Matinee Classics - Irene Dunne Biography & Filmography

Irene Dunne ACTOR

PHOTOS

IRENE DUNNE BIOGRAPHY & FILMOGRAPHY:

Irene Dunne was born on December 20th, 1898 in Louisville, Kentucky with the middle name Dunn, born to Joseph Dunn and Adelaide Henry who was a professional musician. At the young age of five, Irene was already performing on stage appearing in such productions as, "A Midsummer Night's Dream". Sadly, at the age of twelve her father passed away and she moved with her family to live with her grandparents in Madison, Indiana. She took up piano and singing lessons and would perform at the local church every Sunday.

After earning her high school diploma from Madison High, Irene went on to study music at the music conservatory in Indianapolis. She then found work as a music instructor, however prior to starting her job she entered a contest for a scholarship to study music at the Chicago Music College and won a one year study free program.

After a year of furthering her music education, she relocated to new York and found work in a number of off-Broadway plays such as, "Show Boat" which helped catch the attention of Hollywood. Soon RKO Pictures offered her a contract and she was working in the film industry appearing on such features as, "Leathernecking" (1930), "Cimarron" (1931), "No Other Woman" (1933),"Ann Vickers" (1933), "Theodora Goes Wild" (1936) and "It Happened One Night" (1934), which earned her a second Academy Award nomination.

As her career progressed, Irene earned her third Academy Award nomination for her role in the film, "The Awful Truth" (1937) followed by more successful film roles in, "Love Affair" (1939), "My Favorite Wife" (1940), "Penny Serenade" (1941) and "I Remember Mama" (1948), earning yet another Academy Award nomination.

Some of her latest roles prior to retiring from the industry were in the films, "Never a Dull Moment" (1950) and "It Grows on Trees" (1952). Along with film work, she began to put more focus towards television roles with guest appearances on, "The Loretta Young Show" and "The Jack Benny Program".

After retiring, Irene focused her time towards a number of charitable contributions. She donated, $10,000 to the restoring of a fountain in her home town. She devoted a lot of her time to Republican party political causes. She was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for her contribution to the Motion Picture Industry. In 1965 she became the first woman ever elected to the board of director of Technicolor and in 1968 she was named as one of Colorado's Women of achievement.

Irene married only one time to Francis Dennis Griffen in 1928 and they had one adopted daughter and remained married until he passed away in 1965. She never re-married and lived in Los Angeles, California until she passed from heart failure on September 4th, 1990. Her remains are entombed in the Calvary Cemetery in Los Angeles, California.