Irene Ryan

Irene Ryan (born Jessie Irene Noblitt; October 17, 1902 – April 26, 1973) was an American actress who found success in vaudeville, radio, film, television, and Broadway. Ryan is most widely known for her portrayal of Daisy May "Granny" Moses, the mother-in-law of Buddy Ebsen's character Jed Clampett on the long-running TV series The Beverly Hillbillies (1962–1971), for which she was nominated for Emmy Awards for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series in 1963 and 1964.

Not to be confused with Eileen Ryan.
This article is about the Beverly Hillbillies actress. For the geologist and politician, see Irene E. Ryan. For the improv artist, see The Committee (improv group).
Irene Ryan
Born
Jessie Irene Noblitt

(1902-10-17)October 17, 1902
El Paso, Texas, U.S.[1]
DiedApril 26, 1973(1973-04-26) (aged 70)
Santa Monica, California, U.S.
Resting placeWoodlawn Memorial Cemetery, Santa Monica
NationalityAmerican
OccupationActress
Years active1913–1973
Spouse(s)
(
m. 1922⁠–⁠1942)
; divorced
Harold E. Knox
(
m. 1946⁠–⁠1961)
; divorced

Early years

Ryan was born Jessie Irene Noblitt on October 17, 1902, in El Paso, Texas. She was the second child and latter daughter born to Catherine J. "Katie" (née McSharry) and James Merritt Noblitt. Her father was an army sergeant from North Carolina, and her mother had emigrated from Ireland. Jessie Irene was 17 years younger than her only sister, Anna.[2]

Career

Ryan began her career at the age of 11, after winning $3 for singing "Pretty Baby" in an amateur contest at the Valencia Theater in San Francisco.[3][4]

At 20, she married writer-comedian Tim Ryan. They performed in vaudeville as a double act, known in show business as a "Dumb Dora" routine and epitomized by George Burns and Gracie Allen. Known professionally as "Tim and Irene" (and billed formally as Tim Ryan and Irene Noblette), they starred in 11 short comedies for Educational Pictures between 1935 and 1937. The films were usually vehicles for their vaudevillian dialogue, with Irene as the flighty young woman who drives Tim to distraction. Tim's frequent admonition "Will you stop?" became a catchphrase, and then became the title of one of their shorts.

Substituting for Jack Benny in 1936, they starred in The Jell-o Summer Show on NBC's Red Network. Recordings (made on 78 rpm 12-inch lacquer disks) of the shows of September 20 and September 27 (the latter the last of the series) exist. Don Wilson was the announcer.[3]

Tim and Irene Ryan had no children and divorced in 1942, although she kept his surname. She toured with Bob Hope and was on his radio program for two years.[5] She played Edgar Kennedy's wife in two of his RKO series of short films in 1943.[6] That same year, she appeared in the country music film O, My Darling Clementine.

By 1943 Tim Ryan had become a prolific character actor in movies, and Monogram Pictures reunited Tim and Irene for four feature films, the last being the 1944 musical feature Hot Rhythm with Dona Drake.

In 1946 Irene married Harold E. Knox, who worked in film production. (They divorced in 1961; the couple had no children.) She continued to work in motion pictures of the late 1940s and early 1950s, generally playing fussy or nervous women. In 1946, she joined the cast of The Jack Carson Show on CBS radio. She played "a neighborhood storekeeper who operates a combination candy shop and lending library."[7] In January 1955, Ryan made her first television sitcom appearance in an episode of the CBS series The Danny Thomas Show. She appeared with Walter Brennan in the 1959 episode "Grandpa's New Job" on the ABC sitcom The Real McCoys. In the 1960-1961 CBS sitcom Bringing Up Buddy, starring Frank Aletter, she was cast in three episodes as Cynthia Boyle; and she appeared as Rusty Wallace in "The Romance of Silver Pines", a 1962 episode of My Three Sons, starring Fred MacMurray.[8] In 1966, Ryan was a contestant/celebrity guest star on the game show Password.

The Beverly Hillbillies

Ryan was cast in what was her best known role in 1962 as Daisy "Granny" Moses, the mother-in-law of patriarch J.D. "Jed" Clampett in The Beverly Hillbillies (although Ryan was only five and a half years older than Buddy Ebsen). The character was so named as an honor to the artist Anna Mary Robertson "Grandma" Moses, who had died aged 100 the previous year and only started her professional career as a painter in her later years.

According to Filmways publicist Ted Switzer, series creator and producer Paul Henning had decided to cast Bea Benaderet as Granny. However, when Ryan read for the role, "with her hair tied back in a bun and feisty as all get-out", everyone present was taken with her performance. Executive producer Al Simon and Henning immediately said, "That's Granny!" Later, when Benaderet saw Ryan's tryout, she agreed. Benaderet was cast as Jed Clampett's cousin, Pearl Bodine.[9]

In 1966, Irene Ryan played Granny in the comedy Don't Worry, We'll Think of a Title, co-starring Rose Marie and Morey Amsterdam.

Stage

In 1972, Ryan starred in the role of Berthe in the Bob Fosse-directed Broadway musical Pippin,[10] in which she sang the number "No Time at All".

A live recording (sound with still photographs) of the song "No Time at All" from Pippin was recorded in 1972.[11]

Club

In 1965, Ryan signed a two-year contract to perform at the Sahara Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada.[12]

Recognition

In both 1963 and 1964, Ryan was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Continued Performance by an Actress in a Series (Lead).[13]

Ryan was nominated for Broadway's 1973 Tony Award as Best Supporting or Featured Actress (Musical) for her performance in Pippin.[14] She lost to Patricia Elliott (A Little Night Music) in a ceremony held about a month before Ryan's death.

Death

On March 10, 1973, Ryan suffered an apparent stroke during a performance of Pippin. She flew home to California on her doctor's orders and was hospitalized. She was diagnosed with an inoperable glioblastoma (malignant brain tumor), although reportedly she was never informed of the diagnosis. She died at St. John's Hospital, Santa Monica, California on April 26, 1973, aged 70. The causes of death were given as glioblastoma and arteriosclerotic heart disease.[15] Her body was interred in a mausoleum crypt at the Woodlawn Memorial Cemetery in Santa Monica beside her sister, Mrs. Anna Thompson.

Legacy and charitable causes

The Irene Ryan Acting Scholarship awards scholarships to outstanding actors who participate in the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival. The scholarship provides "recognition, honor, and financial assistance to outstanding student performers wishing to pursue further education." These scholarships have been awarded by the Irene Ryan Foundation since 1972.[16]

Selected filmography
L-R: Moyna Macgill, Irene Ryan, Florence Bates and Margaret Hamilton in Texas, Brooklyn & Heaven (1948)

References
  1. "Irene Ryan, 70, Actress, Is Dead". The New York Times. April 27, 1973. p. 40. Retrieved 31 October 2017.
  2. "Irene Ryan -- 'Millionaire Granny' -- Establishes College Acting Scholarships". The Lawton Constitution. August 26, 1971. p. 30. Retrieved October 5, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. Dunning, John (May 7, 1998). On the Air:The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio (2 ed.). Oxford University Press. p. 672. ISBN 978-0-19-507678-3.
  4. "Stroke Takes TV's Granny". Evening Independent. St. Petersburg, Florida. April 27, 1973. p. 20A. Retrieved December 9, 2012.
  5. Geaufort, John (December 8, 1972). "A New 'Granny' Role". San Rafael Daily Independent Journal. p. 17. Retrieved October 5, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. One of the short films in which Irene Ryan plays Edgar Kennedy's wife, Hold Your Temper (1943), is available for viewing on YouTube. Retrieved June 18, 2017.
  7. "Jack Carson to Star Irene Ryan In New Fall Show". Harrisburg Telegraph. September 28, 1946. p. 19. Retrieved October 5, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. "The Romance of Silver Pines", My Three Sons (S02E15), originally broadcast January 11, 1962. TV Guide. Retrieved July 3, 2017.
  9. The Beverly Hillbillies Ultimate Collection DVD set, Volume 1 Disc 4, Bonus materials film: Paul Henning and the Hillbillies
  10. "Irene Ryan". Playbill. Retrieved October 6, 2015.
  11. "No Time at All {Pippin ~ Broadway, 1972} - Irene Ryan". YouTube. 20 October 2013. Retrieved 19 November 2017.
  12. Vernon, Terry (January 17, 1965). "Tele-Vues". Independent. Long Beach. p. 34. Retrieved October 6, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. "Search: Irene Ryan". Emmy Awards. Retrieved October 6, 2015.
  14. "Irene Ryan". Tony Awards. Retrieved October 6, 2015.
  15. "Success As Granny Clampett: Actress Irene Ryan Dies". The Beaver County Times. April 27, 1973. pp. A–14. Retrieved December 9, 2012.
  16. "Irene Ryan Acting Scholarship". Kennedy Center. Retrieved September 14, 2012.
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