Known For
Acting
Born
Oct 11, 1891
Died
Apr 22, 1988
Place of Birth
Buffalo, New York, USA
Credits
105 titles
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
Filmography
Joan of Arc
Catherine le Royer, Joan's friend
Fort Apache
Mrs. Mary O'Rourke
New Orleans
Mrs. Rutledge Smith
Angel and the Badman
Mrs. Worth
Calendar Girl
Lulu Varden
This Time for Keeps
Mrs. Bryant
Three Sons o' Guns
Margaret Patterson
Keeping Company
Mrs. Thomas
Queen of the Yukon
Sadie Martin
The Lady in Question
Michele Morestan
The Mortal Storm
Mrs. Roth
Everybody's Hobby
Mrs. Myra Leslie
The Right Way
Mrs. Martin
That Certain Age
Mrs. Dorothy Fullerton
Hollywood Handicap
Woman at Racetrack
Manhattan Tower
Ann Burns
Her Mad Night
Joan Manners
Down To Earth
Idy Peters
The Champ
Linda Carleton
Wicked
Mrs. Luther
The Mad Parade
Mrs. Schuyler
Five and Ten
Jenny Rarick
Strangers May Kiss
Celia
Father's Son
Ruth Emory
Beau Ideal
Lady Brandon
Check and Double Check
Mrs. Blair
On Your Back
Julianne
So This Is London
Mrs. Hiram Draper
They Had to See Paris
Idy Peters
The Exalted Flapper
Queen Charlotte of Capra
Daughters of Desire
Shanghai Rose
Shanghai Rose
Ned McCobb's Daughter
Carol
Craig's Wife
Harriet Craig
Women They Talk About
Irene Mervin Hughes
The Perfect Crime
Stella
Irene Rich in 'Lead, Kindly Light'
Powder My Back
Fritzi Foy
Beware of Married Men
Myra Martin
The Silver Slave
Bernice Randall
The Desired Woman
Diana Maxwell / Lady Diana Whitney
Dearie
Sylvia Darling/Dearie
The Climbers
Duchess of Arrogan
Don't Tell the Wife
Mrs. Cartier
My Official Wife
Hélène, Countess Orloff
The Honeymoon Express
Mary Lambert
Silken Shackles
Denise Lake
Lady Windermere's Fan
Mrs. Erlynne
The Pleasure Buyers
Joan Wiswell
Compromise
Joan Trevore