Actors - Irene Rich

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	Actors - Irene Rich

Irene Rich (born Irene Luther, October 13, 1891 in Buffalo, New York; died April 22, 1988 in Santa Barbara, California) was an elegant, melodramatic heroine of the silent screen who made occasional forays into sound pictures.

Career

Rich was a particular favorite of 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).

In two of her last films she played a frontier wife and mother. She was the mother of Gail Russell's character 'Penelope Worth', in John Wayne's "Angel And The Bad Man" and in John Ford's epic cavalry story "Fort Apache" she was Mrs. O'Rourke, the wife of Ward Bonds sergeant O'Rourke. Both strong and resilient roles that were played very believably by this experienced actress.

In the 1930s, Rich enjoyed a spectacular new career on radio. From 1933 to 1944, she hosted a nationwide anthology program of serialized mini-dramas entitled Dear John (also called The Irene Rich Show). Her leading man was actor Gale Gordon, who later played Lucille Ball's boss Mr. Mooney on TV.

Rich also had some success on stage in such productions as Seven Keys to Baldpate (1935) which starred George M. Cohan and As the Girls Go in 1948.

At age 96, she died of heart failure and was survived by two daughters -- one of whom, Frances Rich, was a stage and film actress in the 1930s before becoming a noted sculptor.

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