American actress (1891?1988)
Irene Rich
|
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Rich in 1930
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Born
| Irene Frances Luther
(
1891-10-13
)
October 13, 1891
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Died
| April 22, 1988
(1988-04-22)
(aged 96)
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Occupation
| Actress
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Years active
| 1918–1949
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Spouses
|
Elvo Deffenbaugh
(
m.
1909;
div.
1911)
Charles Rich
(
m.
1912;
div.
1916)
David F. Blankenhorn
(
m.
1927;
div.
1931)
George Henry Clifford
(
m.
1950; died 1959)
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Children
| 2, including
Frances Rich
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Irene Frances Rich
(
nee
Luther
; October 13, 1891 – April 22, 1988) was an American actress who worked in both
silent films
,
talkies
, and
radio
.
Early life
[
edit
]
Rich was born in
Buffalo, New York
.
[1]
At age 17, she wed Elvo Elcourt Deffenbaugh at All Saints' Cathedral in
Spokane, Washington
on February 17, 1909,
[2]
after her parents talked about sending her to boarding school. The couple had one child, born Irene Frances Luther Deffenbaugh, who later adopted her stepfather's surname and was a stage and film actress in the 1930s known as
Frances Rich
before becoming a noted sculptor. Elvo Deffenbaugh was a salesman who traveled a lot. The young family moved to the Bay Area of San Francisco, where the marriage ended after two years.
[1]
Next, Irene married Charles Henry Rich, who was then a lieutenant in the United States Army (became a major during World War I and was later a lieutenant colonel), in Portland, Oregon on January 9, 1912. The two had met when he was stationed with the 25th Infantry at
Fort George Wright
in Spokane.
[3]
They had one daughter, Martha Jane Rich, who was born on December 13, 1916.
[4]
The marriage ended after four years. Luther went into real estate to provide for herself and her daughters. She then went to Hollywood in 1918 and found work as an extra.
[1]
Career
[
edit
]
Rich worked for
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). She often portrayed society women, such as in the 1925 adaptation of
Lady Windermere's Fan
and also in
Queen of the Yukon
(1940). 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 Badman
as well as in
John Ford
's cavalry story
Fort Apache
in which she portrayed Mrs. O'Rourke, the wife of Sergeant O'Rourke (
Ward Bond
).
In the 1930s, Rich did much work in radio. From 1933 to 1944, she hosted a nationwide anthology program of serialized mini-dramas,
Dear John
(aka
The Irene Rich Show
). Her leading man was actor
Gale Gordon
, (who later played
Lucille Ball
's apoplectic boss "Mr. Mooney" on TV). In the early 1940s, Rich starred in
Glorious One
on
NBC
Blue.
[5]
Rich appeared in stage productions, including
Seven Keys to Baldpate
(1935) which starred
George M. Cohan
, the creator of the play, and later
As the Girls Go
in 1948.
[
citation needed
]
Personal life
[
edit
]
Rich married for the third time on April 6, 1927 in Del Monte, California, to real estate mogul David Ferguson Blankenhorn (1886?1969), at the home of William May Garland. Blankenhorn was well known in the Los Angeles real estate market, was a longtime resident of Pasadena and San Francisco, and handled the transaction of
William Wrigley, Jr.
purchasing Catalina Island in 1919.
[6]
Rich and Blankenhorn separated at least three times in the summer and fall of 1931,
[7]
they filed for divorce on October 30, 1931,
[8]
they were divorced that November.
She became involved in a deadly love triangle in 1949 when Agnes Elizabeth Garnier shot and killed wealthy businessman John Edwin Owen (1881–1949). Owen, formerly a businessman and politician from Michigan, was president of the National Apartment House Owners' Association, among other business interests, including cattle and horse ranching in Gunnison, Colorado and Riverside, California. The Riverside County Sheriff's Department investigator said that Garnier killed Owen (who was married, but estranged and separated from his wife) and blamed Rich for coming between them. Garnier, Owen's personal secretary, told the district attorney that the gun went off accidentally and she took the gun from an intoxicated Owen as he was going to bed. Rich said that she was not in love with Owen and that they were just friends.
[9]
Garnier pleaded not guilty.
[10]
The prosecutor decided not to try for first degree murder,
[11]
and she was found guilty of manslaughter, and received a sentence of "one-to-ten" years.
[12]
Garnier, after losing her appeal in January 1950,
[13]
was released from
Tehachapi Prison
in May 1951 after serving less than a year-and-a-half.
[14]
She died in San Diego in 1990 at the age of 93.
[15]
Family and death
[
edit
]
Rich was married four times, the first time at age 17. She had two daughters, Frances and Jane.
[1]
On February 28, 1950, Rich married her last husband, George Henry Clifford (1881?1959), a public utilities executive, at
The Sherry-Netherland
Hotel in New York City. He was president of
Stone & Webster Service Corporation
.
[16]
The couple bought an avocado ranch within Hope Ranch, near Santa Barbara, in 1956,
[17]
where they lived out the remainder of their lives.
[
citation needed
]
On April 22, 1988, Irene Rich died at age 96 of
heart failure
in
Hope Ranch, California
.
[1]
Rich has two stars on the
Hollywood Walk of Fame
, one for her contribution to the motion picture industry at 6225
Hollywood Boulevard
and one for her contributions to the radio industry at 6150 Hollywood Boulevard.
Filmography
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
Flint, Peter B. (April 25, 1988), "Irene Rich, Silent-Screen Actress And Radio Personality, Dies at 96",
The New York Times
- ^
"Society",
The Spokesman-Review
, p. 2, February 21, 1909
- ^
"Spokane Society Woman Becomes Bride Of Lieutenant From Fort",
Spokane Daily Chronicle
, p. 3, January 9, 1912
- ^
California Birth Index - California Department of Health Services Office of Health Information and Research.
- ^
"(photo caption)"
(PDF)
.
Radio and Television Mirror
.
14
(6): 26. October 1940
. Retrieved
March 10,
2015
.
- ^
"Irene Rich Is Married",
The Spokesman-Review
,
Associated Press
, April 7, 1927
- ^
Merrick, Mollie (October 30, 1931), "Stars And Talkies Of Hollywood",
The Spokesman-Review
,
North American Newspaper Alliance
, p. 5
- ^
"Irene Rich Cruel, Charge",
The Spokesman-Review
,
Associated Press
, p. 1, October 30, 1931
- ^
"Woman Held For Killing Wealthy Man",
St. Petersburg Times
,
Associated Press
, p. 1, April 24, 1949
- ^
"Owen Case Witness Names Irene Rich",
Los Angeles Times
, p. 4, May 10, 1949
- ^
Ryon, Art (June 17, 1949), "Garnier Case May Go to Jury Today",
Los Angeles Times
, p. 5
- ^
Ryon, Art (June 18, 1949), "Mrs. Garnier Convicted of Manslaughter",
Los Angeles Times
, p. 1
- ^
"Mrs. Garnier Must Go to Prison for Slaying",
Los Angeles Times
, p. 4, January 19, 1950
- ^
"Mrs. Gamier Is Released From Prison",
Los Angeles Times
, p. A, May 9, 1951
- ^
California Death Index. - California Department of Health Services Office of Health Information and Research.
- ^
"Irene Rich To Marry Again",
The Hartford Courant
, p. 2, February 28, 1950
- ^
"Drama",
Los Angeles Times
, p. 26, March 5, 1956
External links
[
edit
]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to
Irene Rich
.
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