← Back

Irene Rich

Irene Rich

Born: 1891-10-11 • Buffalo, New York, USA

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
Joan of Arc poster
Joan of Arc
1948 • Catherine le Royer, Joan's friend
Fort Apache poster
Fort Apache
1948 • Mrs. Mary O'Rourke
New Orleans poster
New Orleans
1947 • Mrs. Rutledge Smith
Angel and the Badman poster
Angel and the Badman
1947 • Mrs. Worth
Calendar Girl poster
Calendar Girl
1947 • Lulu Varden
This Time for Keeps poster
This Time for Keeps
1942 • Mrs. Bryant
Three Sons o' Guns poster
Three Sons o' Guns
1941 • Margaret Patterson
Keeping Company poster
Keeping Company
1940 • Mrs. Thomas
Queen of the Yukon poster
Queen of the Yukon
1940 • Sadie Martin
The Lady in Question poster
The Lady in Question
1940 • Michele Morestan
The Mortal Storm poster
The Mortal Storm
1940 • Mrs. Roth
Everybody's Hobby poster
Everybody's Hobby
1939 • Mrs. Myra Leslie
No Image
The Right Way
1939 • Mrs. Martin
That Certain Age poster
That Certain Age
1938 • Mrs. Dorothy Fullerton
Hollywood Handicap poster
Hollywood Handicap
1938 • Woman at Racetrack
Manhattan Tower poster
Manhattan Tower
1932 • Ann Burns
Her Mad Night poster
Her Mad Night
1932 • Joan Manners
Down To Earth poster
Down To Earth
1932 • Idy Peters
The Champ poster
The Champ
1931 • Linda Carleton
Wicked poster
Wicked
1931 • Mrs. Luther
The Mad Parade poster
The Mad Parade
1931 • Mrs. Schuyler
Five and Ten poster
Five and Ten
1931 • Jenny Rarick
Strangers May Kiss poster
Strangers May Kiss
1931 • Celia
Father's Son poster
Father's Son
1931 • Ruth Emory
Beau Ideal poster
Beau Ideal
1931 • Lady Brandon
Check and Double Check poster
Check and Double Check
1930 • Mrs. Blair
On Your Back poster
On Your Back
1930 • Julianne
So This Is London poster
So This Is London
1930 • Mrs. Hiram Draper
They Had to See Paris poster
They Had to See Paris
1929 • Idy Peters
The Exalted Flapper poster
The Exalted Flapper
1929 • Queen Charlotte of Capra
Daughters of Desire poster
Daughters of Desire
1929
Shanghai Rose poster
Shanghai Rose
1929 • Shanghai Rose
Ned McCobb's Daughter poster
Ned McCobb's Daughter
1928 • Carol
Craig's Wife poster
Craig's Wife
1928 • Harriet Craig
Women They Talk About poster
Women They Talk About
1928 • Irene Mervin Hughes
The Perfect Crime poster
The Perfect Crime
1928 • Stella
No Image
Irene Rich in 'Lead, Kindly Light'
1928
Powder My Back poster
Powder My Back
1928 • Fritzi Foy
Beware of Married Men poster
Beware of Married Men
1928 • Myra Martin
The Silver Slave poster
The Silver Slave
1927 • Bernice Randall
The Desired Woman poster
The Desired Woman
1927 • Diana Maxwell / Lady Diana Whitney
Dearie poster
Dearie
1927 • Sylvia Darling/Dearie
The Climbers poster
The Climbers
1927 • Duchess of Arrogan
Don't Tell the Wife poster
Don't Tell the Wife
1927 • Mrs. Cartier
My Official Wife poster
My Official Wife
1926 • Hélène, Countess Orloff
The Honeymoon Express poster
The Honeymoon Express
1926 • Mary Lambert
No Image
Silken Shackles
1926 • Denise Lake
Lady Windermere's Fan poster
Lady Windermere's Fan
1925 • Mrs. Erlynne
The Pleasure Buyers poster
The Pleasure Buyers
1925 • Joan Wiswell
Compromise poster
Compromise
1925 • Joan Trevore
The Wife Who Wasn't Wanted poster
The Wife Who Wasn't Wanted
1925 • Mrs. John Mannering
Eve's Lover poster
Eve's Lover
1925 • Eva Burnside
The Man Without a Conscience poster
The Man Without a Conscience
1925 • Shirley Graves
My Wife and I poster
My Wife and I
1925 • Mrs. James Borden
A Lost Lady poster
A Lost Lady
1924 • Marian Forrester
This Woman poster
This Woman
1924 • Carol Drayton
No Image
What the Butler Saw
1924 • Mrs. Barrington
No Image
A Woman Who Sinned
1924 • Mrs. Ransdell
Captain January poster
Captain January
1924 • Isabelle Morton
Being Respectable poster
Being Respectable
1924 • Suzanne Schuyler
Cytherea poster
Cytherea
1924 • Fanny Randon
Beau Brummel poster
Beau Brummel
1924 • Frederica Charlotte, Duchess of York
Pal o' Mine poster
Pal o' Mine
1924 • Julia Montfort
Boy of Mine poster
Boy of Mine
1923 • Ruth Latimer
Lucretia Lombard poster
Lucretia Lombard
1923 • Lucretia Morgan
No Image
Defying Destiny
1923 • Beth Alden
Rosita poster
Rosita
1923 • The Queen
Yesterday's Wife poster
Yesterday's Wife
1923 • Megan Daye
Michael O'Halloran poster
Michael O'Halloran
1923 • Nellie Minturn
Snowdrift poster
Snowdrift
1923 • Kitty (story)
Brass poster
Brass
1923 • Mrs. Grotenberg - aka Mrs. G.
No Image
Dangerous Trails
1923 • Grace Alderson
Hearts Aflame poster
Hearts Aflame
1923
Brawn of the North poster
Brawn of the North
1922 • Marion Wells
The Ropin' Fool poster
The Ropin' Fool
1922 • The Girl
A Fool There Was poster
A Fool There Was
1922 • Mrs. Schuyler
One Clear Call poster
One Clear Call
1922 • Maggie Thornton
The Trap poster
The Trap
1922 • The Teacher
The Call of Home poster
The Call of Home
1922 • Alix Lansing
The Poverty of Riches poster
The Poverty of Riches
1921 • Mrs. Holt
Desperate Trails poster
Desperate Trails
1921 • Mrs. Walker
A Voice in the Dark poster
A Voice in the Dark
1921 • Blanche Walton
Boys Will Be Boys poster
Boys Will Be Boys
1921 • Lucy
A Tale of Two Worlds poster
A Tale of Two Worlds
1921 • Mrs. Carmichael
One Man in a Million poster
One Man in a Million
1921 • Madame Maureveau
Just Out of College poster
Just Out of College
1920 • Miss Jones
Godless Men poster
Godless Men
1920 • 'Black Pawl's' Wife
Stop Thief poster
Stop Thief
1920 • Madge Carr
Jes' Call Me Jim poster
Jes' Call Me Jim
1920 • Miss Butterworth
The Strange Boarder poster
The Strange Boarder
1920 • Jane Ingraham
Water, Water, Everywhere poster
Water, Water, Everywhere
1920 • Hope Beecher
The Street Called Straight poster
The Street Called Straight
1920 • Drusilla Fane
The Spite Bride poster
The Spite Bride
1919 • Eileen Moore
Her Purchase Price poster
Her Purchase Price
1919 • Marda
Wolves of the Night poster
Wolves of the Night
1919 • Juanita
No Image
The Sneak
1919 • Enid Granley
The Blue Bonnet poster
The Blue Bonnet
1919 • Martha Drake
The Lone Star Ranger poster
The Lone Star Ranger
1919 • Mrs. Laramie
Castles in the Air poster
Castles in the Air
1919 • Mrs. Owen Pauncefort
The Silver Girl poster
The Silver Girl
1919 • Julia Raymond