Irene Rich
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.
Personal Details
Also Known As
Movies (50)
Joan of Arc
as Catherine le Royer, Joan's friend
1948
Fort Apache
as Mrs. Mary O'Rourke
1948
New Orleans
as Mrs. Rutledge Smith
1947
Angel and the Badman
as Mrs. Worth
1947
Calendar Girl
as Lulu Varden
1947
This Time for Keeps
as Mrs. Bryant
1942
Three Sons o' Guns
as Margaret Patterson
1941
Keeping Company
as Mrs. Thomas
1940
Queen of the Yukon
as Sadie Martin
1940
The Lady in Question
as Michele Morestan
1940
The Mortal Storm
as Mrs. Roth
1940
Everybody's Hobby
as Mrs. Myra Leslie
1939
The Right Way
as Mrs. Martin
1939
That Certain Age
as Mrs. Dorothy Fullerton
1938
Hollywood Handicap
as Woman at Racetrack
1938
Manhattan Tower
as Ann Burns
1932
Her Mad Night
as Joan Manners
1932
Down To Earth
as Idy Peters
1932
The Champ
as Linda Carleton
1931
Wicked
as Mrs. Luther
1931
The Mad Parade
as Mrs. Schuyler
1931
Five and Ten
as Jenny Rarick
1931
Strangers May Kiss
as Celia
1931
Father's Son
as Ruth Emory
1931
Beau Ideal
as Lady Brandon
1931
Check and Double Check
as Mrs. Blair
1930
On Your Back
as Julianne
1930
So This Is London
as Mrs. Hiram Draper
1930
They Had to See Paris
as Idy Peters
1929
The Exalted Flapper
as Queen Charlotte of Capra
1929
Daughters of Desire
1929
Shanghai Rose
as Shanghai Rose
1929
Ned McCobb's Daughter
as Carol
1928
Craig's Wife
as Harriet Craig
1928
Women They Talk About
as Irene Mervin Hughes
1928
The Perfect Crime
as Stella
1928
Irene Rich in 'Lead, Kindly Light'
1928
Powder My Back
as Fritzi Foy
1928
Beware of Married Men
as Myra Martin
1928
The Silver Slave
as Bernice Randall
1927
The Desired Woman
as Diana Maxwell / Lady Diana Whitney
1927
The Climbers
as Duchess of Arrogan
1927
Don't Tell the Wife
as Mrs. Cartier
1927
My Official Wife
as Hélène, Countess Orloff
1926
The Honeymoon Express
as Mary Lambert
1926
Silken Shackles
as Denise Lake
1926
Lady Windermere's Fan
as Mrs. Erlynne
1925
The Pleasure Buyers
as Joan Wiswell
1925
Compromise
as Joan Trevore
1925
The Wife Who Wasn't Wanted
as Mrs. John Mannering
1925