MANNIX 7x9 press photo MIKE CONNORS Tina Sinatra Light and Shadow episode

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Seller: brogak2 ✉️ (1,814) 100%, Location: Newbury Park, California, US, Ships to: US & many other countries, Item: 235488906084 MANNIX 7x9 press photo MIKE CONNORS Tina Sinatra Light and Shadow episode. This is an original 7x9 inch CBS TV press photo, with caption sheet, of Mike Connors and Christina Sinatra/Tina Sinatra, the daughter of Frank Sinatra, in the 1972" "Light and Shadow" episode of Mannix. Tina Sinatra is listed as Christina Sinatra in the caption. BACKGROUND Irene Dunne DHS (born Irene Marie Dunn ;[Note 1] December 20, 1898 – September 4, 1990) was an American actress who appeared in films during the Golden Age of Hollywood . She is best known for her comedic roles, though she performed in films of other genres.

After her father died when she was 14, Dunne's family relocated from Kentucky to Indiana . She was determined to become an opera singer , but when she was rejected by The Met , she performed in musicals on Broadway until she was scouted by RKO and made her Hollywood film debut in the musical Leathernecking (1930). She later starred in the successful musical Show Boat (1936). Overall, she starred in 42 movies and was nominated five times for the Academy Award for Best Actress —for her performances in the western drama Cimarron (1931), the screwball comedies Theodora Goes Wild (1936) and The Awful Truth (1937), the romance Love Affair (1939), and the drama I Remember Mama (1948). Dunne is considered one of the finest actresses never to have won an Academy Award . Some critics feel that her performances have been underappreciated and largely forgotten, often overshadowed by later remakes and better-known co-stars.

After the success of The Awful Truth , she was paired with Cary Grant , her co-star in that movie, two further times; in another screwball comedy, My Favorite Wife (1940), and in the melodrama Penny Serenade (1941). She has been praised by many during her career, and after her death, as one of the best comedic actresses in the screwball genre. The popularity of Love Affair also led to two additional movies with her co-star of that film, Charles Boyer ; those were When Tomorrow Comes (1939) and Together Again (1944). Her last film role was in 1952 but she starred in and hosted numerous television anthology episodes until 1962 after having done numerous radio performances from the late 1930s until the early 1950s. She was nicknamed "The First Lady of Hollywood" for her regal manner despite being proud of her Irish-American, country-girl roots.

Dunne devoted her retirement to philanthropy and was chosen by President Dwight D. Eisenhower as a delegate for the United States to the United Nations , in which she advocated world peace and highlighted refugee-relief programs. She also used the time to be with her family—her husband, dentist Dr. Francis Griffin, and their daughter Mary Frances, whom they adopted in 1938. She received numerous awards for her philanthropy, including honorary doctorates, a Laetare Medal from the University of Notre Dame , and a papal knighthood —Dame of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre . In 1985, she was awarded a Kennedy Center Honor for her services to the arts.

Early life

Irene Marie Dunn was born on December 20, 1898,[1] [2] at 507 East Gray Street in Louisville, Kentucky ,[9] to Joseph John Dunn, an Irish-American steamboat engineer/inspector for the United States government,[10] and Adelaide Antoinette Dunn (née Henry), a concert pianist/music teacher of German descent from Newport, Kentucky .[11] She was their second child and second daughter,[12] and had a younger brother named Charles;[13] [14] Dunne's elder sister died soon after her birth.[12] The family alternated between living in Kentucky and St. Louis ,[12] due to her father's job offers, but he died in April 1913[15] [16] from a kidney infection[17] when she was fourteen.[Note 2] She saved all of his letters and both remembered and lived by what he told her the night before he died: "Happiness is never an accident. It is the prize we get when we choose wisely from life's great stores."[Note 3] [20]

Following her father's death, Dunne's family moved to her mother's hometown of Madison, Indiana ,[22] living on W. Second St.,[23] in the same neighborhood as Dunne's grandparents.[24] Dunne's mother taught her to play the piano as a very small girl — according to Dunne, "Music was as natural as breathing in our house,"[20] — but unfortunately for her, music lessons frequently prevented her from playing with the neighborhood kids.[12] Her first school production of A Midsummer Night's Dream began her interest in drama,[25] so she took singing lessons as well, and sang in local churches and high school plays before her graduation in 1916.[26] Wanting to become a music teacher,[27] she studied at the Indianapolis Conservatory of Music ,[28] [23] earning a diploma in 1918. Later, she auditioned for the Chicago Musical College when she visited friends during a journey to Gary, Indiana , and won a college scholarship, officially graduating in 1926.[29] Hoping to become a soprano opera singer, she moved to New York after finishing her second year in 1920, but failed two auditions with the Metropolitan Opera Company due to her inexperience and her "slight" voice.[30] [31]

Career

1920–1929: Acting beginnings, Broadway debut Dunne dressed as a rabbit for a Broadway show, mid-1920s

Dunne took more singing lessons and then dancing lessons to prepare for a possible career in musical theater.[12] On a New York vacation to visit family friends, she was recommended to audition for a stage musical,[20] eventually starring as the leading role in the popular play Irene ,[12] which toured major cities as a roadshow throughout 1921.[3] [32] "Back in New York," Dunne reflected, "I thought that with my experience on the road and musical education it would be easy to win a role. It wasn't."[20] Her Broadway debut was December 25 the following year as Tessie in Zelda Sears 's The Clinging Vine .[33] She understudied Peggy Wood , playing the role several times in February 1923.[34] She then obtained the leading role when the original actress took a leave of absence in 1924.[20] She replaced Leeta Corder in the lead role of Virginia Warewell in Ginger (1923) for the final few weeks on the production.[35] [36] She was also a replacement in Lollipop (1924) on Broadway.[37] Supporting roles in musical theater productions followed in the shows The City Chap (1925),[38] [39] Yours Truly (1927)[40] and She's My Baby (1928).[41] [42] Her first top-billing, leading role Luckee Girl (1928)[43] was not as successful as her previous projects.[12] She would later call her career beginnings "not great furor."[20] At this time, Dunne added the extra "e" to her surname,[Note 4] [5] which had ironically been misspelled as "Dunne" at times throughout her life until this point;[45] [46] until her death, "Dunne" would then occasionally be misspelled as "Dunn".[47] [48] Starring as Magnolia Hawks in a road company adaptation of Show Boat was the result of a chance meeting with its director Florenz Ziegfeld Jr. [Note 5] in an elevator the day she returned from her honeymoon ,[50] when he mistook her for his next potential client, eventually sending his secretary to chase after her.[20] [Note 6] A talent scout for RKO Pictures attended a performance,[12] and Dunne signed the studio's contract, appearing in her first movie, Leathernecking (1930),[53] an adaptation of the musical Present Arms .[54] Already in her 30s when she made her first film, she would be in competition with younger actresses for roles, and found it advantageous to evade questions that would reveal her age, so publicists encouraged the belief that she was born in 1901 or 1904;[5] [55] the former is the date engraved on her tombstone.[56] [12]

Dunne starred in three films each with Charles Boyer and Cary Grant . These pairings were popular with audiences and critics alike.

1930–1949: Hollywood leading lady

The "Hollywood musical" era had fizzled out, so Dunne moved to dramatic roles during the Pre-Code era , leading a successful campaign for the role of Sabra in Cimarron (1931) with her soon-to-be co-star Richard Dix ,[57] earning her first Best Actress nomination.[58] A Photoplay review declared, "[This movie] starts Irene Dunne off as one of our greatest screen artists."[59] Other dramas included Back Street (1932)[60] and No Other Woman (1933);[61] for Magnificent Obsession (1935),[62] she reportedly studied Braille and focused on her posture with blind consultant Ruby Fruth.[63] This was after she and Dix reunited for Stingaree (1934),[64] where overall consensus from critics was that Dunne had usurped Dix's star power.[65] [66] [67] Under a new contract with Warner Bros. ,[68] the remake of Sweet Adeline (1934)[68] [69] and Roberta (1935)[70] were Dunne's first two musicals since Leathernecking ; Roberta also starred dancing partners Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers , and she sang "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes ".[Note 7] In 1936, she starred as Magnolia Hawks in Show Boat (1936), directed by James Whale .[72] Dunne had concerns about Whale's directing decisions,[73] but she later admitted that her favorite scene to film was "Make Believe " with Allan Jones because the blocking reminded her of Romeo and Juliet .[74] It was during this year that Dunne's Warner Bros. contract had expired and she had decided to become a freelance actor,[5] with the power to choose studios and directors.[75] She was apprehensive about attempting her first comedy role as the title character in Theodora Goes Wild (1936),[76] but discovered that she enjoyed the production process,[77] and received her second Best Actress Oscar nomination for the performance.[76]

Magnolia singing "Make Believe" with Gaylord Ravenal made Dunne fantasize she was in Romeo and Juliet . She later said, "Allan and I put our hearts (and lungs) into it [as] if we had really been doing a Shakespearean play."[74]

Dunne followed Theodora Goes Wild with other romantic and comedic roles. The Awful Truth (1937)[78] was the first of three films also starring Cary Grant and was later voted the 68th best comedy in American cinema history by the American Film Institute .[79] Their screwball comedy My Favorite Wife (1940)[80] was praised as an excellent spiritual successor ,[81] [82] whereas Penny Serenade (1941)[83] was a "romantic comedy that frequently embraced melodrama ."[84] Dunne also starred in three films with Charles Boyer : Love Affair (1939),[85] When Tomorrow Comes (1939),[86] and Together Again (1944).[87] Love Affair was such an unexpected critical and financial success that the rest of Dunne and Boyer's films were judged against it;[88] [89] When Tomorrow Comes was considered the most disappointing of the "trilogy,"[90] [89] and the advertising for Together Again promoted the actors' reunion more than the movie.[91] Dunne and Grant were praised as one of the best romantic comedy couples,[92] while the Dunne and Boyer pairing was praised as the most romantic in Hollywood.[93]

On her own, Dunne showed versatility through many film genres. Critics praised her comedic skills in Unfinished Business (1941)[94] and Lady in a Jam (1942),[95] despite both movies' negative reception.[96] [97] When the United States entered the Second World War , Dunne participated in celebrity war bond tours around the country,[98] announcing at a rally in 1942, "This is no time for comedy. I'm now a saleswoman, I sell bonds ."[99] She followed the tour with her only two war films : A Guy Named Joe (1943)[Note 8] and The White Cliffs of Dover (1944).[102] Despite A Guy Named Joe ' s troubled production and mixed reviews, it was one of the most successful films of the year.[103] Over 21 (1945)[104] was Dunne's return to comedy but the themes of war (such as her character's husband enlisting in the army) immediately dated the story,[105] [106] which may have contributed to its lack of success.[107] Strong but ladylike motherly roles in the vein of Cimarron ' s Sabra would follow throughout her next films,[108] such as Anna Leonowens in the fictionalized biopic Anna and the King of Siam (1946),[109] and mothers Vinnie Day in Life with Father (1947),[110] and Marta Hanson in I Remember Mama (1948).[111] Dunne openly disliked Vinnie's ditziness and had rejected Life with Father numerous times,[112] eventually taking the role because "it seemed to be rewarding enough to be in a good picture that everyone will see."[113] For I Remember Mama , Dunne worked on her Norwegian accent with dialect coach Judith Sater,[114] and wore body padding to appear heavier;[30] [115] Marta Hanson was her fifth and final Best Actress nomination.

1950–1962: Declining movie-star power

Dunne's last three films were box-office failures.[116] The comedy Never a Dull Moment (1950) was accused of trying too hard.[117] [118] Dunne was excited to portray Queen Victoria in The Mudlark (1950)[119] for a chance to "hide" behind a role with heavy makeup and latex prosthetics.[30] [120] It was a success in the UK, despite initial critical concern over the only foreigner in a British film starring as a well-known British monarch,[121] but her American fans disapproved of the prosthetic decisions.[30] The comedy It Grows on Trees (1952) became Dunne's last movie performance,[122] although she remained on the lookout for suitable film scripts for years afterwards.[123] She filmed a television pilot based on Cheaper by the Dozen that was not picked up.[30] On the radio, she and Fred MacMurray respectively played a feuding editor and reporter of a struggling newspaper in the 52-episode comedy-drama Bright Star , which aired in syndication between 1952 and 1953 by the Ziv Company.[124] [125] She also starred in and hosted episodes of television anthologies , such as Ford Theatre , General Electric Theater , and the Schlitz Playhouse of Stars . Faye Emerson wrote in 1954, "I hope we see much more of Miss Dunne on TV,"[126] and Nick Adams called Dunne's performance in Saints and Sinners worthy of an Emmy nomination.[127] Dunne's last acting credit was in 1962, but she was once rumored to star in unmaterialized movies named Heaven Train [128] and The Wisdom of the Serpent ,[129] and rejected an offer to cameo in Airport '77 .[130] In 1954, Hedda Hopper reported a rumor that Dunne would star alongside Robert Mitchum in Charles Laughton 's stage adaptation of The Web and the Rock .[131] "I never formally retired," Dunne later explained, "but an awful lot of the girls my age soldiered on in bad vehicles. [I] couldn't run around with an ax in my hand like Bette [Davis] and Joan [Crawford] did to keep things going."[30]

Hollywood retirement Dunne christens SS Carole Lombard next to Louis B. Mayer . Standing behind her is Clark Gable , Carole Lombard 's widower, and Lombard's secretary Madalynne Field.

Dunne was a presenter at the 1950 BAFTAs when she was in London filming The Mudlark ,[132] and then represented Hollywood for the 12th Venice International Film Festival in 1951.[133] She later appeared at 1953's March of Dimes showcase in New York City to introduce two little girls nicknamed the Poster Children, who performed a dramatization about polio research .[134]

She accepted Walt Disney 's offer to present at Disneyland 's "Dedication Day" in 1955, and christened the Mark Twain Riverboat with a bottle containing water from several major rivers across the United States.[9] [135] [136] Years before, Dunne had also christened the SS Carole Lombard .[137] [138]

Dunne was the only actress to be appointed a member of the California Arts Commission between 1967 and 1970.[139] [140] [141] The three years were spent developing a museum exhibit called "Dimension" for visually impaired visitors[142] which officially opened on January 12, 1970,[140] in the M.H. de Young Memorial Museum ,[143] [140] and toured California for eleven months.[144] Dunne recorded a talking booklet,[145] explaining the history of the 30 sculptures on display and inviting guests to touch.[144]

Activism

During the Second World War, Dunne joined the Beverly Hills United Service Organization,[146] and co-founded the Clark Gable 's Hollywood Victory Committee.[98] It organized servicemen entertainment and war-bond sales tours on behalf of willing Hollywood participants.[Note 9] The National War Savings Program awarded her a certificate for her work from their Treasury Department.[146]

In her retirement, she devoted herself primarily to humanitarianism.[147] Some of the organizations she worked with include the Sister Kenny Foundation,[148] the American Cancer Society [9] (becoming Chairwoman of its Field Army in 1948),[149] [150] the Los Angeles Orphanage,[151] the Archdiocesan Council of Catholic Women,[139] and was Co-Chairman of the American Red Cross .[150] [9] [152] She was elected president of Santa Monica's St. John's Hospital and Health Clinic[151] in 1950[153] (she resigned in 1966 to work in the developing council)[154] and became a board member of Technicolor in 1965, the first woman ever elected to the board of directors.[155] [156] She established an African American school for Los Angeles,[157] negotiated donations to St. John's through box office results,[158] [159] and Hebrew University Rebuilding Fun's sponsors committee.[139] [160] Harold Stassen appointed her chairwoman for the American Heart Association 's[161] [9] women's committee on February 7, 1949,[139] [157] [162] and she held the position until February 28.[163] She appeared in a celebrity-rostered television special Benefit Show for Retarded Children (1955)[47] with Jack Benny as host.[164] Dunne also donated to refurbishments in Madison, Indiana, funding the manufacture of Camp Louis Ernst Boy Scout's gate in 1939[165] and the Broadway Fountain's 1976 restoration.[9] [166] In 1987, she founded the Irene Dunne Guild, a foundation which remains "instrumental in raising funds to support programs and services at St. John's."[167] It was reported that the Guild had raised $20 million by the time of her death.[168]

Dunne reflected in 1951: "If I began living in Hollywood today, I would certainly do one thing that I did when I arrived, and that is to be active in charity. If one is going to take something out of a community—any community—one must put something in, too."[169] She also hoped that charity would encourage submissive women to find independence: "I wish women would be more direct. [...] I was amazed when some quiet little mouse of a woman was given a job which seemed to be out of all proportion to her capabilities. Then I saw the drive with which she undertook that job and put it through to a great finish. It was both inspiring and surprising. I want women to be individuals. They should not lean on their husbands' opinions and be merely echoes of the men of the family[.]"[170]

American delegate to the United Nations

In 1957, President Eisenhower appointed Dunne one of five alternative U.S. delegates to the United Nations in recognition of her interest in international affairs and Roman Catholic and Republican causes.[171] Dunne admired the U.N.'s dedication to creating world peace ,[172] [173] and was inspired by colleagues' beliefs that Hollywood influenced the world.[174] On September 12, she was sworn in with Herman B. Wells , Walter H. Judd , A. S. J. Carnahan , Philip M. Klutznick and George Meany .[175] She held delegacy for two years and addressed the General Assembly twice.[176] She gave her delegacy its own anthem: "Getting to Know You " because "it's so simple, and yet so fundamental in international relations today."[177] Dunne later described her Assembly request for $21 million to help Palestinian refugees as her "biggest thrill,"[178] and called her delegacy career the "highlight of my life."[179] She also concluded, "I came away greatly impressed with the work the U.N. does in its limited field—and it does have certain limits. I think we averted a serious situation in Syria, which might have been much more worse without a forum to hear it... And I'm much impressed with the work the U.N. agencies do. I'm especially interested in UNICEF 's work with children[,] and the health organization [.]"[180]

Political views

Dunne was a lifelong Republican and served as a member of the Californian delegation in 1948's Republican National Convention and campaigned for Thomas Dewey in the 1944 United States presidential election [181] and Ronald Reagan in the 1966 California gubernatorial election .[182] [183] She accepted the U.N. delegacy offer because she viewed the U.N. as apolitical .[184] [185] She later explained: "I'm a Nixon Republican, not a Goldwater one.[Note 10] I don't like extremism in any case. The extreme rights do as much harm as the extreme lefts."[187] Her large input in politics created an assumption that she was a member of the "Hollywood right-wing fringe," which Dunne denied, calling herself "foolish" for being involved years before other celebrities did.[184]

Personal life Dunne with James Stewart and Loretta Young at Samuel Goldwyn 's party (August 30, 1962)

Dunne's father frequently told Dunne about his memories of traveling on bayous and lazy rivers.[188] Dunne's favorite family vacations were riverboat rides and parades, later recalling a voyage from St. Louis to New Orleans ,[189] and watching boats on the Ohio River from the hillside.[190] [188] She admitted, "No triumph of either my stage or screen career has ever rivaled the excitement of trips down the Mississippi on the riverboats with my father."[20]

Dunne was an avid golfer, playing the sport since high-school graduation;[12] her husband and she often played against each other and she made a hole in one in two different games.[157] They often socialized with Californian business people,[191] [130] but she was good friends with Loretta Young ,[192] Jimmy Stewart ,[192] Bob Hope ,[192] Rosalind Russell ,[193] [191] Van Johnson ,[193] Ronald Reagan ,[130] Carole Lombard ,[194] [195] and George Stevens Jr. ,[130] and became godmother to Young's son, Peter .[196] She and Charles Boyer 's blossoming friendship in Love Affair seeped through the movie so strongly,[197] they wrote essays about each other in the October issue of Photoplay .[198] [199] Dunne also bonded with Leo McCarey over numerous similar interests, such as their Irish ancestry, music, religious backgrounds,[Note 11] and humor.[201] School friends nicknamed her "Dunnie"[25] and she was referred to as this in Madison High School's 1916 yearbook, along with the description "divinely tall and most divinely fair."[12] John Cromwell , however, reportedly described her as "always [having] the look of a cat who had swallowed the canary ."[202]

Dunne was popular with co-workers off-camera, earning a reputation as warm and approachable, and having a "poised, gracious manner"[203] like royalty,[136] which spilled into her persona in movies. On observing life behind the scenes of a typical day of filming in Hollywood, Jimmie Fidler noted, "There is something about Irene Dunne that makes every man in the room unconsciously straighten his tie."[204] Dunne earned the nickname "The First Lady of Hollywood"[136] because "she was the first real lady Hollywood has ever seen," said Leo McCarey ,[205] with Gregory La Cava adding, "If Irene Dunne isn't the first lady of Hollywood, then she's the last one."[206] Ironically, this title had been bestowed on her when she was a little girl when an aunt cooed "What a little lady!"[203] When approached about the nickname in 1936, Dunne admitted it had grown tiresome but approved if it was meant as "the feminine counterpart of 'gentleman '";[207] a later interview she did have with the Los Angeles Times would ironically be titled "Irene Dunne, Gentlewoman."[173]

Her fashion tastes were often the talk of newspapers,[208] [209] and Best Dressed lists featured her as one of the most stylish celebrities in the world.[210] [211] Dunne explained in a 1939 fashion-advice interview that her husband was partially responsible because he was equally stylish, but also chooses outfits based on personality, color scheme and the context of where the outfits will be worn.[209] McCall's magazine later revealed Dunne chose outfits specifically designed for her by Mainbocher and Jean Louis because she did not like buying clothes in stores.[191]

One of Dunne's later public appearances was in April 1985, when she attended the unveiling of a bronze bust in her honor at St. John's Hospital and Health Clinic. The artwork, commissioned by the hospital from artist Artis Lane , has a plaque reading "IRENE DUNNE First Lady Of Saint John's Hospital and Health Center Foundation."[212] [213]

Relationships

Between 1919 and 1922, Dunne was close to Fritz Ernst, a businessman based in Chicago who was 20 years older than she, and a member of one of the richest families in Madison, Indiana.[214] They frequently corresponded while Dunne was training for musical theater but when Fritz proposed, Dunne declined, due to pressure from her mother and wanting to focus on acting.[214] They remained friends and continued writing letters until Ernst died in 1959.[215]

Dunne with husband, Dr. Francis Griffin

At a New York, Biltmore Hotel supper party in 1924, Dunne met Northampton, Massachusetts -born dentist[216] Francis Griffin.[20] [217] According to Dunne, he preferred being a bachelor, yet tried everything he could to meet her.[20] To her frustration, he did not telephone her until over a month later, but the relationship had strengthened and they married in Manhattan on July 13, 1927.[218] They had constantly argued about the state of their careers if they ever got married,[20] with Dunne agreeing to consider theater retirement sometime in the future and Griffin agreeing to support Dunne's acting.[219] Griffin later explained: "I didn't like the moral tone of show business. [...] Then Ziegfeld signed her for Show Boat and it looked like she was due for big things. Next came Hollywood and [she] was catapulted to the top. Then I didn't feel I could ask her to drop her career. [I] really didn't think marriage and the stage were compatible but we loved each other and we were both determined to make our marriage work."[220]

When Dunne decided to star in Leathernecking , it was meant to be her only Hollywood project, but when it was a box-office bomb , she took an interest in Cimarron .[20] Soon after, she and her mother moved to Hollywood and maintained a long-distance relationship with her husband and brother in New York until they joined her in California in 1936.[221] A family friend described their dynamic as "like two pixies together,"[191] and they remained married until Griffin's death on October 14, 1965,[222] [223] living in the Holmby Hills in a "kind of French Chateau "[224] they designed.[225] [Note 12] A hobby they both shared was astronomy .[226] [227] Griffin explained the marriage had lasted so long because: "When she had to go on location for a film I arranged my schedule so I could go with her. When I had to go out of town she arranged her schedule so she could be with me. We co-operate in everything. [...] I think a man married to a career woman in show business has to be convinced that his wife's talent is too strong to be dimmed or put out. Then, he can be just as proud of her success as she is and, inside he can take a bow himself for whatever help he's been."[220] Due to Dunne's privacy,[Note 13] Hollywood columnists struggled to find scandals to write about her—an eventual interview with Photoplay included the disclaimer, "I can guarantee no juicy bits of intimate gossip. Unless, perhaps she lies awake nights heartsick about the kitchen sink in her new home. She's afraid it's too near to the door. Or would you call that juicy? No? No, I thought not."[228] When the magazines alleged that Dunne and Griffin would divorce, Griffin released a statement denying any marital issues.[229]

After retiring from dentistry, Griffin became Dunne's business manager[130] and helped negotiate her first contract.[230] The couple became interested in real estate, later investing in the Beverly Wilshire[130] and throughout Las Vegas [231] (including co-founding and chairing the board of Huntridge Corporation ),[232] [233] [234] [235] and partnering with Griffin's family's businesses (Griffin Equipment Company and The Griffin Wellpoint Company.)[220] Griffin sat as a board member of numerous banks,[220] but his offices were relocated from Century City to their home after his death, when Dunne took over as president.[187] They had one daughter, Mary Frances (née Anna Mary Bush; 1935[Note 14] – 2020),[237] who was adopted by the couple in 1936 (finalized in 1938) from the New York Foundling Hospital, run by the Sisters of Charity of New York .[238] [236]

Religion

Dunne was a devout Catholic laywoman ,[239] [240] who became a daily communicant .[241] She was a member of the Church of the Good Shepherd and the Catholic Motion Picture Guild in Beverly Hills, California .[242] In 1953, Pope Pius XII [243] awarded Dunne and her husband papal knighthoods as Dame [Note 15] and Knight of the Holy Sepulchre , respectively.[245] [56] Griffin also became a Knight of Malta in 1949.[246]

Death Crypt of Irene Dunne at Calvary Cemetery (notice incorrect birth year)

Dunne died at the age of 91 in her Holmby Hills home on September 4, 1990,[168] and was entombed four days later[247] next to her husband in the Calvary Cemetery, East Los Angeles .[56] She had been unwell for a year with an irregular heartbeat, and became bedridden about a month before.[5] The funeral was private with family friend Loretta Young being the only celebrity allowed to attend.[248] [247] Her personal papers are housed at the University of Southern California .[249]

Legacy Dunne addresses the United Nations General Assembly [177] in 1957 about the United States' $21.8 million donation towards the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA).[250]

Dunne is considered one of the best actresses of The Golden Age of Hollywood never to win an Academy Award.[251] [252] [253] [254] After I Remember Mama was released, Liberty magazine hoped she would "do a Truman " at the 1949 Oscars [255] whereas Erskine Johnson called her and Best Actor nominee Montgomery Clift the dark horses of that ceremony.[256] In 1985, Roger Fristoe said "a generation of filmgoers is mostly unfamiliar with her work" because eleven[257] [252] of her movies had been remade, including Love Affair (remade as An Affair to Remember ), Show Boat (remade in 1951 ), My Favorite Wife (remade as Move Over, Darling ),[258] [259] and Cimarron (remade in 1960 ).[136] [252] Dunne explained she had lacked the "terrifying ambition" of some other actresses, commenting in 1977, "I drifted into acting and drifted out. Acting is not everything. Living is."[260] [261]

Notable remakes of Dunne's films[257]
Cimarron 1960 remake
Back Street 1961 remake
Roberta Lovely to Look At (1952)
Magnificent Obsession 1954 remake
Show Boat 1951 remake
The Awful Truth Let's Do It Again (1953)
Love Affair An Affair to Remember (1957)
When Tomorrow Comes Interlude (1957)
My Favorite Wife Move Over, Darling (1963)
A Guy Named Joe Always (1989)
Anna and the King of Siam The King and I (1956)

Although known for her comedic roles, Dunne admitted that she never saw comedy as a worthy genre, even leaving the country to attend the London premiere of Show Boat [262] with her husband and James Whale to get away from being confronted with a script for Theodora Goes Wild .[49] "I never admired a comedienne," she said retrospectively, "yet it was very easy for me, very natural. It was no effort for me to do comedy at all. Maybe that's why I wasn't so appreciative of it."[77] She ascribed her sense of humor to her late father,[203] as well as her "Irish stubbornness."[17] Her screwball comedy characters have been praised for their subversions to the traditional characterisation of female leads in the genre, particularly Susan (Katharine Hepburn ) in Bringing Up Baby and Irene (Carole Lombard ) in My Man Godfrey . "Unlike the genre's stereotypical leading lady, who exhibits bonkers behaviour continuously, Dunne's screwball heroine [in Theodora Goes Wild ] chooses when she goes wild ," writes Wes D. Gehring,[263] who also described Dunne's screwball as situational because her characters often obfuscate wackiness to attract the male lead, and could turn it off when needed.[264]

Biographers and critics argue that Dunne's groundedness made her screwball characters more attractive than those of her contemporaries. In his review for My Favorite Wife , Bosley Crowther wrote that a "mere man is powerless" to "her luxurious and mocking laughter, her roving eyes and come-hither glances."[265] Maria DiBattista points out that Dunne is the "only comic actress working under the strictures of the Production Code " who ends both of her screwball movies alongside Cary Grant with a heavy implication of sharing a bed with him, "under the guise of keeping him at bay."[266] Frankie Teller claimed Dunne's sexiness had been overshadowed by her melodramatic movies until The Awful Truth was released.[267] Meanwhile, outside of comedy, Andrew Sarris theorized that Dunne's sex appeal is due to the common narrative in her movies about a good girl "going bad."[268] Dunne's backstage "First Lady" reputation furthered Sarris' sex appeal claims, admitting the scene when she shares a train carriage with Preston Foster in Unfinished Business was practically his "rite of passage" to a sex scene in a film,[268] theorizing that the sex appeal of Dunne came from "a good girl deciding thoughtfully to be bad."[268] On the blatant eroticism of the same train scene, Megan McGurk wrote, "The only thing that allowed this film to pass the censors was that good-girl Irene Dunne can have a one-night stand with a random because she loves him, rather than just a once-off fling. For most other women of her star magnitude, you could not imagine a heroine without a moral compass trained on true north. Irene Dunne elevates a tawdry encounter to something justifiably pure or blameless. She's just not the casual sex type, so she gets away with it."[269]

The Los Angeles Times referred to Dunne's publicity in their obituary as trailblazing, noting her as one of the first actors to become a freelancer in Hollywood during its rigid studio system through her "non-exclusive contract that gave her the right to make films at other studios and to decide who should direct them,"[75] and her involvement with the United Nations as a decision that allowed entertainers from movies and television to branch out into philanthropy and politics, such as Ronald Reagan and George Murphy .[75] [270]

Dunne later said, "Cary Grant always said that I had the best timing of anybody he ever worked with."[77] Lucille Ball admitted at an American Film Institute seminar that she based her comedic skills on Dunne's performance in Joy of Living ,[271] Joan Leslie called her an "outstanding example as a woman and a star."[272] Charles Boyer described her having "an irrepressible youthfulness"[198] and Ralph Bellamy described working in three films with her as "like a three-layered cake with candles[. She was] truly professional, extremely talented, and socially attractive and beautiful."[272] When asked about life after retiring from baseball, Lou Gehrig stated he would want Dunne as a screen partner if he ever became a movie actor.[273] Charles Mendl once called her one of the most attractive and fascinating women in the world "who has beauty as an accomplished actress and sophisticated conversationalist."[274] Dunne told James Bawden in 1977: "Now don't you dare call me normal. I was never a Pollyanna. There was always a lot of Theodora in me."[30]

Awards and nominations Dunne looking at her Laetare Medal with her husband and daughter, Mary Frances, at the University of Notre Dame in 1949. Dunne with Cardinal McIntyre at Loyola University's graduation ceremony in 1958. She attended to accept her honorary Law degree and give a commencement speech . Dunne's handprints outside Grauman's Chinese Theatre .

Dunne received five Best Actress nominations during her career: for Cimarron (1931), Theodora Goes Wild (1936), The Awful Truth (1937), Love Affair (1939) and I Remember Mama (1948); she was the first actor to lose against the same actor in the same category twice, losing to Best Actress winner Luise Rainer in 1936 and 1937.[275] When asked if she ever resented never winning, Dunne pointed out that the nominees she was up against had strong support, believing that she would never have had a chance, especially when Love Affair was against Gone with the Wind .[30] "I don't mind at all," she told Joyce Haber, "Greta Garbo never got an Oscar either [and] she's a living legend."[4]

However, Dunne was honored numerous times for her philanthropy from Catholic organizations and schools, receiving the University of Notre Dame 's Laetare Medal ,[9] and the Bellarmine Medal from Bellarmine College .[3] She received numerous honorary doctorates ,[276] including from Chicago Musical College (for music),[277] Loyola University and Mount St. Mary's College (both for Law ).[9] [75] For her film career, she was honored by the Kennedy Center,[278] [279] a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6440 Hollywood Blvd,[280] and displays in the Warner Bros. Museum and Center for Motion Picture Study.[281] A two-sided marker was erected in Dunne's childhood hometown of Madison in 2006.[282] [166]

Krekor Ohanian (August 15, 1925 – January 26, 2017), known professionally as Mike Connors , was an American actor best known for playing private detective Joe Mannix in the CBS television series Mannix from 1967 to 1975, a role which earned him a Golden Globe Award in 1970, the first of six straight nominations, as well as four consecutive Emmy nominations from 1970 to 1973. He starred in the short-lived series Tightrope! (1959–1960) and Today's FBI (1981–1982). Connors' acting career spanned 56 years. In addition to his work on television, he appeared in numerous films, including Sudden Fear (1952), Good Neighbor Sam (1964), Situation Hopeless... But Not Serious (1965), Stagecoach (1966), Kiss the Girls and Make Them Die (1966), and Too Scared to Scream (1985), which he also produced.

Early life

Connors was born Krekor Ohanian Jr. on August 15, 1925, in Fresno, California , to Armenian parents Krekor and Alice (née Surabian) Ohanian. His father had escaped the Armenian genocide . They married in 1915 and had six children: Paul I (died in childhood), Paul II, Dorothy M., Arpesri A., Krekor, and Eugene.[1] His father was an attorney and represented many Armenians who had little money and could not speak English.[2] Connors spoke three languages: Armenian , English , and French .[3] Connors was a cousin of French-Armenian singer Charles Aznavour .[4] [5] [6]

Connors was an avid basketball player in high school, nicknamed "Touch" by his teammates. During World War II , he served as an enlisted man in the United States Army Air Forces .[7] After the war, he attended the University of California at Los Angeles on both a basketball scholarship and the G.I. Bill , where he played under coach John Wooden . Connors went to law school, where he studied to become an attorney, taking after his father. He was a member of the Phi Delta Theta fraternity.[8]

After a basketball game, coach Wilbur Johns introduced Connors to his friend, director William A. Wellman , who liked Connors' voice and expressive face while he was playing basketball, and encouraged him to consider acting.[2] He was considered for the role of Tarzan by casting director Ruth Burch, who found him an acting coach.[9]

After Connors became an actor, his agent Henry Willson thought the name "Ohanian" was too similar to the actor George O'Hanlon and gave him the stage name "Touch Connors" based on his basketball nickname. Willson considered "Connors" to be a "good all-American name."[10] Connors later stated he hated the name "from day one" and considered not using his real name the only big regret of his career. After getting the starring role in Tightrope! , Connors wanted to be credited as Ohanian, but Columbia Pictures told him that he had already done too much work as Connors, though he was allowed to change his first name to Mike.[11]

Career

Early roles Connors with Leigh Snowden (left) and Claire Kelly in a publicity photo for Tightrope! , 1960

Connors's film career started in the early 1950s, when he made his acting debut in a supporting role opposite Joan Crawford and Jack Palance in the thriller Sudden Fear (1952). He had initially been rejected for an audition by producer Joseph Kaufman due to his lack of experience, but after sneaking into Republic Pictures and meeting director David Miller , Connors was given a chance to read the script and was offered the part.[12]

Connors was cast in the John Wayne film, Island in the Sky in which he played a crewman on one of the search-and-rescue planes. In 1956, he played an Amalekite herder in Cecil B. DeMille 's The Ten Commandments .[13]

Connors appeared in numerous television series, including the co-starring role in the 1955 episode "Tomas and the Widow" of the anthology series Frontier . He guest-starred on the early sitcoms , Hey, Jeannie! and The People's Choice and in two Rod Cameron syndicated crime dramas , City Detective and the Western-themed State Trooper , and played the villain in the first episode filmed (but second one aired) of ABC's smash hit Maverick , opposite James Garner in 1957.[14]

Connors had roles in several of the earliest films Roger Corman directed: Five Guns West (1955), The Day the World Ended (1955), Swamp Women (1956), and The Oklahoma Woman (1956).[15] Connors starred in and was the executive producer of Flesh and the Spur (1956). He raised $117,000 for the film.[16]

In 1958, Connors appeared in the title role of the episode "Simon Pitt", the series finale of the NBC Western Jefferson Drum , starring Jeff Richards as a frontier newspaper editor. He appeared in another NBC Western series, The Californians . That same year, Connors was cast as Miles Borden, a corrupt US Army lieutenant bitter over his $54 monthly pay, on NBC's Wagon Train in the episode "The Dora Gray Story" with Linda Darnell in the title role. About this time, he also appeared on an episode of NBC's Western series Cimarron City .[14]

Other syndicated series in which he appeared were The Silent Service , based on true stories of the submarine section of the United States Navy ; Sheriff of Cochise , a Western series; Whirlybirds , an aviation adventure series; and Rescue 8 , based on stories of the Los Angeles County Fire Department . An episode of Studio 57 starring Connors and titled "Getaway Car" was proposed as a pilot for a series about the CHP to be called Motorcycle Cop .[17]

Connors starred as an undercover police officer who infiltrated organized crime in Tightrope! (1959–1960). Despite the show's popularity, it was canceled after only one season. Connors stated in an interview that the show's primary sponsor, J.B. Williams, refused CBS president James Aubrey 's request to move it to a later time slot on a different day. The sponsor dropped Tightrope! and underwrote another program on another network.[18] Connors also did not agree with the suggested change to add a sidekick , to be played by Don Sullivan.[19] He thought the program would lose the suspense element, "Because the whole premise was this guy, all by himself, 'on a tightrope.' ... When he gets a sidekick, it loses the threat and the danger, and the whole premise is in the toilet."[20]

Later, he was cast in the episode "The Aerialist" of the anthology series, Alcoa Presents: One Step Beyond . In 1963, he guest-starred as Jack Marson in the episode "Shadow of the Cougar" on the NBC modern Western series, Redigo , starring Richard Egan .[14] In 1964, Connors appeared in a pinch-hit role for Raymond Burr as attorney Joe Kelly in the Perry Mason episode, "The Case of the Bullied Bowler". Connors was invited to take on a lead role in the series on an ongoing basis, but the producers had actually wanted to pressure Burr into resigning his contract with the series.[20]

In 1964, Connors had a role in the Jack Lemmon comedy Good Neighbor Sam and was the leading man to Susan Hayward and Bette Davis in Where Love Has Gone . He co-starred with Robert Redford in one of his earliest film roles, the World War II black comedy Situation Hopeless... But Not Serious (1965), in which Connors and Redford played American soldiers taken prisoner by a German villager played by Alec Guinness . Connors played the card sharp in the remake of Stagecoach (1966).[13]

Connors was strongly considered to play Matt Helm in The Silencers (1966), but that role had eventually gone to Dean Martin . However, his audition had impressed Columbia Pictures, so Connors was instead cast in the similar James Bond spoof film Kiss the Girls and Make Them Die (1966). Connors himself performed the stuntwork of dangling from a rope ladder attached to a helicopter flying off the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro when the local stuntman refused to do it.[21]

Mannix Connors with Gail Fisher in a publicity photo for Mannix , 1970

Connors became best known for playing the private investigator Joe Mannix in the detective series Mannix . The series ran for eight seasons from 1967 to 1975. During the first season of the series, Joe Mannix works for Intertect, a large Los Angeles detective agency run by his superior Lew Wickersham (Joseph Campanella ). From the second season onward, Mannix opens his own detective agency and is assisted by his secretary Peggy Fair (Gail Fisher ).[13]

Mannix was originally produced by Desilu Productions (later absorbed by Paramount Television ). Then-president Lucille Ball pushed for CBS to keep the show on the air by removing the high-tech computers and making Mannix an independent detective. This move enabled the show to become a long-running hit for the network.[22] Connors performed his own stunts on the series. During the filming of the pilot episode, he broke his wrist and dislocated his shoulder.[22]

Joe Mannix was an Armenian-American, like Connors. He spoke Armenian in a number of episodes and often quoted Armenian proverbs.[22]

In 1970, Connors won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Television Series Drama . He was nominated for the Golden Globe Award six times from 1970 to 1975 and was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series four times from 1970 to 1973.[13]

Connors with Eddie Egan in a publicity photo for Mannix , 1972

When discussing the success of the series in an interview, Connors stated: "The show itself started a whole new era of detective shows, because this wasn't the usual cynical private eye à la Humphrey Bogart . It was more a show about an all-round normal human being. The character of Joe Mannix could be taken advantage of by a pretty face, he could shed a tear on an emotional level, he was very close to his father and his family, so he was more a normal personality with normal behavior."[15]

Connors was able to work with his boss Lucille Ball on-screen during a cross-promotion episode of her Here's Lucy series in 1971. The episode, which opened Lucy's fourth season, is titled "Lucy and Mannix are Held Hostage". This was notable as the first episode shot at Universal Studios, after Ball ceased producing her program at Paramount Studios.[1]

Mannix remained a hit show through its final season.[23] The show was taken off the air due to a dispute between CBS and Paramount.[15] Paramount had sold the rights to air Mannix reruns to rival network ABC without informing CBS. When CBS discovered the deal, the executives quickly decided to cancel Mannix to avoid losing viewership for new episodes to the reruns.[24]

He later reprised the role of Joe Mannix in a 1997 episode of Diagnosis: Murder and in the 2003 comedy film Nobody Knows Anything! [25]

Later career Connors with Genevieve Gilles in a publicity photo for Mannix , 1973

He narrated J. Michael Hagopian 's 1975 documentary film The Forgotten Genocide , one of the first full-length features on the Armenian genocide . The documentary was nominated for two Emmys .[26] In 1995, Connors narrated another Armenian documentary by Hagopian, Ararat Beckons .[1]

In 1976, Connors played Karl Ohanian in the television film The Killer Who Wouldn't Die . Producers and writers Ivan Goff and Ben Roberts , who were also producers for Mannix , wanted the character to have Connors' real last name.[27] The film was intended to be the pilot for a new ABC series titled Ohanian , about an Armenian-American former homicide detective who is now a charter-boat skipper.[28] However, the series was not picked up.[27]

Connors had roles in the thriller films Avalanche Express (1979) and Nightkill (1980).[15] [29] He starred as a bureau veteran who mentors a team of agents in Today's FBI (1981–1982). The series only lasted one season.[25] Connors both starred in and produced the independent horror film Too Scared to Scream (1985).[30]

He played Colonel Harrison "Hack" Peters in the 1988 miniseries War and Remembrance . Connors hosted the 1989 series Crimes of the Century . He voiced the character Chipacles in the Disney animated series Hercules from 1998 to 1999.[13]

Connors' final appearance was in a 2007 Two and a Half Men episode, as a love interest of Evelyn Harper (Holland Taylor ).[25]

Personal life

Connors married Mary Lou Willey on September 10, 1949, when they were both UCLA students.[25] They had two children, a son, Matthew Gunnar Ohanian, and a daughter, Dana Lee Connors. Matthew was diagnosed with schizophrenia at age 15. Matthew predeceased his father, dying of heart failure in 2007.[31] Through his daughter Dana, he had one granddaughter.[25]

After his son's diagnosis, Connors became active in charitable organizations for patients diagnosed with mental disorders. He was a spokesperson for the National Alliance on Mental Illness . In 1998, the UC Irvine College of Medicine 's Brain Imaging Center Committee awarded Connors the Silver Ribbon Award for his contributions.[31]

Connors made a public service announcement for the Armenian Eye Care Project.[32]

Connors was a Republican .[33] He endorsed Ronald Reagan for President in 1980 and 1984 and endorsed George Deukmejian for Governor of California in 1982 and 1986 .[30]

Death

Connors died in Tarzana, California , at the age of 91 on January 26, 2017, a week after being diagnosed with leukemia .[1] [34]

Christina Sinatra (born June 20, 1948) is an American businesswoman, producer, talent agent, actress, singer and author. She is best known as the daughter of Frank Sinatra .

Early life

Christina Sinatra was born on June 20, 1948,[1] in Los Angeles, California, the youngest child of American singer and actor Frank Sinatra and his first wife, Nancy Barbato Sinatra. She has two siblings, Nancy and Frank Jr. Her parents divorced when she was three years old.

Career

Sinatra never wished to be a singer like her father and siblings, but she took acting classes with Jeff Corey and appeared with Hampton Fancher in the 1969 television miniseries Romeo und Julia 70 in Germany, where she lived for several years.[2] After returning to the United States, she took more classes with Corey, and appeared in episodes of Adam-12 , It Takes a Thief , McCloud , and Mannix .[2]

Despite her hesitance to sing, Sinatra appeared on the album The Sinatra Family Wish You a Merry Christmas with her father and siblings in 1968. She contributed to five tracks on the album, including "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town " and a duet on "O Bambino (One Cold and Blessed Winter)", with her sister. Tina also appeared with her siblings on an episode of Dean Martin 's television show with Martin's children.[2] She was present at many of her father's recording sessions, including the session for the hit "My Way ".[3]

In her memoir, she wrote of her acting career that she lacked the ambition and confidence to become an actress.[2] Sinatra remained in the entertainment industry, becoming a theatrical agent under Arnold Stiefel, and once represented Robert Blake .[2] At her father’s request, in the 1970s, she began to take charge of parts of the elder Sinatra’s career.[4] Upon her father's death, Tina took control of Frank Sinatra's film and music legacy.[4]

An occasional film producer, she also appeared in the television movie Fantasy Island (1977), which became the pilot for the long-running TV series of the same title.[5] [6] She was executive producer of the 1992 television miniseries Sinatra .[7] [8] She was also a producer of the 2004 remake of her father's 1962 film The Manchurian Candidate . A lead actor in The Manchurian Candidate , Frank Sinatra owned the film's legal distribution rights until his death.[9] [10]

Sinatra published the memoir My Father's Daughter in 2000, co-written with Jeff Coplon.[11]

Personal life

In June 1970, Sinatra announced her engagement to actor Robert Wagner .[12] They called off the engagement in January 1972.

On January 26, 1974, Sinatra married musician Wes Farrell at her father's apartment at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.[13] They divorced on September 3, 1976.[14]

On January 30, 1981, Sinatra married Richard M Cohen. They divorced on January 11, 1983.[14]

She started a petition in favor of the construction of the Beverly Hills Community Dog Park in Beverly Hills, California, in 2015.[15]

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