All Movies List
Never a Dull Moment

as Kay Kingsley

1950
I Remember Mama

as Mama

1948
Life with Father

as Vinnie Day

1947
Anna and the King of Siam

as Anna Owens

1946
Together Again

as Anne Crandall

1944
The White Cliffs of Dover

as Susan Dunn

1944
A Guy Named Joe

as Dorinda Durston

1943
Lady in a Jam

as Jane Palmer

1942
Penny Serenade

as Julie Gardiner Adams

1941
Unfinished Business

as Nancy Andrews

1941
My Favorite Wife

as Ellen Wagstaff Arden

1940
Love Affair

as Terry McKay

1939
Invitation to Happiness

as Eleanor Wayne

1939
When Tomorrow Comes

as Helen

1939
The Awful Truth

as Lucy Warriner

1937
High, Wide and Handsome

as Sally Watterson

1937
Show Boat

as Magnolia Hawkes

1936
Theodora Goes Wild

as Theodora Lynn

1936
Roberta

as Stephanie

1935
Magnificent Obsession

as Helen Hudson

1935
Sweet Adeline

as Adeline 'Addie' Schmidt

1934
The Age of Innocence

as Countess Ellen Olenska

1934
This Man Is Mine

as Tony Dunlap

1934
Stingaree

as Hilda Bouverie

1934
Ann Vickers

as Ann Vickers

1933
Thirteen Women

as Laura Stanhope

1932
Cimarron

as Sabra Cravat

1931
Bachelor Apartment

as Helene Andrews

1931
Consolation Marriage

as Mary Brown Porter

1931
Irene Dunne Irene Dunne

Birthday

1898-12-20

Place of Birth

Louisville, Kentucky, USA

Biography

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 re-created 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 Astaire-Ginger 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 co-starring 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 Dunne's 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 What's 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 1952–53, Dunne played newspaper editor Susan Armstrong in the radio program Bright Star. The syndicated 30-minute comedy-drama 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."
AD

WATCH FREE FOR 30 DAYS

All Prime Video
Cancel anytime
Watch Now