From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Irene Dunne (born Irene Marie Dunn, December 20, 1898 – September 4, 1990) was an American film actress and singer of the 1930s, 1940s and early 1950s. Dunne was nominated five times for the Academy Award for Best Actress, for her performances in Cimarron (1931), Theodora Goes Wild (1936), The Awful Truth (1937), Love Affair (1939) and I Remember Mama (1948). In 1985, Dunne was given Kennedy Center Honors for her services to the arts. Dunne was discovered by Hollywood while starring with the road company of Show Boat in 1929. She signed a contract with RKO and appeared in her first movie, Leathernecking (1930), a film version of the musical Present Arms. Already in her thirties when she made her first film, she would be in competition with younger actresses for roles, and found it advantageous to evade questions that would reveal her age. Her publicists encouraged the belief that she was born in 1901 or 1904, and the former is the date engraved on her tombstone.
During the 1930s and 1940s, Dunne blossomed into a popular screen heroine in movies such as the original Back Street (1932) and the original Magnificent Obsession (1935) and re-created her role as Magnolia in Show Boat (1936), directed by James Whale. Love Affair (1939) is the first of three films she made opposite Charles Boyer. She starred, and sang "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes", in the Fred Astaire-Ginger Rogers film version of the musical Roberta (1935).
Dunne was apprehensive about attempting her first comedy role, as the title character in Theodora Goes Wild (1936), but discovered that she enjoyed it. She turned out to possess an aptitude for comedy, with a flair for combining the elegant and the madcap, a quality she displayed in such films as The Awful Truth (1937) and My Favorite Wife (1940), both co-starring Cary Grant. Other roles include Julie Gardiner Adams in Penny Serenade (1941), again with Grant, Anna and the King of Siam (1946) as Anna Leonowens, Lavinia Day in Life with Father (1947), and Marta Hanson in I Remember Mama (1948). In The Mudlark (1950), she was nearly unrecognizable under heavy makeup as Queen Victoria.
The comedy It Grows on Trees (1952) became Dunne's last screen performance, although she remained on the lookout for suitable film scripts for years afterwards. The following year, she was the opening act on the 1953 March of Dimes showcase in New York City. While in town, she made an appearance as the mystery guest on What's My Line? She also made television performances on Ford Theatre, General Electric Theater, and the Schlitz Playhouse of Stars, continuing to act until 1962.
In 1952–53, Dunne played newspaper editor Susan Armstrong in the radio program Bright Star. The syndicated 30-minute comedy-drama also starred Fred MacMurray.
Dunne commented in an interview that she had lacked the "terrifying ambition" of some other actresses and said, "I drifted into acting and drifted out. Acting is not everything. Living is."
External links
IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/nm0002050
Wikipedia: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q230099
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Filmography (Movies)
Rat Pack
Character:Self (archive footage)
Release Date:11/01/2022
Becoming Cary Grant
Character:Self (archive footage)
Release Date:23/05/2017
1939: Hollywood's Greatest Year
Character:Self (archive footage)
Release Date:02/07/2009
Cary Grant: A Celebration of a Leading Man
Character:Self (archive footage)
Release Date:05/06/1988
Musical Comedy Tonight III
Character:
Release Date:22/11/1985
Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?
Character:Self (archive footage)
Release Date:06/08/1975
It Grows on Trees
Character:Polly Baxter
Release Date:02/09/1952
The Mudlark
Character:Queen Victoria
Release Date:03/10/1950
Never a Dull Moment
Character:Kay Kingsley
Release Date:19/08/1950
You Can Change The World
Character:Self
Release Date:25/02/1950
A Guy Named Joe
Character:Dorinda Durston
Release Date:08/01/1949
I Remember Mama
Character:Mama
Release Date:09/03/1948
Life with Father
Character:Vinnie Day
Release Date:13/09/1947
Anna and the King of Siam
Character:Anna Owens
Release Date:11/08/1946
Over 21
Character:Paula 'Polly' Wharton
Release Date:08/08/1945
Together Again
Character:Anne Crandall
Release Date:23/12/1944
The White Cliffs of Dover
Character:Susan Dunn
Release Date:11/05/1944
Twenty Years After
Character:(archive footage)
Release Date:01/01/1944
Show-Business at War
Character:Self
Release Date:21/05/1943
Lady in a Jam
Character:Jane Palmer
Release Date:19/06/1942
Unfinished Business
Character:Nancy Andrews
Release Date:27/08/1941
Penny Serenade
Character:Julie Gardiner Adams
Release Date:24/04/1941
My Favorite Wife
Character:Ellen Wagstaff Arden
Release Date:17/05/1940
When Tomorrow Comes
Character:Helen
Release Date:11/08/1939
Invitation to Happiness
Character:Eleanor Wayne
Release Date:07/06/1939
Love Affair
Character:Terry McKay
Release Date:07/04/1939
Joy of Living
Character:Margaret 'Maggie' Garret
Release Date:06/05/1938
The Awful Truth
Character:Lucy Warriner
Release Date:21/10/1937
High, Wide and Handsome
Character:Sally Watterson
Release Date:21/07/1937
Theodora Goes Wild
Character:Theodora Lynn
Release Date:12/11/1936
Screen Snapshots (Series 16, No. 1)
Character:Self
Release Date:11/09/1936
Show Boat
Character:Magnolia Hawkes
Release Date:17/05/1936
Magnificent Obsession
Character:Helen Hudson
Release Date:30/12/1935
Things You Never See on the Screen
Character:Self
Release Date:01/12/1935
Roberta
Character:Stephanie
Release Date:07/03/1935
Sweet Adeline
Character:Adeline 'Addie' Schmidt
Release Date:29/12/1934
The Age of Innocence
Character:Countess Ellen Olenska
Release Date:14/09/1934
Stingaree
Character:Hilda Bouverie
Release Date:24/05/1934
This Man Is Mine
Character:Tony Dunlap
Release Date:13/04/1934
If I Were Free
Character:Sarah Cazenove
Release Date:01/12/1933
Ann Vickers
Character:Ann Vickers
Release Date:26/09/1933
The Silver Cord
Character:Christina Phelps
Release Date:05/05/1933
The Secret of Madame Blanche
Character:Sally
Release Date:03/02/1933
No Other Woman
Character:Anna Stanley
Release Date:06/01/1933
Thirteen Women
Character:Laura Stanhope
Release Date:16/09/1932
Back Street
Character:Ray Schmidt
Release Date:04/08/1932
Symphony of Six Million
Character:Jessica
Release Date:29/04/1932
Consolation Marriage
Character:Mary Brown Porter
Release Date:21/11/1931
The Great Lover
Character:Diana
Release Date:18/07/1931
Bachelor Apartment
Character:Helene Andrews
Release Date:15/04/1931
The Stolen Jools
Character:Irene Dunne
Release Date:04/04/1931
Cimarron
Character:Sabra Cravat
Release Date:26/01/1931
Leathernecking
Character:Delphine Witherspoon
Release Date:12/09/1930
Television Appearances
The Kennedy Center Honors
Character:Self
The Big Party
Character:Self – Hostess
The DuPont Show with June Allyson
Character:Dr. Gina Kerstas
MGM Parade
Character:
Letter to Loretta
Character:Self - Guest Host
The Oscars
Character:Self
General Electric Theater
Character:Margaret Henderson
The Jack Benny Program
Character:Irene Dunne
The Colgate Comedy Hour
Character:Self
What's My Line?
Character:Self
Images
