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Written 2009 by Will Johnson for Scholar's Edition Email me at wjhonson@aol.com or post your comments for public view far below. All Rights Reserved. | Follow Scholar's Edition on Twitter! or subscribe using my Knol Public activity feed or see Wjhonson's Fifty Most Recent Knols |
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This article should be cited as :
"Irene Ryan (1902-73), actress" by Will Johnson, wjhonson@aol.com
for Scholar's Edition Professional Biographies at knol.google.com
Copyright 2010, All Rights Reserved.
for Scholar's Edition Professional Biographies at knol.google.com
Copyright 2010, All Rights Reserved.
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This is the only known comprehensive biography of Irene Ryan in existence. All other biographies of Irene Ryan are either quite tiny, or just snippets of his impact on others at some particular point in their lives, without giving a comprehensive view of his life. This biography I hope will correct that.
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Irene Ryan (age 59) as "Granny", Nancy Culp (age 41) as "Jane Hathaway" in "The Beverly Hillbillies", episode 3, 1962 |
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Irene Ryan, actress most known today as "Granny" on "The Beverly Hillbillies" (1962-1971). Watch every episode of "The Beverly Hillbillies" right now for free onYouTube.
Irene Ryan was born as Jessie Irene Noblitt on 17 Oct 1902 in El Paso, Texas, daughter of James M Noblitt (d. 1913) and his wife Catherine "Katie". The family was living in San Francisco by the 1910 Census.
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Her career began at age 11 when she sang "Pretty Baby" as loudly as she could to win a $3 prize at an amateur contest at San Francisco's old Valencia Theater. "I wore a pink silk dress and had long curls. I was terrified. If they didn't like an act, the audience would throw tomatoes and eggs." Irene is listed as Eileen J. Noblitt actress, on the 1920 census, living in San Francisco with her widowed mother Katie and her sister Annie and brother in law Virgil Wilkerson/Wilkenson.
Tim Ryan (facing) in 1946's "Dark Alibi" Charlie Chan mystery |
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Irene Ryan (age 45) as "Molly the Maid" in 1947's "Heading for Heaven" |
My Dear Secretary (1949) comedy romance added 28 Dec 2010
starring Laraine Day, Kirk Douglas, Keenan Wynn, Helen Walker
with Rudy Vallee, Florence Bates, Alan Mowbray, Irene Ryan, Gale Robbins, Grady Sutton
Kirk Douglas is a famous writer, Laraine Day is an aspiring writer, who becomes his secretary and love interest. Keenan Wynn is the best-friend side-kick and he and Irene Ryan as "Mary the maid" provide the comic relief.
This is an odd "B" movie, which cannot seem to decide if it's a comedy or a romance drama. Some of the drama scenes go way too far into melo-drama as well.[Edit]
Irene Ryan in 1949's "My Dear Secretary", starring Kirk Douglas |
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She was not originally the first choice to play "Granny". Bea Benaderet was the original choice, but Irene gave a strong audition and got the part. Bea was cast as cousin Pearl, who you see in the first episode, and some subsequent ones. The Beverly Hillbillies, got at the time, the highest Nielsen rating, sometimes garnering fifty percent of American households. They were the highest rated show in 1962 and 1963. One episode achieved a stunning 65 percent share of viewers -- still today, the highest rating ever achieved by a half-hour program. Irene Ryan was nominated in both 1963 and 1964 for an Emmy for her work on The Beverly Hillbillies. Watch her, from around this time, on a show hosted by Roy Rodgers and Dale Evans at this link, where she sings her comedic version of the hit song, "I'm A Woman".
Her last role was as Pippin's grandmother in Broadway's smash hit "Pippin". On YouTube at this link, you can hear her sing her hit "No Time At All" from this production. It was released as a single by Motown, and she was nominated for a Tony award. Irene Ryan had a stroke in New York City on 10 Mar 1973, during a Saturday matinee of this play.
Source: findagrave.com |
She endowed a foundation, bearing her name, with more than one million dollars in scholarship monies, for promising students in theater arts.
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Sources
- 1910 US Federal Census, San Francisco, California : "James M Noblitt, Head, 54, married 25 years, born NC/NC/NC, Clerk, Immigration Service, Owns Home; Katie, wife, 44, married 25 years, mother of 3, 2 living, Ireland/Ireland/Ireland, immigrated in 1883; Annie, daughter, 24, single, born Kansas; Irene, daughter, 7, born California
- 1920 US Federal Census, San Francisco, California : "39 Arlington Street, Katie J Noblitt, owns home, age 54, widow, born Ireland; Eileen J, daughter, 17, single, born Texas, actress, theatre; Anna M Wilkerson, daughter, 35, married, born Kansas; Virgil B Wilkerson, son-in-law, 39, married, born North Carolina, electrician, electric company"
- New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1957, Monarch of Bermuda, 16 Aug 1935 : "Timothy T Ryan, 35, born 1900 Bayonne, New Jersey; Irene Ryan, 33, born 1902 El Paso, Texas; both living at 1609 Forest View Ave, Burlingame, California"
- "Irene Ryan", Social Security Death Index : "Born 17 Oct 1902, SSN issued by New York before 1951, died Apr 1973, last residence Santa Monica"
- "Irene Ryan", IMDb
- "Irene Ryan", Wikipedia
- Genealogue Challenge #13
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James M Noblitt, born in Rutherford Co, NC (cf 1897 Enlistment)