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.
Known For
Mrs. Roth
The Mortal Storm
Mrs. Worth
Angel and the Badman
Mrs. Walker
Desperate Trails
Daughters of Desire
Mrs. Laramie
The Lone Star Ranger
Linda Carleton
The Champ
Mrs. Mary O'Rourke
Fort Apache
Mrs. Holt
The Poverty of Riches
Stella
The Perfect Crime
Mrs. Cartier
Don't Tell the Wife
Betty Burlingham
The Girl in His House
Carol
Ned McCobb's Daughter
Kitty (story)
Snowdrift
Jenny Rarick
Five and Ten
Mrs. Rutledge Smith
New Orleans
Michele Morestan
The Lady in Question
Martha Drake
The Blue Bonnet
Blanche Walton
A Voice in the Dark
Mrs. Bryant
This Time for Keeps
Mrs. Erlynne
Lady Windermere's Fan
Shanghai Rose
Shanghai Rose
Frederica Charlotte, Duchess of York
Beau Brummel
Madge Carr
Stop Thief
Lady Brandon
Beau Ideal
Lulu Varden
Calendar Girl
The Girl
The Ropin' Fool
Joan Manners
Her Mad Night
Ann Burns
Manhattan Tower
Isabelle Morton
Captain January
Idy Peters
Down To Earth
Sadie Martin
Queen of the Yukon
Mrs. Myra Leslie
Everybody's Hobby
Idy Peters
They Had to See Paris
Lucretia Morgan
Lucretia Lombard
Woman at Racetrack
Hollywood Handicap
Harriet Craig
Craig's Wife
Celia
Strangers May Kiss
Hope Beecher
Water, Water, Everywhere
Miss Butterworth
Jes' Call Me Jim
Lucy
Boys Will Be Boys
Mrs. Carmichael
A Tale of Two Worlds
Fanny Randon
Cytherea
Diana Maxwell / Lady Diana Whitney
The Desired Woman
Mrs. Schuyler
The Mad Parade
Beth Alden
Defying Destiny
Denise Lake
Silken Shackles
Mrs. Thomas
Keeping Company
Margaret Patterson
Three Sons o' Guns
The Queen
Rosita
Joan Trevore
Compromise
Mrs. Blair
Check and Double Check
The Teacher
The Trap
Mrs. Dorothy Fullerton
That Certain Age
Julianne
On Your Back
Stephanie
A Law Unto Herself
Drusilla Fane
The Street Called Straight
Nellie Minturn
Michael O'Halloran
Ruth Emory
Father's Son
Mary Lambert
The Honeymoon Express
Irene Mervin Hughes
Women They Talk About
'Black Pawl's' Wife
Godless Men
Kate
A Man in the Open
Mrs. Grotenberg - aka Mrs. G.
Brass
Mrs. Luther
Wicked
Hélène, Countess Orloff
My Official Wife
Marion Wells
Brawn of the North
Mrs. Hiram Draper
So This Is London
Eileen Moore
The Spite Bride
Suzanne Schuyler
Being Respectable
Maggie Thornton
One Clear Call
Grace Alderson
Dangerous Trails
Duchess of Arrogan
The Climbers
Myra Martin
Beware of Married Men
Mrs. Martin
The Right Way
Ruth Latimer
Boy of Mine
Carol Drayton
This Woman
Joan Wiswell
The Pleasure Buyers
Shirley Graves
The Man Without a Conscience
Mrs. Schuyler
A Fool There Was
Julia Montfort
Pal o' Mine
Julia Raymond
The Silver Girl
Mrs. James Borden
My Wife and I
Catherine le Royer, Joan's friend
Joan of Arc
Bernice Randall
The Silver Slave
Eva Burnside
Eve's Lover
Jane Ingraham
The Strange Boarder
Fritzi Foy
Powder My Back
Marian Forrester
A Lost Lady
Queen Charlotte of Capra
The Exalted Flapper
Mrs. Barrington
What the Butler Saw
Juanita
Wolves of the Night
Enid Granley
The Sneak
Keela
Diane of the Green Van
Hearts Aflame
Irene Rich in 'Lead, Kindly Light'
Personal Info
Known For
Acting
Known Credits
95
Gender
Female
Birthday
1891-10-11
Place of Birth
Buffalo, New York, USA
Also Known As
Irene Luther