Irene Dunne

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 recreated 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 AstaireGinger 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 costarring 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 Dunnes 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 Whats 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 195253 Dunne played newspaper editor Susan Armstrong in the radio program Bright Star The syndicated 30minute comedydrama 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