- Known For
- Acting
- Born
- December 20, 1898
- Place of Birth
- Louisville, Kentucky, USA
- Died
- September 4, 1990
Irene Dunne
Irene Marie Dunne (December 20, 1898 – September 4, 1990) was an American film actress and singer of the 1930s, 1940s and early 1950s. She 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, she was given Kennedy Center Honors for her services to the arts. She 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…
Filmography
movieDisneyland Handcrafted
2026 · Self (archive footage)
movieRat Pack
2022 · Self (archive footage)
movieBecoming Cary Grant
2017 · Self (archive footage)
movie1939: Hollywood's Greatest Year
2009 · Self (archive footage)
movieCary Grant: A Celebration of a Leading Man
1988 · Self (archive footage)
movieMusical Comedy Tonight III
1985
tvThe Kennedy Center Honors
1978 · Self
movieBrother, Can You Spare a Dime?
1975 · Self (archive footage)
The Big Party
tvThe Big Party
1959 · Self – Hostess
tvThe DuPont Show with June Allyson
1959 · Dr. Gina Kerstas
tvMGM Parade
1955
tvLetter to Loretta
1953 · Self - Guest Host
tvThe Oscars
1953 · Self
tvGeneral Electric Theater
1953 · Margaret Henderson
movieIt Grows on Trees
1952 · Polly Baxter
tvThe Jack Benny Program
1950 · Irene Dunne
movieThe Mudlark
1950 · Queen Victoria
tvThe Colgate Comedy Hour
1950 · Self
movieNever a Dull Moment
1950 · Kay Kingsley
movieYou Can Change The World
1950 · Self
tvWhat's My Line?
1950 · Self
movieI Remember Mama
1948 · Mama
movieLife with Father
1947 · Vinnie Day
movieAnna and the King of Siam
1946 · Anna Owens
movieOver 21
1945 · Paula 'Polly' Wharton
movieTogether Again
1944 · Anne Crandall
movieThe White Cliffs of Dover
1944 · Susan Dunn
movieA Guy Named Joe
1944 · Dorinda Durston
movieTwenty Years After
1944 · (archive footage)
movieShow-Business at War
1943 · Self
movieLady in a Jam
1942 · Jane Palmer
movieUnfinished Business
1941 · Nancy Andrews
moviePenny Serenade
1941 · Julie Gardiner
movieMy Favorite Wife
1940 · Ellen Wagstaff Arden
movieWhen Tomorrow Comes
1939 · Helen
movieInvitation to Happiness
1939 · Eleanor Wayne
movieLove Affair
1939 · Terry McKay
movieJoy of Living
1938 · Margaret 'Maggie' Garret
movieThe Awful Truth
1937 · Lucy Warriner
movieHigh, Wide and Handsome
1937 · Sally Watterson
movieTheodora Goes Wild
1936 · Theodora Lynn
movieScreen Snapshots (Series 16, No. 1)
1936 · Self
movieShow Boat
1936 · Magnolia Hawkes
movieMagnificent Obsession
1935 · Helen Hudson
movieThings You Never See on the Screen
1935 · Self
movieRoberta
1935 · Stephanie
movieSweet Adeline
1934 · Adeline 'Addie' Schmidt
movieThe Age of Innocence
1934 · Countess Ellen Olenska
movieStingaree
1934 · Hilda Bouverie
movieThis Man Is Mine
1934 · Tony Dunlap
movieIf I Were Free
1933 · Sarah Cazenove
movieAnn Vickers
1933 · Ann Vickers
movieThe Silver Cord
1933 · Christina Phelps
movieThe Secret of Madame Blanche
1933 · Sally
movieNo Other Woman
1933 · Anna Stanley
movieThirteen Women
1932 · Laura Stanhope
movieBack Street
1932 · Ray Schmidt
movieSymphony of Six Million
1932 · Jessica
movieConsolation Marriage
1931 · Mary Brown Porter
movieThe Great Lover
1931 · Diana
movieBachelor Apartment
1931 · Helene Andrews
movieThe Stolen Jools
1931 · Irene Dunne
movieCimarron
1931 · Sabra Cravat
movieLeathernecking
1930 · Delphine Witherspoon