An unsigned obituary in "The Times" caused upset by calling Helpmann "A homosexual of the proselytising kind, could turn young men on the borderline his way." It was quickly pointed out that Helpmann kept his professional and private lives firmly separate. An assessment in "The Guardian" ranked him as capable in "princely" roles in classic ballets, but "peerless" in dramatic parts, and best of all in comic roles. The "Australian Dictionary of Biography" (ADB) describes Helpmann as "the complete man of the theatre", but adds that in some people's view he worked in too many fields to achieve supremacy in any one of them. Malcolm Williamson observed, "he never became a Gielgud, Olivier or Redgrave, or an Ashton, Balanchine or Petit because he was the most pluralistic of the lot"; the ADB quotes the dancer Moira Shearer: "he wasn't a great dancer – he wasn't a great actor – but he was most certainly a great mime, the perfect bridge between the two". "The New York Times" said of him: