Irene Rich

Irene Rich

1891-10-11 – 1988-04-22 (age 96) Buffalo, New York, USA
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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.

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Known For

Fort Apache
Fort Apache

1948

as Mrs. Mary O'Rourke

Joan of Arc
Joan of Arc

1948

as Catherine le Royer, Joan's friend

Keeping Company
Keeping Company

1940

as Mrs. Thomas

Captain January
Captain January

1924

as Isabelle Morton

Beau Brummel
Beau Brummel

1924

as Frederica Charlotte, Duchess of York

The Climbers
The Climbers

1927

as Duchess of Arrogan

Angel and the Badman
Angel and the Badman

1947

as Mrs. Worth

Brass
Brass

1923

as Mrs. Grotenberg - aka Mrs. G.

Being Respectable
Being Respectable

1924

as Suzanne Schuyler

The Mortal Storm
The Mortal Storm

1940

as Mrs. Roth

The Trap
The Trap

1922

as The Teacher

Manhattan Tower
Manhattan Tower

1932

as Ann Burns

So This Is London
So This Is London

1930

as Mrs. Hiram Draper

That Certain Age
That Certain Age

1938

as Mrs. Dorothy Fullerton

The Champ
The Champ

1931

as Linda Carleton

Wicked
Wicked

1931

as Mrs. Luther

A Lost Lady
A Lost Lady

1924

as Marian Forrester

Snowdrift
Snowdrift

1923

as Kitty (story)

Rosita
Rosita

1923

as The Queen

Dearie
Dearie

1927

as Sylvia Darling/Dearie