Irene Ryan
Encyclopedia
Irene Ryan was an American actress, one of the few entertainers who found success in vaudeville
, radio
, film
, television
and Broadway
.
She is most widely known for her portrayal of "Granny" on the long-running TV series The Beverly Hillbillies
(1962–1971), for which she was nominated for Emmy Award
s for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series in 1963 and 1964.
. She was born to an American
father, James Merrit Noblitt, and an Irish
immigrant mother, Katherine McSharry.
Before her role as "Granny" on The Beverly Hillbillies, Ryan was an established vaudeville
, radio, and movie actress, though not as well known prior to her television stint. Ryan and her first husband, writer-comedian Tim Ryan
, were popular in vaudeville. Their type of double act, known in show business as a "Dumb Dora" routine and epitomized by George Burns
and Gracie Allen
, had the dizzy woman saying silly things to her boyfriend or husband, and foil. Billed as "Tim and Irene", they had their own series of short subjects in the 1930s for Educational Pictures
, and later worked in feature films for Monogram Pictures
.
After Tim and Irene divorced, she toured with Bob Hope
, making regular appearances on his radio show. In 1946 she married Harold Knox. She continued to work in motion pictures of the late 1940s and early 1950s, generally playing fussy or nervous women. In January 1955, Ryan made her first television sitcom appearance on an episode of CBS
's The Danny Thomas Show
. Later that same month, she appeared in ABC
's The Ray Bolger Show
.
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, she just blew everyone away.” Al Simon (executive producer) and Henning immediately said: “That’s Granny.” Later when Benaderet saw Ryan’s tryout, she agreed. Benaderet was then cast as cousin Pearl.
-directed Broadway musical Pippin
, in which she sang the number "No Time At All", which mentions, "a man who calls me Granny." In 1973, Ryan was nominated for Broadway's 1973 Tony Award as Best Supporting or Featured Actress (Musical) for her performance in the musical. She lost to Patricia Elliott
(A Little Night Music
), in a ceremony held about a month prior to Ryan's death. After Ryan's passing, the role of Berthe was assumed by veteran actress Dorothy Stickney
.
during a performance of Pippin. Four days after being nominated for a Tony Award for her performance as "Granny" in "Pippin", after performing at the Saturday matinee, Ryan flew home to California. She was hospitalized that Monday, and operated for a previously undiagnosed brain tumor later that week. She died four weeks later, on April 26, 1973 in Santa Monica, California
. She was 70 years old.
Pallbearers at Ryan's California funeral included Hillbillies co-stars Buddy Ebsen
and Max Baer, Jr.
, along with Beverly Hillbillies creator Paul Henning
, Bob Hope
, her publicist Frank Lieberman, manager Kingsley Colton, and Pippin co-star Walter Willison
. The funeral was attended by Donna Douglas
, Harriet MacGibbon, Louis Nye
and others associated with the series, Richard Deacon
, Mr. Blackwell
, and longtime friend and silent film star Viola Dana
. Her body was interred in a mausoleum crypt at the Woodlawn Memorial Cemetery in Santa Monica, California
, beside her sister, Anna Thompson.
American College Theater Festival.
Vaudeville
Vaudeville was a theatrical genre of variety entertainment in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s. Each performance was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill...
, radio
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
, film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
, television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
and Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
.
She is most widely known for her portrayal of "Granny" on the long-running TV series The Beverly Hillbillies
The Beverly Hillbillies
The Beverly Hillbillies is an American situation comedy originally broadcast for nine seasons on CBS from 1962 to 1971, starring Buddy Ebsen, Irene Ryan, Donna Douglas, and Max Baer, Jr....
(1962–1971), for which she was nominated for Emmy Award
Emmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
s for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series in 1963 and 1964.
Early life and career
Ryan was born Jessie Irene Noblitt in El Paso, TexasEl Paso, Texas
El Paso, is a city in and the county seat of El Paso County, Texas, United States, and lies in far West Texas. In the 2010 census, the city had a population of 649,121. It is the sixth largest city in Texas and the 19th largest city in the United States...
. She was born to an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
father, James Merrit Noblitt, and an Irish
Irish people
The Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...
immigrant mother, Katherine McSharry.
Before her role as "Granny" on The Beverly Hillbillies, Ryan was an established vaudeville
Vaudeville
Vaudeville was a theatrical genre of variety entertainment in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s. Each performance was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill...
, radio, and movie actress, though not as well known prior to her television stint. Ryan and her first husband, writer-comedian Tim Ryan
Tim Ryan (actor)
Tim Ryan was an American performer who is probably best known today as a film actor. Ryan and his wife, Irene who later played Granny on The Beverly Hillbillies, were a show business team that performed on Broadway, film and radio...
, were popular in vaudeville. Their type of double act, known in show business as a "Dumb Dora" routine and epitomized by George Burns
George Burns
George Burns , born Nathan Birnbaum, was an American comedian, actor, and writer.He was one of the few entertainers whose career successfully spanned vaudeville, film, radio, television and movies, with and without his wife, Gracie Allen. His arched eyebrow and cigar smoke punctuation became...
and Gracie Allen
Gracie Allen
Grace Ethel Cecile Rosalie Allen , known as Gracie Allen, was an American comedian who became internationally famous as the zany partner and comic foil of husband George Burns...
, had the dizzy woman saying silly things to her boyfriend or husband, and foil. Billed as "Tim and Irene", they had their own series of short subjects in the 1930s for Educational Pictures
Educational Pictures
Educational Pictures was a film distribution company founded in 1919 by Earle Hammons . Educational primarily distributed short subjects, and today is probably best known for its series of 1930s comedies starring Buster Keaton, as well as for a series of one-reel comedies featuring Shirley...
, and later worked in feature films for Monogram Pictures
Monogram Pictures
Monogram Pictures Corporation is a Hollywood studio that produced and released films, most on low budgets, between 1931 and 1953, when the firm completed a transition to the name Allied Artists Pictures Corporation. Monogram is considered a leader among the smaller studios sometimes referred to...
.
After Tim and Irene divorced, she toured with Bob Hope
Bob Hope
Bob Hope, KBE, KCSG, KSS was a British-born American comedian and actor who appeared in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in radio, television and movies. He was also noted for his work with the US Armed Forces and his numerous USO shows entertaining American military personnel...
, making regular appearances on his radio show. In 1946 she married Harold Knox. She continued to work in motion pictures of the late 1940s and early 1950s, generally playing fussy or nervous women. In January 1955, Ryan made her first television sitcom appearance on an episode of CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
's The Danny Thomas Show
The Danny Thomas Show
The Danny Thomas Show is an American sitcom which ran from 1953-1957 on ABC and from 1957-1964 on CBS...
. Later that same month, she appeared in ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
's The Ray Bolger Show
Where's Raymond?
Where's Raymond? is a 1953-1954 ABC situation comedy television series starring Ray Bolger as Raymond Wallace, a song-and-dance man who is consistently barely on time for his performances...
.
The Beverly Hillbillies (1962–1971)
In 1962, Ryan was cast as Daisy "Granny" Moses, the matriarch of the Clampett clan, in the CBS-TV comedy series The Beverly Hillbillies. The sitcom ran on the CBS network from 1962 to 1971, and after the show ended Ryan established the Irene Ryan Acting Competition, providing annual scholarships for promising student actors. According to Filmways Publicist Ted Switzer, series creator and producer Paul HenningPaul Henning
Paul William Henning was an American producer and writer. Most famous for the successful TV sitcom The Beverly Hillbillies, he was crucial in the development of several "rural" comedies for CBS.-Early life:...
had decided to cast Bea Benaderet
Bea Benaderet
Bea Benaderet was an American actress born in New York City and raised in San Francisco, California. She is best remembered for her wide variety of television work, which included a starring role in the 1960s television series Petticoat Junction and Green Acres as Shady Rest Hotel owner Kate...
as Granny; however, when Ryan read for the role, “with her hair tied back in a bun and feisty as all get out, she just blew everyone away.” Al Simon (executive producer) and Henning immediately said: “That’s Granny.” Later when Benaderet saw Ryan’s tryout, she agreed. Benaderet was then cast as cousin Pearl.
Pippin (1972)
In 1972 Ryan helped to create and also starred in the role of Berthe in the Bob FosseBob Fosse
Robert Louis “Bob” Fosse was an American actor, dancer, musical theater choreographer, director, screenwriter, film editor and film director. He won an unprecedented eight Tony Awards for choreography, as well as one for direction...
-directed Broadway musical Pippin
Pippin (musical)
Pippin is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and a book by Roger O. Hirson. Bob Fosse, who directed the original Broadway production, also contributed to the libretto...
, in which she sang the number "No Time At All", which mentions, "a man who calls me Granny." In 1973, Ryan was nominated for Broadway's 1973 Tony Award as Best Supporting or Featured Actress (Musical) for her performance in the musical. She lost to Patricia Elliott
Patricia Elliott
Patricia Elliott is an American actress. She graduated from South High School in Denver.With many appearances on television, film and stage, Elliott currently portrays Renee Divine Buchanan on the ABC soap opera One Life to Live, a role she has played on-and-off since 1987...
(A Little Night Music
A Little Night Music
A Little Night Music is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by Hugh Wheeler. Inspired by the Ingmar Bergman film Smiles of a Summer Night, it involves the romantic lives of several couples. Its title is a literal English translation of the German name for Mozart's Serenade...
), in a ceremony held about a month prior to Ryan's death. After Ryan's passing, the role of Berthe was assumed by veteran actress Dorothy Stickney
Dorothy Stickney
Dorothy Stickney was a Broadway actress best known for appearing in the long running Life with Father.Born in Dickinson, North Dakota, Stickney attended the North Western Dramatic School in Minneapolis, Minnesota...
.
Personal life
Tim and Irene Ryan were married in 1922 and divorced in 1942. Irene married her second husband, Harold E. Knox, in 1946; they divorced in 1961. Both unions were childless.Death
In April 1973, Ryan suffered a strokeStroke
A stroke, previously known medically as a cerebrovascular accident , is the rapidly developing loss of brain function due to disturbance in the blood supply to the brain. This can be due to ischemia caused by blockage , or a hemorrhage...
during a performance of Pippin. Four days after being nominated for a Tony Award for her performance as "Granny" in "Pippin", after performing at the Saturday matinee, Ryan flew home to California. She was hospitalized that Monday, and operated for a previously undiagnosed brain tumor later that week. She died four weeks later, on April 26, 1973 in Santa Monica, California
Santa Monica, California
Santa Monica is a beachfront city in western Los Angeles County, California, US. Situated on Santa Monica Bay, it is surrounded on three sides by the city of Los Angeles — Pacific Palisades on the northwest, Brentwood on the north, West Los Angeles on the northeast, Mar Vista on the east, and...
. She was 70 years old.
Pallbearers at Ryan's California funeral included Hillbillies co-stars Buddy Ebsen
Buddy Ebsen
Buddy Ebsen was an American character actor and dancer. A performer for seven decades, he had starring roles as Jed Clampett in the long-running television series The Beverly Hillbillies and as the title character in the 1970s detective series Barnaby Jones, and played Barnaby Jones in the movie...
and Max Baer, Jr.
Max Baer, Jr.
Max Baer Jr is an American actor, screenwriter, producer, and director. He is best known for playing Jethro Bodine on The Beverly Hillbillies.-Early life:...
, along with Beverly Hillbillies creator Paul Henning
Paul Henning
Paul William Henning was an American producer and writer. Most famous for the successful TV sitcom The Beverly Hillbillies, he was crucial in the development of several "rural" comedies for CBS.-Early life:...
, Bob Hope
Bob Hope
Bob Hope, KBE, KCSG, KSS was a British-born American comedian and actor who appeared in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in radio, television and movies. He was also noted for his work with the US Armed Forces and his numerous USO shows entertaining American military personnel...
, her publicist Frank Lieberman, manager Kingsley Colton, and Pippin co-star Walter Willison
Walter Willison
Walter Willison is an American stage actor. He received a Tony Award nomination and Theatre World Award for his Broadway musical debut in Richard Rodgers' and Martin Charnin's Biblical musical Two by Two.- Career :...
. The funeral was attended by Donna Douglas
Donna Douglas
Donna Douglas is an American actress best known for her role as Elly May Clampett, in the long-running television series The Beverly Hillbillies.-Early life:...
, Harriet MacGibbon, Louis Nye
Louis Nye
Louis Nye was an American comedy actor.-Early years:He was born Louis Neistat in Hartford, Connecticut, the son of Joseph Neistat and Jennie Sherman . His sister was Rose Neistat...
and others associated with the series, Richard Deacon
Richard Deacon
Richard Deacon CBE is a British abstract sculptor, and a winner of the Turner Prize.-Life and work:Richard Deacon was born in Bangor, Wales and educated at Plymouth College. He then studied at the Somerset College of Art in Taunton, St Martin's School of Art in London and the Royal College of...
, Mr. Blackwell
Mr. Blackwell
Richard Blackwell was an American fashion critic, journalist, television and radio personality, artist, former child actor and former fashion designer, sometimes known just as Mr. Blackwell. He was the creator of the "Ten Worst Dressed Women List", an annual awards presentation he unveiled in...
, and longtime friend and silent film star Viola Dana
Viola Dana
Viola Dana was an American film actress who was successful during the era of silent movies.- Career :Born Virginia Flugrath, Dana was a child star, appearing on the stage at the age of three. She read Shakespeare and particularly identified with the teenage Juliet. She enjoyed a long run at the...
. Her body was interred in a mausoleum crypt at the Woodlawn Memorial Cemetery in Santa Monica, California
Santa Monica, California
Santa Monica is a beachfront city in western Los Angeles County, California, US. Situated on Santa Monica Bay, it is surrounded on three sides by the city of Los Angeles — Pacific Palisades on the northwest, Brentwood on the north, West Los Angeles on the northeast, Mar Vista on the east, and...
, beside her sister, Anna Thompson.
Legacy and charitable causes
Ryan left more than $1,000,000 to fund the Irene Ryan Foundation, which donates scholarships to young theater arts students involved with the Kennedy Center'sJohn F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts is a performing arts center located on the Potomac River, adjacent to the Watergate complex in Washington, D.C...
American College Theater Festival.