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Irene Rich

Acting Born Oct 11, 1891 Buffalo, New York, USA 24 credits

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

Film

Fort Apache

as Mrs. Mary O'Rourke

Full filmography

  • Fort Apache (1948) as Mrs. Mary O'Rourke
  • Joan of Arc (1948) as Catherine le Royer, Joan's friend
  • Angel and the Badman (1947) as Mrs. Worth
  • The Mortal Storm (1940) as Mrs. Roth
  • Compromise (1925) as Joan Trevore
  • Five and Ten (1931) as Jenny Rarick
  • The Trap (1922) as The Teacher
  • Everybody's Hobby (1939) as Mrs. Myra Leslie
  • Lady Windermere's Fan (1925) as Mrs. Erlynne
  • The Champ (1931) as Linda Carleton
  • My Official Wife (1926) as Hélène, Countess Orloff
  • New Orleans (1947) as Mrs. Rutledge Smith
  • Dearie (1927) as Sylvia Darling/Dearie
  • The Silver Slave (1927) as Bernice Randall
  • The Climbers (1927) as Duchess of Arrogan
  • Defying Destiny (1923) as Beth Alden
  • Strangers May Kiss (1931) as Celia
  • The Lady in Question (1940) as Michele Morestan
  • Wicked (1931) as Mrs. Luther
  • The Call of Home (1922) as Alix Lansing
  • The Right Way (1939) as Mrs. Martin
  • That Certain Age (1938) as Mrs. Dorothy Fullerton
  • This Woman (1924) as Carol Drayton
  • Jes' Call Me Jim (1920) as Miss Butterworth