Actress Helen Hayes at Yongsan Garrison, 1965
Published: July 8, 2012
Ken Zopf ©Stars and Stripes
Yongsan Garrison, South Korea, December, 1965: Actress Helen Hayes meets with fans backstage after her show at Yongsan Theater #2. Talking behind her back, so to speak, are, left to right, actor-director Romney Brent and soldier-actors Spec. 4 Lawrence Lacquement and Pfc. Gene Flowers. Hayes, known as the First Lady of the American Stage, read from a series of plays and recreated some of her well-known performances during the show, with help from Brent, Lacquement, Flowers and Pfc. Stephan Weyte.
At the end of her 23-day visit, as she prepared to board a plane at Seoul International Airport, Hayes reportedly took off her "$2,000 nutria overcoat" and directed a U.S. Embassy employee to sell it and use the proceeds to help needy Korean students.
