Helen Gallagher (July 19, 1926 – November 24, 2024) was an American actress, dancer, and singer. She received three Daytime Emmy Awards, two Tony Awards, a Donaldson Award, and a Drama Desk Award.

Gallagher's work on the New York stages spanned seven decades, with her big break coming in the role of Nancy in the 1947 musical High Button Shoes. Gallagher won her first Tony Award and a Donaldson Award for her role as Gladys Bumps in the 1952 revival of Pal Joey, and earned her first leading role on the Broadway stage in 1953, starring in Hazel Flagg. Two more noteworthy stage roles for Gallagher included her run as Nickie in Sweet Charity, which began in January 1966, and earned Gallagher a Tony Award nomination; and then, a year and a half later, Gallagher replaced Gwen Verdon in the lead role of Charity. Gallagher won her second Tony Award as well as a Drama Desk Award for her role as Lucille Early in the 1971 revival of the 1920s musical classic No, No, Nanette.

Gallagher also portrayed Irish matriarch Maeve Ryan on the ABC soap opera Ryan's Hope. She played Maeve for the show's duration, from July 1975 to January 1989, and was recognized with three Daytime Emmy Awards. Gallagher last acted on the New York stages in 2000 and worked as an acting instructor at Herbert Berghof Studio in New York City.

Born in Brooklyn, New York, on July 19, 1926, Gallagher was raised in Scarsdale, New York, and the Bronx. Her parents separated and she was raised by an aunt. She suffered from asthma.

Gallagher was known for decades as a Broadway performer. She appeared in Make a Wish, Hazel Flagg, Portofino, High Button Shoes, and Sweet Charity (for which she received a 1967 Tony Award nomination for Featured Actress in a Musical), eventually assuming the title role, and closing the original Broadway run. She also appeared in Cry for Us All.

In 1952, she won a Tony Award and a Donaldson Award for her work in the revival of Pal Joey. In 1971, she won her second Tony for her role in the revival of the musical No, No, Nanette. Her song-and-dance number with Bobby Van from that show, "You Can Dance with Any Girl", was a popular number from the 1971 revival, and was performed by both Gallagher and Van on the 1971 and 1972 Tony Awards telecasts. She later took on the role of Sue Smith in the Paper Mill Playhouse revival of the show, playing the role Keeler played a quarter century earlier.

Her first starring role on Broadway came in 1953 as title character in Hazel Flagg, based on the 1937 Carole Lombard movie Nothing Sacred. The role earned her a feature-photo shoot for Life. Gallagher appeared in the 1977 movie Roseland opposite Christopher Walken. An aficionada of Rodgers and Hammerstein, she appeared on a special tribute to Richard Rodgers on The Bell Telephone Hour.

In 1949 Gallagher was co-host of Manhattan Showcase, a 15-minute talent-discovery program on CBS television.