Irene Dunne

Irene Marie Dunne (December 20, 1898 - September 4, 1990) was an American actress. Born in Louisville, Kentucky, she moved with her family after the death of her father to Madison, Indiana. After high school, she got a job teaching music and art, but before she could take the job, she saw an ad for a scholarship contest at the Chicago Music College[?]. She won the contest, and she was able to study for a year before moving to New York City with the dream of being an opera star.

Rejected by the Metropolitan Opera as too young and inexperienced, she turned to the stage. By 1930, she was under contract with RKO. Her film debut was in the little-seen Leathernecking[?]. But in the following year, she starred in the Academy Award winning Cimarron, for which she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress.

Dunne maintained a succesful career in three decades, starring in such movies as Back Street[?], Magnificent Obsession, Show Boat[?], The Awful Truth, My Favorite Wife[?], Penny Serenace[?], Love Affair, Anna and the King of Siam[?], I Remember Mama and It Grows on Trees[?].

In 1957, Dunne was appointed as a special United States delegate to the United Nations.

Irene Dunne died on September 4, 1990 and was interred in the Calvary Cemetery in East Los Angeles, California.

Academy Award Nominations

• 1949 - I Remember Mama
• 1940 - Love Affair
• 1938 - The Awful Truth
• 1937 - Theodora Goes Wild
• 1931 - Cimarron

She has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6440 Hollywood Blvd.