Constance Mary Towers (born May 20, 1933) is an American film, stage, and television actress. She gained prominence for her appearances in several mainstream 1950s films before transitioning to theater, starring in numerous Broadway productions through the 1970s. Her accolades include two Emmy Award nominations.

Beginning in 1965, Towers embarked on a career in theater, making her Broadway debut in the musical Anya, opposite Lillian Gish, followed by a 1966 production of Show Boat at Lincoln Center. Towers starred in four other Broadway productions throughout the 1970s, most notably as Anna in The King and I in 1977 and 1978. Her later career largely has been based in television, with roles as matriarch Clarissa McCandless on the daytime drama Capitol from 1982 to 1987, and the villainous Helena Cassadine on General Hospital, which she began portraying in 1997.

Towers was born May 20, 1933 in Whitefish, Montana, one of two daughters born to Ardath L. (née Reynolds) and Harry J. Towers, a pharmacist. Her mother, originally from Nebraska, was of Irish descent, while her father was an Ireland native from Dublin, who immigrated to the United States through Philadelphia. Towers' family relocated throughout western Montana in her early childhood, living in Whitefish, Missoula, and Kalispell, as well as in Moscow, Idaho.

In 1940, when Towers was in first grade, she was discovered by talent scouts visiting Montana in search of child actors for radio programs. Towers's family subsequently relocated to Seattle, Washington, and she began working as a child radio actress on Pacific Northwest programs over the following three years. According to her official website, Towers was offered a contract with Paramount Pictures at age 11, but the offer was declined by her parents. At age 12, she worked at a small local movie theater in her hometown of Whitefish.

In her adolescence, her family relocated to New York City after her father took a job there as an executive vice president for a pharmaceutical company. There she attended the Juilliard School, studying music, and American Academy of Dramatic Arts. She studied singing with well known voice teacher Beverley Peck Johnson.

While attending Juilliard, Towers was discovered by a film agent. "I was very lucky," Towers recalled. "An agent saw me and believed in me and we were walking down Fifth Avenue and the manager of the St. Regis Hotel asked if I could sing. My agent told him yes and he asked if I could open in three weeks. I learned a series of songs, put on a dress, sang to the critics, and got good reviews. That night a casting man from Columbia Pictures saw me and flew me to L.A. to meet with Harry Cohn, president of Columbia. They had me read with Jack Lemmon, then signed me to a contract."

Towers made her film debut in a supporting part in the film Bring Your Smile Along (1955), followed by a supporting part in the crime thriller Over-Exposed (1956). Standing at 5 feet 9 inches (1.75 m), Towers initially struggled to obtain leading film roles due to her height. In 1958, she was cast in her first leading role as Hannah Hunter in John Ford's Civil War film The Horse Soldiers (1959) opposite John Wayne and William Holden. The following year, she appeared in Ford's follow-up film Sergeant Rutledge (1960), a racially themed crime Western.

In 1963, Towers was cast in a supporting role in Samuel Fuller's thriller Shock Corridor (1963), which tells the story of a journalist who commits himself to a psychiatric hospital to solve a murder. Her role as a stripper in the film was described by The New York Times as "hard, driving, and realistic." In preparation for the role, Towers spent time at exotic dance clubs in Los Angeles.