Irene Rich
Acting • Born 1891-10-11 – Died 1988-04-22
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.
Filmography
105 credits
The Mortal Storm
Movie • 1940
Mrs. Roth
Angel and the Badman
Movie • 1947
Mrs. Worth
Desperate Trails
Movie • 1921
Mrs. Walker
Daughters of Desire
Movie • 1929
The Lone Star Ranger
Movie • 1919
Mrs. Laramie
The Champ
Movie • 1931
Linda Carleton
Fort Apache
Movie • 1948
Mrs. Mary O'Rourke
The Poverty of Riches
Movie • 1921
Mrs. Holt
The Perfect Crime
Movie • 1928
Stella
Don't Tell the Wife
Movie • 1927
Mrs. Cartier
The Girl in His House
Movie • 1918
Betty Burlingham
Ned McCobb's Daughter
Movie • 1928
Carol
Snowdrift
Movie • 1923
Kitty (story)
Five and Ten
Movie • 1931
Jenny Rarick
New Orleans
Movie • 1947
Mrs. Rutledge Smith
The Lady in Question
Movie • 1940
Michele Morestan
The Blue Bonnet
Movie • 1919
Martha Drake
A Voice in the Dark
Movie • 1921
Blanche Walton
This Time for Keeps
Movie • 1942
Mrs. Bryant
Lady Windermere's Fan
Movie • 1925
Mrs. Erlynne
Shanghai Rose
Movie • 1929
Shanghai Rose
Beau Brummel
Movie • 1924
Frederica Charlotte, Duchess of York
Stop Thief
Movie • 1920
Madge Carr
Beau Ideal
Movie • 1931
Lady Brandon
Calendar Girl
Movie • 1947
Lulu Varden
The Ropin' Fool
Movie • 1922
The Girl
Her Mad Night
Movie • 1932
Joan Manners
Manhattan Tower
Movie • 1932
Ann Burns
Captain January
Movie • 1924
Isabelle Morton
Down To Earth
Movie • 1932
Idy Peters
Queen of the Yukon
Movie • 1940
Sadie Martin
Everybody's Hobby
Movie • 1939
Mrs. Myra Leslie
They Had to See Paris
Movie • 1929
Idy Peters
Lucretia Lombard
Movie • 1923
Lucretia Morgan
Hollywood Handicap
Movie • 1938
Woman at Racetrack
Craig's Wife
Movie • 1928
Harriet Craig
Strangers May Kiss
Movie • 1931
Celia
Water, Water, Everywhere
Movie • 1920
Hope Beecher
Jes' Call Me Jim
Movie • 1920
Miss Butterworth
Boys Will Be Boys
Movie • 1921
Lucy
A Tale of Two Worlds
Movie • 1921
Mrs. Carmichael
Cytherea
Movie • 1924
Fanny Randon
The Desired Woman
Movie • 1927
Diana Maxwell / Lady Diana Whitney
The Mad Parade
Movie • 1931
Mrs. Schuyler
Defying Destiny
Movie • 1923
Beth Alden
Silken Shackles
Movie • 1926
Denise Lake
Keeping Company
Movie • 1940
Mrs. Thomas
Three Sons o' Guns
Movie • 1941
Margaret Patterson
Rosita
Movie • 1923
The Queen
Compromise
Movie • 1925
Joan Trevore
Check and Double Check
Movie • 1930
Mrs. Blair
The Trap
Movie • 1922
The Teacher
That Certain Age
Movie • 1938
Mrs. Dorothy Fullerton
On Your Back
Movie • 1930
Julianne
A Law Unto Herself
Movie • 1918
Stephanie
The Street Called Straight
Movie • 1920
Drusilla Fane
Michael O'Halloran
Movie • 1923
Nellie Minturn
Father's Son
Movie • 1931
Ruth Emory
The Honeymoon Express
Movie • 1926
Mary Lambert
Women They Talk About
Movie • 1928
Irene Mervin Hughes
Godless Men
Movie • 1920
'Black Pawl's' Wife
A Man in the Open
Movie • 1919
Kate
Brass
Movie • 1923
Mrs. Grotenberg - aka Mrs. G.
Wicked
Movie • 1931
Mrs. Luther
My Official Wife
Movie • 1926
Hélène, Countess Orloff
Brawn of the North
Movie • 1922
Marion Wells
So This Is London
Movie • 1930
Mrs. Hiram Draper
The Spite Bride
Movie • 1919
Eileen Moore
Being Respectable
Movie • 1924
Suzanne Schuyler
One Clear Call
Movie • 1922
Maggie Thornton
Dangerous Trails
Movie • 1923
Grace Alderson
Beware of Married Men
Movie • 1928
Myra Martin
The Climbers
Movie • 1927
Duchess of Arrogan
The Right Way
Movie • 1939
Mrs. Martin
The Pleasure Buyers
Movie • 1925
Joan Wiswell
The Man Without a Conscience
Movie • 1925
Shirley Graves
Boy of Mine
Movie • 1923
Ruth Latimer
This Woman
Movie • 1924
Carol Drayton
A Fool There Was
Movie • 1922
Mrs. Schuyler
Pal o' Mine
Movie • 1924
Julia Montfort
The Silver Girl
Movie • 1919
Julia Raymond
My Wife and I
Movie • 1925
Mrs. James Borden
Joan of Arc
Movie • 1948
Catherine le Royer, Joan's friend
The Silver Slave
Movie • 1927
Bernice Randall
Eve's Lover
Movie • 1925
Eva Burnside
The Strange Boarder
Movie • 1920
Jane Ingraham
Powder My Back
Movie • 1928
Fritzi Foy
A Lost Lady
Movie • 1924
Marian Forrester
The Exalted Flapper
Movie • 1929
Queen Charlotte of Capra
What the Butler Saw
Movie • 1924
Mrs. Barrington
Wolves of the Night
Movie • 1919
Juanita
The Sneak
Movie • 1919
Enid Granley
Diane of the Green Van
Movie • 1919
Keela
Hearts Aflame
Movie • 1923
Irene Rich in 'Lead, Kindly Light'
Movie • 1928
Just Out of College
Movie • 1920
Miss Jones
Her Purchase Price
Movie • 1919
Marda
The Yosemite Trail
Movie
Eve Marsham
The Wife Who Wasn't Wanted
Movie • 1925
Mrs. John Mannering
The Call of Home
Movie • 1922
Alix Lansing
One Man in a Million
Movie • 1921
Madame Maureveau
Yesterday's Wife
Movie • 1923
Megan Daye
Castles in the Air
Movie • 1919
Mrs. Owen Pauncefort
Dearie
Movie • 1927
Sylvia Darling/Dearie
A Woman Who Sinned
Movie • 1924
Mrs. Ransdell