​From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Helene Hanff (April 15, 1916–April 9, 1997) was an American writer. Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, she is best known as the author of the book 84 Charing Cross Road, which became the basis for a stage play, television play, and film of the same name. Description above from the Wikipedia article Helene Hanff, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia