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

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

1942

This Time for Keeps as Mrs. Bryant

1941

Three Sons o' Guns as Margaret Patterson

1940

The Lady in Question as Michele Morestan
The Mortal Storm as Mrs. Roth
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

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

1931

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

1930

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

1929

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

1928

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

1927

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

1926

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

1925

Lady Windermere's Fan as Mrs. Erlynne
Compromise as Joan Trevore
The Man Without a Conscience as Shirley Graves
The Pleasure Buyers as Joan Wiswell
Eve's Lover as Eva Burnside
My Wife and I as Mrs. James Borden

1924

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

1923

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

1922

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

1921

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

1920

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

1919

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

1918

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