American actress
1950 Theatre World Award winner, for her performance as Wendy in the 1950 Broadway revival of "Peter Pan", starring Jean Arthur and Boris Karloff.
Mother, with Robert Ivers , of daughters Alenda Michael and Mallory Cangialosi.
Spotted by a Universal talent scout during a Washington D.C. performance of "The Moon is Blue" with the National Theatre Company in late 1951.
She was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis in 1957 and her subsequent career was hampered by the debilitating effects of her condition.
In 1947, Henderson attended the Stockbridge School of the Theater. In the summer of 1948, she became a leading player with the Galeway Stock Company in Gatlinburg, Tennessee.
At the age of fifteen, she commenced studies in New York at the Academy of Dramatic Arts, graduating in 1949.
Her daughter Mallory worked behind the scenes in the entertainment industry, for producer Norman Lear and later for the Arts and Entertainment network. The character of Mallory on Family Ties was named after her.
She died of the effects of lupus, which had caused multiple organ failure.
