The Lillian Booth Actors' Home of The Actors Fund in Englewood, New Jersey is an assisted living and skilled nursing care facility, which provides a comfortable living environment on six acres of property for 109 entertainment professionals. The Lillian Booth Actors' Home of The Actors Fund is licensed by the Department of Health and qualifies for Medicaid and Medicare. Individuals who have dedicated a major portion of their professional lives to the entertainment industry are eligible for admission, without regard to their ability to pay. The Actors Fund provides funds to subsidize the extraordinary care that residents of The Lillian Booth Actors' Home of The Actors Fund receive.

Assisted Living

The Home serves 42 seniors who may still be active but can benefit from special assistance. Each resident has a private bedroom and lavatory. Meals are prepared by an experienced kitchen staff and are served in a central dining room called "The Stagedoor Canteen." The Facility offers weekly maid and laundry services. Dry cleaning, beauty parlor, barber and manicurist are available at the residents expense. Chiropractic and podiatric services, physical therapy, transportation to and from doctors' offices, psychological services and referrals are also coordinated. Medical needs are attended to by a professional nursing staff.

Active residents often spend time outside the Home. Staff and volunteers encourage residents to maintain their own interests and independence as long as possible. Activities within the facility include videos on a wide-screen television in the lounge, occasional performances by the residents and outside professionals, painting, arts and crafts, a book-of-the-month club, religious services and exercise classes. The Maureen O'Sullivan and James Cushing Library has an impressive theatrical collection including books, scripts, playbills and reference works donated by friends and members of The Actors Fund.

Extended Care

The Home also provides 24-hour care to 67 residents who are no longer able to care for themselves. The facility permits automatic transfer of Assisted Living Care Facility residents at the appropriate time and also serves as a convalescent facility for residents who undergo surgery or require close, temporary observation. Residents are also admitted to The Lillian Booth Actors' Home of The Actors Fund on a respite basis. If family members or care providers need a rest, they may bring a patient into the Home for a short stay as long as beds are available.

Residents are encouraged to maintain as much independence as possible. Recreation and rehabilitation programs include music, arts, crafts, lectures, religious services, entertainment and occasional supervised trips. The Lillian Booth Actors' Home also offers speech, occupational and physical therapies.

Expansion and Renovation

With the growing need for additional beds and additional rehabilitation services, The Actors Fund is in the process of completing an expansion and renovation of the Lillian Booth Home.

For more information about the expansion and campaign, please visit Expanding and Enhancing the Home.

The Residents

The Lillian Booth Actors' Home of The Actors Fund welcomes all entertainment professionals--designers, writers, sound technicians, musicians, dancers, administrators, directors, film editors, stagehands and actors. Current residents include fascinating individuals from the world of stage and screen encompassing actors, vaudevillians, Ziegfeld Follies dancers, comedians, band leaders and set designers. Among the most famous residents were Joseph Sultzer and Charles Marks, better known as the comedy team of Smith and Dale, who were the inspiration for Neil Simon's hit play and movie The Sunshine Boys and Ray Heatherton, who is fondly remembered as The "Merry Mailman."

Brief History

On May 8, 1902, The Actors Fund opened a home for retired entertainers on Staten Island. In 1928, the City of New York took possession of the property to enlarge an adjacent park. The Actors Fund Assisted Living Care Facility moved to the former mansion of millionairess Hetty Green, located on a six-acre estate in Englewood, New Jersey. The mansion was demolished in 1959, and a modern, one-level structure was erected in its place in 1961. In 1975, the Home merged with the Percy Williams Home, which had been located on Long Island, and the Percy Williams Wing was constructed at the Assisted Living Care Facility. The facilities were expanded in 1988 with the addition of a 50-bed extended care nursing home. Also in 1988, the Edwin Forrest Wing was created at the nursing home after a merger with the Edwin Forrest Home of Philadelphia. In 1993, a wing was named in honor of film and television star Natalie Schafer, who left over $1.5 million to The Actors Fund through her estate.

Eligibility

The Actors Fund Homes is an assisted living and skilled nursing home for the entertainment community. To qualify for admission, the resident must disclose his or her professional eligibility, which is based upon work history in the entertainment industry. In general, an applicant over 60 years of age should have a minimum of 20 years of work within the industry with annual earnings of at least $2,000 for ten out of those 20 years. Exceptions to the 20 year minimum eligibility criterion include dancers, who had to retire or transition out of the industry due to age, as well as any entertainment professional forced to transition out of the industry due to a disability or to other circumstances.

Spouses, domestic partners, parents, children and siblings are eligible for admission based on the employment history of an eligible family member.

Based on bed availability, the skilled nursing home or assisted living facility, is available to Bergen County residents outside the industry.

Contact

For more information on The Lillian Booth Actors' Home of The Actors Fund contact:

Rochelle Nuss, MSW
201.510.3422
rnuss@actorsfund.org

Jordan Strohl
201.871.8882 ext. 501
jstrohl@actorsfund.org

For more information on naming opportunities and other donations for the homes contact:

Megan Barrett
212.221.7300 ext. 108
MBarrett@actorsfund.org