Irene Dunne

Biography

b. Irene Marie Dunn, 20 Dec 1898, Louisville, Kentucky, USA, d. 4 Sept 1990, LA, California, USA. After their studies at the Chicago Musical University, Dunne attempted unsuccessfully to be an opera vocalist. Instead, her lengthy and hugely effective career started in musical comedies. She performed inside a touring organization edition of Irene (1920), and in NY productions from the Clinging Vine (1922) and THE TOWN Chap (1925). She is at a Florenz Ziegfeld touring organization creation of Jerome Kern’s Display Motorboat (1929), playing Magnolia, when she captivated the composer’s interest. It had been through his insistence that she obtained the title part within the film edition of his Nice Adeline (1935), with lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, that was adopted quickly by even more movies with Kern music: Roberta (1935), Display Motorboat (1936) and Large, Wide And Handsome (1937), the second option two with lyrics by Hammerstein. Dunne produced more looks in display screen musicals, notably Pleasure Of Living (1938) and ROMANCE (1939), but turned almost solely to direct dramatic roles getting along the way among Hollywood’s esteemed stars. She was nominated unsuccessfully five situations as Best Celebrity. Among her nonmusical movies are Cimarron (1931), The Dreadful Truth (1937), Anna AS WELL AS THE Ruler Of Siam (1946), Lifestyle With Dad (1947), I RECALL Mama (1948), as well as the Mudlark (1950). Also in 1950 Dunne produced her only go back to a musical film, co-starring with Fred MacMurray in Hardly ever A Dull Minute. Following her pension from movies in 1952, she proved helpful in politics, getting appointed by Leader Eisenhower in 1957 as another delegate towards the US, and in business, being over the plank of Technicolor Inc. In 1985, Dunne was honoured with the Kennedy Middle for her accomplishments in the executing arts.

Quick Facts

• Facts
• Filmography
• Awards
• Salaries
• Quotes
• Trademarks
• Pictures



#	Fact
1	For years, during her lifetime, her date of birth was listed in the World Almanac as 1904.
2	Mary Pickford was considered for the role of Vinnie in Life with Father (1947). While Miss Pickford was interested in the project, director Michael Curtiz held out for Irene Dunne. He eventually won over the studio administration with convincing argument that Miss Dunne's box office appeal was a known quantity. Miss Pickford's, after such a long absence from the screen, was questionable.
3	Played Cary Grant's wife in 3 movies: The Awful Truth (1937), My Favorite Wife (1940), and Penny Serenade (1941).
4	Was considered for the role of Scarlett O'Hara in Gone with the Wind (1939).
5	Because she rode riverboats as a girl in Kentucky and starred in "Showboat" in 1936, she was chosen by Walt Disney to christen the riverboat "Mark Twain" when Disneyland officially opened in California in 1955.
6	Profiled in book "Funny Ladies" by Stephen Silverman. [1999]
7	Profiled in "American Classic Screen Interviews" (Scarecrow Press). [2010]
8	Her last official public appearance was in December 1985 for the Kennedy Center honors in Washington. She collapsed at the Saturday night reception after the group photograph of the honorees and was unable to attend the gala the next night.
9	She has an entry in Jean Tulard's "Dictionnaire du Cinéma/Les Acteurs" published in Paris in 2007 (ISBN: 978-2-221-10895-6), pages 384, 385.
10	Was considered for the role of Mildred Rogers in Of Human Bondage (1934), but Bette Davis was cast instead.
11	Smashed the traditional champagne bottle on the bow of the Liberty Ship S.S. Carole Lombard at its launching ceremony.
12	Friends with Loretta Young, Bob Hope, James Stewart, Ricardo Montalban, Roddy McDowall, Caesar Romero, director Bill Freye, and interfaith foundation director Daniel Donahue.
13	She has two great-grandchildren from yoga instructor granddaughter Ann Shinnick Streibich.
14	Loretta Young, was one of Irene's closest friends. Back in the day, Loretta had a girls club for her friends, they met once a week and some of the members were Anita Louise, Irene Dunne and Loretta's two sisters as well.
15	Her adopted daughter Mary Frances was nicknamed Murph.
16	After retiring from acting, Dunne devoted herself primarily to Republican Party political causes.
17	Her grandson married writer Vanna Bonta in her home.
18	She was one of the most active supporters of the Republican Party in Hollywood, and campaigned for Richard Nixon in 1960. She later supported Ronald Reagan's two runs for Governor of California and his two presidential campaigns.
19	After her death, her Holmby Hills home was listed for sale for $6.9 million. One of the realtors was William Bakewell who had acted with Irene in Back Street (1932).
20	Biography in: "The Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives". Volume Two, 1986-1990, pages 261-263. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1999.
21	Her only full color production (in three-strip Technicolor) was Life with Father (1947) in which she co-starred with William Powell. (Her debut film Leathernecking (1930), of which no print is known to survive, featured a sequence in two-color Technicolor.).
22	Irene claimed that always getting enough sleep kept her looking young. Her studio contracts allowed her to start work as late as 10 A.M. and leave by 6 P.M.
23	During her marriage to Dr. Frank Griffin, Irene adopted a child, Mary Frances. The child was adopted in 1938 at the age of four from the New York Foundling Hospital.
24	Christened the Mark Twain stern-wheel riverboat at Disneyland, July 17, 1955.
25	Biography in: "Who's Who in Comedy" by Ronald L. Smith. Pg. 145-146. New York: Facts on File, 1992. ISBN 0816023387
26	In 1968 was named one of Colorado's Women of achievement.
27	In 1965 she was the first woman elected to Technicolor's board of directors.
28	Received a star on the Hollywood Walk of fame in the early 1960s. It is located at 6440 Hollywood Blvd.
29	Was offered the role of Aunt Alicia in Vincente Minnelli's Gigi (1958), but she declined, preferring to stay in retirement.
30	After being nominated 5 times for the Best Actress Oscar and never winning, it was hoped by many that she would receive an honorary award after her retirement but the Academy (for reasons best known to itself) failed to present one.
31	Her tombstone mistakenly gives her date of birth as 1901 rather than 1898.
32	Was discovered for films while appearing in the first national touring company of "Show Boat" in 1929. She played and sang the role of Magnolia, and repeated her performance in Show Boat (1936).
33	President Dwight D. Eisenhower named her an alternate delegate to the U.N. General Assembly in 1959. Dunne had actively campaigned for him in the 1952 and 1956 presidential elections.



Actress

Actress

Title	Year	Status	Character
General Electric Theater	1962	TV Series	Margaret Henderson
Saints and Sinners	1962	TV Series	Anita Farrell
Insight	1962	TV Series	Gertrude le Forte
Frontier Circus	1961	TV Series	Dr. Sam Applewhite
The DuPont Show with June Allyson	1959	TV Series	Dr. Gina Kerstas
The Christophers	1958	TV Series
The Ford Television Theatre	1954-1956	TV Series	Sheila Chester / Janet Wilson / Marion Clark / ...
Schlitz Playhouse	1952	TV Series	Hostess
It Grows on Trees	1952		Polly Baxter
The Mudlark	1950		Queen Victoria
Never a Dull Moment	1950		Kay
I Remember Mama	1948		Mama
Life with Father	1947		Vinnie
Anna and the King of Siam	1946		Anna Owens
Over 21	1945		Paula 'Polly' Wharton
Together Again	1944		Anne Crandall
The White Cliffs of Dover	1944		Susan Ashwood
A Guy Named Joe	1943		Dorinda Durston
Lady in a Jam	1942		Jane Palmer
Unfinished Business	1941		Nancy Andrews
Penny Serenade	1941		Julie Gardiner
My Favorite Wife	1940		Ellen
When Tomorrow Comes	1939		Helen Lawrence
Invitation to Happiness	1939		Eleanor Wayne
Love Affair	1939		Terry
Joy of Living	1938		Maggie
The Awful Truth	1937		Lucy Warriner
High, Wide, and Handsome	1937		Sally Watterson
Theodora Goes Wild	1936		Theodora Lynn
Show Boat	1936		Magnolia
Magnificent Obsession	1935		Helen Hudson
Roberta	1935		Stephanie
Sweet Adeline	1934		Adeline Schmidt
The Age of Innocence	1934		Ellen
Stingaree	1934		Hilda
This Man Is Mine	1934		Tony Dunlap
If I Were Free	1933		Sarah Cazenove
Ann Vickers	1933		Ann Vickers
The Silver Cord	1933		Christina Phelps
The Secret of Madame Blanche	1933		Sally
No Other Woman	1933		Anna Stanley
Thirteen Women	1932		Laura Stanhope
Back Street	1932		Ray Schmidt
Symphony of Six Million	1932		Jessica
Consolation Marriage	1931		Mary Brown Porter
The Great Lover	1931		Diana
Bachelor Apartment	1931		Helene Andrews
The Stolen Jools	1931	Short	Irene Dunne
Cimarron	1931		Sabra Cravat
Leathernecking	1930		Delphine Witherspoon

Soundtrack

Soundtrack

Title	Year	Status	Character
Hollywood Singing and Dancing: A Musical History - The 1930s: Dancing Away the Great Depression	2009	Video documentary performer: "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes" - uncredited
American Masters	1999	TV Series documentary performer - 1 episode
Someone to Watch Over Me	1987	performer: "SMOKE GETS IN YOUR EYES"
Never a Dull Moment	1950	performer: "Once You Find Your Guy", "The Old Chisholm Trail" uncredited, "The Man with the Big Felt Hat', "Sagebrush Lullaby"
I Remember Mama	1948	performer: "Sovnen Slumber" - uncredited
Life with Father	1947	performer: "Sweet Marie" 1893 - uncredited
The White Cliffs of Dover	1944	performer: "Rosen aus dem Süden Roses from the South, Op.388" 1880 - uncredited
A Guy Named Joe	1943	"I'll Get By" 1928, uncredited / music: "I'll See You in My Dreams" 1924 - uncredited / performer: "I'll Get By" 1928, "I'll See You in My Dreams" 1924 - uncredited
Penny Serenade	1941	performer: "Charleston" 1923 - uncredited
Love Affair	1939	performer: "Sing My Heart" 1939, "Plaisir d'Amour" 1775 uncredited
Joy of Living	1938	performer: "Just Let Me Look at You" 1938, "What's Good About Good Night?" 1938, "A Heavenly Party" 1938, "You Couldn't Be Cuter" 1938, "Rock-a-Bye Baby" 1886, "Wiener Blut Viennese Blood, Op.354" 1873 - uncredited
The Awful Truth	1937	"My Dreams Are Gone With the Wind" 1937, uncredited / performer: "Home on the Range" 1904, "La Serenata" - uncredited
High, Wide, and Handsome	1937	performer: "High , Wild and Handsome", "Can I Forget You ?", "The Folks, who live on the Hill", "Allegheny Al"
Theodora Goes Wild	1936	performer: "Rock of Ages" 1830, "Be Still My Heart" 1936, "Three Blind Mice" - uncredited
Show Boat	1936	performer: "Make Believe" 1927, "Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man" 1927, "I Have The Room Above Her" 1936, "Gallivantin' Around" 1936, "You Are Love" 1927, "After the Ball" 1892, "Finale: You Are Love" 1927 and "Ol' Man River" 1927 - uncredited
Roberta	1935	performer: "Russian Lullaby", "Yesterdays" 1933, "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes" 1933, "Lovely to Look At" 1935 - uncredited
Sweet Adeline	1934	"Why Was I Born" 1929, "Lonely Feet" 1934, uncredited / performer: "We Were So Young" 1934, "Here Am I" 1929, "Lonely Feet" 1934, "'Twas Not So Long Ago" 1929, "Don't Ever Leave Me" 1929 - uncredited
Stingaree	1934	"Tonight Is Mine" 1934, uncredited / performer: "I Wish I Were a Fisherman" 1934, "Once You're Mine" 1934, "Tonight Is Mine" 1934, "The Last Rose of Summer" 1808, "Ah! je ris de me voir si belle en ce miroir Jewel Song" 1859 - uncredited
This Man Is Mine	1934	performer: "The Lilac Tree" 1920 - uncredited
If I Were Free	1933	performer: "Early Rising" - uncredited
The Secret of Madame Blanche	1933	performer: "If Love Were All" 1924, "Every Lover Must Meet His Fate" from the operetta "Sweethearts" 1913, "Jimmie" - uncredited
Consolation Marriage	1931	performer: "Devotion" 1931 - uncredited
The Great Lover	1931	performer: "L

Thanks

Thanks

Title	Year	Status	Character
George Stevens: A Filmmaker's Journey	1984	Documentary thanks

Self

Self

Title	Year	Status	Character
The Kennedy Center Honors: A Celebration of the Performing Arts	1985	TV Special	Herself - Honoree
All-Star Party for 'Dutch' Reagan	1985	TV Special	Herself
The 39th Annual Academy Awards	1967	TV Special	Herself - Presenter: Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award
The Linkletter Show	1964	TV Series	Herself
About Faces	1960	TV Series	Herself
The Big Party	1959	TV Series	Herself - Hostess
The 31st Annual Academy Awards	1959	TV Special	Herself - Presenter: Best Actor
What's My Line?	1953-1957	TV Series	Herself - Mystery Guest
Perry Como's Kraft Music Hall	1956	TV Series	Herself
The Loretta Young Show	1955	TV Series	Herself - Guest Hostess
The Colgate Comedy Hour	1953-1955	TV Series	Herself / Herself - Actress
Dateline: Disneyland	1955	TV Special documentary	Herself
Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color	1955	TV Series	Herself
Easter Parade of Stars Auto Show	1954	TV Special	Herself - Hostess
The 26th Annual Academy Awards	1954	TV Special	Herself - Presenter: Best Director
The Jack Benny Program	1953	TV Series	Herself
Easter Parade of Stars Auto Show	1953	TV Movie	Herself - Hostess
Schlitz Playhouse	1951-1952	TV Series	Herself - Hostess / Herself - Host / Herself - Prolog / ...
You Can Change the World	1950	Documentary short	Herself
Show-Business at War	1943	Documentary short	Herself (uncredited)
Things You Never See on the Screen	1935	Short	Herself

Archive Footage

Archive Footage

Title	Year	Status	Character
1939: Hollywood's Greatest Year	2009	TV Movie documentary
Hollywood Singing and Dancing: A Musical History - The 1930s: Dancing Away the Great Depression	2009	Video documentary	Herself
Broadway: The American Musical	2004	TV Mini-Series documentary	Magnolia Hawks
American Masters	1999	TV Series documentary	Herself
The Lady with the Torch	1999	Documentary	Herself
Classified X	1998	TV Movie documentary	Magnolia Hawks
20th Century-Fox: The First 50 Years	1997	TV Movie documentary	Herself (uncredited)
The Our Gang Story	1994	Video documentary	Terry
Entertaining the Troops	1988	Documentary	Herself
Musical Comedy Tonight III	1985	TV Movie	Magnolia Hawks
Hollywood: The Gift of Laughter	1982	TV Movie documentary	Actress - 'The Awful Truth' (uncredited)
Has Anybody Here Seen Canada? A History of Canadian Movies 1939-1953	1979	TV Movie documentary	Herself - Oscars, 1942, with Coop (uncredited)
Brother Can You Spare a Dime	1975	Documentary	Herself
The World at War	1973	TV Mini-Series documentary	Herself (uncredited)
The All Talking, All Singing, All Dancing Show	1973	TV Movie	Stephanie
Hollywood and the Stars	1964	TV Series	Herself
Hollywood: The Great Stars	1963	TV Movie documentary	Actress 'The Awful Truth' (uncredited)
Hollywood Without Make-Up	1963	Documentary	Herself
MGM Parade	1955	TV Series	Dorinda Durston
The Ed Sullivan Show	1955	TV Series	Herself
Screen Snapshots 7855: Pennies from Hollywood	1955	Short	Herself
Twenty Years After	1944	Short
Land of Liberty	1939		Sabra Cravat (edited from: Cimarron)
Out of My Dreams: Oscar Hammerstein II	2012	TV Movie documentary	Magnolia Hawks

Won awards

Won awards

Year	Award	Ceremony	Nomination	Movie	Award shared with
2010	OFTA Film Hall of Fame	Online Film & Television Association	Acting
1960	Star on the Walk of Fame	Walk of Fame	Motion Picture	On 8 February 1960. At 6440 Hollywood Blvd.

Nominated awards

Nominated awards

Year	Award	Ceremony	Nomination	Movie	Award shared with
1949	Oscar	Academy Awards, USA	Best Actress in a Leading Role	I Remember Mama (1948)
1940	Oscar	Academy Awards, USA	Best Actress in a Leading Role	Love Affair (1939)
1938	Oscar	Academy Awards, USA	Best Actress in a Leading Role	The Awful Truth (1937)
1937	Oscar	Academy Awards, USA	Best Actress in a Leading Role	Theodora Goes Wild (1936)
1931	Oscar	Academy Awards, USA	Best Actress in a Leading Role	Cimarron (1931)



Title	Salary
Magnificent Obsession (1935)	$150,000



#	Quote
1	[1974] The latest offer was to be in one of those "Airplane" movies - Universal said they'd donate my six figures to a Catholic charity but I didn't want to be stuck inside a crippled airplane for several months of shooting.
2	[1974] MGM wanted me to play Grace Kelly's mother in The Swan (1956), which ironically would be her last movie although nobody knew that. The part was choice but I'd have to settle for fourth billing and my husband said to forget that. "Go out number one," was his advice. Well, Jessie Royce Landis finally took the part and was very funny. And then MGM wanted me as Leslie Caron's dotty aunt in Gigi (1958) but the subject matter was distasteful. The family was raising their precious to be a courtesan. If they'd offered me one great song I might have reconsidered.
3	[1974] I never formally retired. That would have been presumptuous. But an awful lot of the girls my age soldiered on in bad vehicles. I'd do a TV half hour drama every year just to keep my hand in it. But I couldn't run around with an axe in my hand like Bette [Davis] and Joan [Crawford] did to keep things going. The difference was I had a family and they didn't have one - only the all-mighty career.
4	I drifted into acting and drifted out. Acting is not everything. Living is.
5	[in 1983, on being asked if she would ever write her memoirs] The Lord never wrote a book, not that I knew about. Not really. And I don't think Abraham Lincoln ever wrote a book. So I have put it off again.
6	I love beautiful things, but a woman who considers herself best dressed usually spends all of her time at it.
7	I appeared with many leading men. But working with Cary Grant was different from working with other actors - he was much more fun! I think we were a successful team because we enjoyed working together tremendously, and that pleasure must have shown through onto the screen ... I will always remember two compliments he made me. He said I had perfect timing in comedy and that I was the sweetest-smelling actress he ever worked with.
8	I don't know why the public took a liking to me so fast. Popularity is a curious thing. The public responds to a dimple, a smile, a giggle, a hairstyle, an attitude. Acting talent has less to do with it than personality.
9	Trying to build the brotherhood of man without the Fatherhood of God is like having the spokes of a wheel without the hub.
10	When we have learned to love our neighbour, not just ourselves, no matter where we come from, then America will be perfect.
11	Whenever I have to weep for the cameras, I prefer to cry real tears . . . provided I have enough time to recover my emotions before I make the "take". But if I have to do another and greatly different scene afterward, it frequently is easier on my emotions just to put glycerine or some other tear substitute in my eyes.
12	[Comedy] demands more timing, pace, shading and subtlety of emphasis. It is difficult to learn but once it is acquired it can be easily slowed down and becomes an excellent foundation for dramatic acting.
13	No triumph of either my stage or screen career has ever rivalled the excitement of trips down the Mississippi on the river boats with my father.



Looks like we don't have trademarks information. Sorry!



Source: Celebrity Pictures & Images