irene dunne 1898-1990

she called herself a reluctant comedienne, but in spite of her preference for more serious roles her legacy as one of the great screwball leading ladies is strong. i tend to shy away from wacky black and white but there are a couple of actors who win me over no matter what sort of film they star in. she is one. cary grant is the other.

irene hailed from kentucky and was actually spotted in an elevator by the great florenz ziegfeld. he cast her in his 1929 show and voila, a hollywood contract came next. both her and cary are going down in history as hollywood greats. irene received 5 oscar nominations. cary received two. neither of them won. perhaps they are making comedies in heaven and laughing their delightful heads off.

photo: gorgeous shot of irene and co-star charles boyer