Irene Rich
Known For
Acting
Born
1891-10-11 in Buffalo, New York, USA
Died
1988-04-22
Biography
From Wikipedia Irene Rich (October 13, 1891 - April 22, 1988) was an American actress who worked in both silent films and talkies, as well as radio. Rich worked for Will Rogers, who used her in eight pictures, including Water Water Everywhere (1920), The Strange Boarder (1920), Jes' Call Me Jim (1920), Boys Will Be Boys (1921), and The Ropin' Fool (1921). She often portrayed society women, such as in the 1925 adaptation of Lady Windermere's Fan and also in Queen of the Yukon (1940). In two of her last films she played a frontier wife and mother: She was the mother of Gail Russell's character in John Wayne's Angel and the Badman (1947); in John Ford's cavalry story Fort Apache (1948) she portrayed Mrs. O'Rourke, the wife of Sergeant O'Rourke (Ward Bond). In the 1930s, Rich did much work in radio. From 1933 to 1944, she hosted a nationwide anthology program of serialized mini-dramas, Dear John (aka The Irene Rich Show). Her leading man was actor Gale Gordon (who later played Lucille Ball's apoplectic boss "Mr. Mooney" on TV). Rich appeared in stage productions, including Seven Keys to Baldpate (1935) which starred George M. Cohan, the creator of the play, and later As the Girls Go in 1948. Rich has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, one for her contribution to the motion picture industry at 6225 Hollywood Boulevard and one for her contributions to the radio industry at 6150 Hollywood Boulevard.
Most Known For
Dearie
as Sylvia Darling/Dearie
Fort Apache
as Mrs. Mary O'Rourke
The Trap
as The Teacher
Her Mad Night
as Joan Manners
Calendar Girl
as Lulu Varden
Joan of Arc
as Catherine le Royer, Joan's friend
Angel and the Badman
as Mrs. Worth
The Honeymoon Express
as Mary Lambert
Compromise
as Joan Trevore
The Mortal Storm
as Mrs. Roth
Defying Destiny
as Beth Alden
Lady Windermere's Fan
as Mrs. Erlynne
My Wife and I
as Mrs. James Borden
The Champ
as Linda Carleton
They Had to See Paris
as Idy Peters
Eve's Lover
as Eva Burnside
New Orleans
as Mrs. Rutledge Smith
Beau Ideal
as Lady Brandon
This Woman
as Carol Drayton
So This Is London
as Mrs. Hiram Draper