Helen Gahagan Douglas (November 25, 1900 – June 28, 1980) was an American actress and politician. She was the third woman and first Democratic woman elected to Congress from California; her election made California one of the first two states (Illinois was the other state) to elect female members to the House from both parties.

Gahagan was born in Boonton, New Jersey, of Scotch-Irish descent. She was the daughter of Lillian Rose (Mussen) and Walter H. Gahagan, an engineer who owned a construction business in Brooklyn and a shipyard in Arverne, Queens; her mother had been a schoolteacher. She was reared Episcopalian.

She graduated from the Berkeley Institute in 1920, and from Barnard College in 1924. Gahagan became a well-known star on Broadway in the 1920s. In 1931, she married actor Melvyn Douglas. Gahagan starred in only one Hollywoodmovie, She in 1935, playing Hash-a-Motep, queen of a lost city. The movie, based on H. Rider Haggard'snovel of the same name, is perhaps best known for popularizing a phrase from the novel, "She who must be obeyed." Her character and costuming in She served as the inspiration for the appearance of the Evil Queen in Walt Disney's 1937 animated film, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

Political career
In the 1940s, Gahagan Douglas entered politics. She was elected to the United States House of Representatives from California's 14th congressional district as a Democrat in 1944, and served three full terms as "a principled advocate of women's rights, civil liberties and world disarmament." During this time she openly had an enduring love affair with then Congressman (and afterwards U.S. President) Lyndon B. Johnson. Mrs. Douglas was mentioned in the song "George Murphy" by satirist Tom Lehrer. The song begins, "Hollywood's often tried to mix / show business with politics / from Helen Gahagan / to Ronald Reagan ..."