periods in the histories of the countries during which the...

 and Gallagher's was one of the first speakeasy

Speakeasy

A speakeasy, also called a blind pig or blind tiger, is an establishment that illegally sells alcoholic beverages. Such establishments came into prominence in the United States during the period known as Prohibition...

 gathering places for gamblers, sports figures, and stars of Broadway

Broadway theatre

Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...

.

After Ed Gallagher's death, Helen remarried to Jack Solomon. She died from cancer in 1943 and her widower established the Helen Gallagher Cancer Fund to aid research.