Profile of Irene Ryan on Famous Like Me

Irene Ryan (born Irene Noblette) was one of the few entertainers who found success in vaudeville, radio, film, and Broadway. Today she is most widely known for her portrayal of "Granny" on the long running TV series The Beverly Hillbillies (1962-1971). She was nominated for an Emmy Award for "Outstanding Continued Performance by an Actress in a Series (Lead)" in 1963 and 1964.

Personal Life

Ryan was born on October 17, circa 1902 in El Paso, Texas to an American father and an Irish emigrant mother, and died on April 26, 1973 in Santa Monica, California, at the widely accepted age of 70, several days following a stroke suffered during a performance of the musical Pippin on Broadway, after which she was flown back to California. She had been diagnosed with a brain tumor some time previously, but reportedly was never made aware of it, although her friend from TV, Nancy Kulp tried to persuade her not to go to New York for the musical. Ryan seems to have made the right choice, considering that her choices would have been (were she fully informed of her condition): (a) either going to Broadway to make her debut in a musical that would be a smash hit and earn her personal acclaim and a Tony nomination, and suffer a stroke and die peacefully several days later or (b) face surgery, chemotherapy and/or radiation treatments in a probably futile grueling battle against cancer (since presumably the tumor was malignant) to extend her life by a few years.

Career

Her career in vaudeville began by touring in an act called "Tim & Irene", with her first husband, actor Tim Ryan, who was also a prolific actor in multiple media. In the mid-1930s they made several short films based on the vaudeville shows. Her first feature-length movie appearance was a bit part in the 1941 romantic comedy Unfinished Business, which starred Irene Dunne, Robert Montgomery, and Preston Foster. In 1943's Ann Miller musical Reveille with Beverly she had another small part, notable only in that it was her first time working with her ex-husband Tim since their 1942 divorce. Around this time she toured with Bob Hope's renowned USO tours. She later performed on NBC Radio's "The Bob Hope Show", from 1948 to 1950.

Her first starring big-screen role was with her Tim and Ann Corio, in Sarong Girl later in 1943. Tim, Irene, and Corio teamed up again, along with Charles Butterworth, in the Arthur Dreifuss film The Sultan's Daughter in 1944. Also in 1944, Tim and Irene were paired again, along with Dona Drake and Robert Lowery in another musical comedy, Hot Rhythm. In the following 17 years she had various roles in 25 movies, including Bonzo Goes to College and Rockabilly Baby, which also featured Les Brown and His Band of Renown. It was also during this period that she married (1946), and divorced (1961), her second husband, Harold E. Knox.

The Beverly Hillbillies debut in 1962 brought many new fans, as the show jumped to #1 in the US in 3 weeks, a feat (as of 2004) not since matched. In 1965 she played Granny in an episode of Mr. Ed, and appeared on the TV game show Password. After the series' run, she made two Love, American Style appearances; the second one first aired post-humously.

Her final acting role was also her first Broadway role, as "Berthe", grandmother of "Pippin" (played by John Rubenstein) in the popular musical Pippin, in which she performed only one song, but it was the show-stopping solo, "No Time At All", which earned her numerous call backs and ovations. She was nominated for a Tony Award for her performance, but lost to actress Patricia Elliott from Sondheim's A Little Night Music.

Death

Pallbearers at her funeral included Hillbillies co-stars Buddy Ebsen and Max Baer, Jr., along with Hillbillies creator Paul Henning. Having no living relatives, she left her more than $1,000,000 USD estate to fund the Irene Ryan Foundation, which donates scholarships to young theater arts students involved with the Kennedy Center's American College Theater Festival. She is interred at the Woodlawn Memorial Cemetery in Santa Monica, California.

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