Irene Rich

Born: 1891-10-11 in Buffalo, New York, USA

Died: 1988-04-22

Known For: Acting

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.

Filmography

1948

Fort Apache as Mrs. Mary O'Rourke
Joan of Arc as Catherine le Royer, Joan's friend

1947

Angel and the Badman as Mrs. Worth
New Orleans as Mrs. Rutledge Smith
Calendar Girl as Lulu Varden

1942

This Time for Keeps as Mrs. Bryant

1941

Three Sons o' Guns as Margaret Patterson

1940

The Mortal Storm as Mrs. Roth
The Lady in Question as Michele Morestan
Keeping Company as Mrs. Thomas
Queen of the Yukon as Sadie Martin

1939

Everybody's Hobby as Mrs. Myra Leslie
The Right Way as Mrs. Martin

1938

That Certain Age as Mrs. Dorothy Fullerton
Hollywood Handicap as Woman at Racetrack

1932

Down To Earth as Idy Peters
Manhattan Tower as Ann Burns
Her Mad Night as Joan Manners

1931

The Champ as Linda Carleton
Five and Ten as Jenny Rarick
Strangers May Kiss as Celia
Beau Ideal as Lady Brandon
Wicked as Mrs. Luther
Father's Son as Ruth Emory
The Mad Parade as Mrs. Schuyler

1930

So This Is London as Mrs. Hiram Draper
Check and Double Check as Mrs. Blair
On Your Back as Julianne

1929

Daughters of Desire
The Exalted Flapper as Queen Charlotte of Capra
They Had to See Paris as Idy Peters
Shanghai Rose as Shanghai Rose

1928

Beware of Married Men as Myra Martin
Craig's Wife as Harriet Craig
Ned McCobb's Daughter as Carol
The Perfect Crime as Stella
Women They Talk About as Irene Mervin Hughes
Powder My Back as Fritzi Foy
Irene Rich in 'Lead, Kindly Light'

1927

The Silver Slave as Bernice Randall
The Climbers as Duchess of Arrogan
Dearie as Sylvia Darling/Dearie
The Desired Woman as Diana Maxwell / Lady Diana Whitney
Don't Tell the Wife as Mrs. Cartier

1926

The Honeymoon Express as Mary Lambert
My Official Wife as Hélène, Countess Orloff
Silken Shackles as Denise Lake

1925

Lady Windermere's Fan as Mrs. Erlynne
Compromise as Joan Trevore
The Wife Who Wasn't Wanted as Mrs. John Mannering
My Wife and I as Mrs. James Borden
Eve's Lover as Eva Burnside
The Pleasure Buyers as Joan Wiswell
The Man Without a Conscience as Shirley Graves

1924

This Woman as Carol Drayton
Being Respectable as Suzanne Schuyler
Beau Brummel as Frederica Charlotte, Duchess of York
A Woman Who Sinned as Mrs. Ransdell
Captain January as Isabelle Morton
Cytherea as Fanny Randon
A Lost Lady as Marian Forrester
What the Butler Saw as Mrs. Barrington
Pal o' Mine as Julia Montfort

1923

Defying Destiny as Beth Alden
Michael O'Halloran as Nellie Minturn
Rosita as The Queen
Lucretia Lombard as Lucretia Morgan
Boy of Mine as Ruth Latimer
Brass as Mrs. Grotenberg - aka Mrs. G.
Yesterday's Wife as Megan Daye
Hearts Aflame
Snowdrift as Kitty (story)
Dangerous Trails as Grace Alderson

1922

The Trap as The Teacher
One Clear Call as Maggie Thornton
The Call of Home as Alix Lansing
The Ropin' Fool as The Girl
A Fool There Was as Mrs. Schuyler
Brawn of the North as Marion Wells

1921

One Man in a Million as Madame Maureveau
A Tale of Two Worlds as Mrs. Carmichael
Boys Will Be Boys as Lucy
The Poverty of Riches as Mrs. Holt
A Voice in the Dark as Blanche Walton
Desperate Trails as Mrs. Walker

1920

Stop Thief as Madge Carr
The Strange Boarder as Jane Ingraham
Just Out of College as Miss Jones
Jes' Call Me Jim as Miss Butterworth
Godless Men as 'Black Pawl's' Wife
Water, Water, Everywhere as Hope Beecher
The Street Called Straight as Drusilla Fane

1919

Diane of the Green Van as Keela
Castles in the Air as Mrs. Owen Pauncefort
The Silver Girl as Julia Raymond
The Sneak as Enid Granley
The Spite Bride as Eileen Moore
The Blue Bonnet as Martha Drake
Her Purchase Price as Marda
A Man in the Open as Kate
The Lone Star Ranger as Mrs. Laramie
Wolves of the Night as Juanita

1918

A Law Unto Herself as Stephanie
The Girl in His House as Betty Burlingham