The Irene Dunne Site
She Owes It All To Them
BEHIND EVERY WOMAN'S THOUGHTS AND AMBITIONS, THERE IS ALMOST SURE TO BE SOMEONE WHO HAS INFLUENCED THEM. IRENE DUNNE OWES MUCH OF HER CHARACTER AND MOST OF HER SUCCESS TO NINE WOMEN ... THEY'VE TRULY INSPIRED HER
BY HOLLIS COURT
OUT of the heralded pages of fame and of reality and into the heart and soul of Irene Dunne have stepped nine women who have mirrored their greatness and humanity in the qualities and ideals that are symbolic of the gracious star of Hollywood.
The world has long admired the caharm and talent of Irene Dunne, but what of those silent women who remain in the background but who are so much of a part of her life? it is with them and their importance to Irene that this story is concerned.
In her lovely garden, sheltered by a towering cypress hedge and decorated with a gorgeous intermingling of colorful flowers, Irene and I sat talking one tropical afternoon. She was dressed in a yellow sports dress and looked particularly cool and comfortable.
"No woman can honeslt say that she is self-made," Irene began intently, the reddish cast of her hair dancing in the bright sunshine. "Behind every woman's thoughts and ambitions, there is almost certain to be someone who has influenced them. I owe a great deal to those nine women who have been my inspiration."
She began talking of a woman many have considered lonely. But a woman whose life was so full, every moment was crowded. Jane Addams!
"About a year ago," Irene continued, "when there was talk of making a picture based on the life of Jane Addams, I received a letter from a woman who had been her secretary. She said she was very happy that I was to portray Miss Addams on the screen. Even though the plans for the picture were temporarily postponed, I suddenly became very curious about this woman who has been such a symbol of humanity.
"The more I read aout her accomplishments, the more I realized how great was her service. Nothing could deter her from her ambition or her purpose. Alone, except for a burning ideal, she fought bigotry and prejudice from the time she bought Hull House in Chicago to the day when she sat back in her room alone and knew that she had been of service to those in the world who needed help. I've often wondered what she thought in those last years of her life as she saw her work become more and more important. I wonder if she ever missed giving up her natural womanly rights to devote herself to the comfort of others. I'm sure she didn't, for Jane Addams was the personification of woman's three great qualities - sacrifice, courage, and devotion to an ideal.
"She not only made me acutely conscious of the growth and importance of her greatest work, the creation of day-nurseries, but she also brought me face to face with the marvelous charitable work being done all over the world. I investigated in Hollywood and was amazed to find so many day-nurseries operating solely ba the help of others. Many of my friends were contributing. Naturally, I, too, did what I could, for Jane Addams had impressed me much more than I, at first, realized.
"But she did more than that for me. She became a sort of guide. Whenever I would become discouraged or when I might have felt I was sacrificing too much for my own ambition, I realized how minor my difficulties were compared to hers. I knew that anything worth fighting for was worth the sacrifices. My life has become immeasurably richer because of Jane Addams."
OUR conversation drifted to France, to a humble shack that was the home of a great mother, a renowned scientist, Madame Curie.
"I'll never forget that trip to France four years ago," Irene tom me quietly but intensely. "I had undoubtedly my greatest thrill when Madame Curie's daughter too me to her mother's laboratory. I even picked up the very test tubes with which the remarkable woman scientist had worked.
"It wasn't the laboratory, however, that excited me as much as the story her daughter told me of the crude little shack where her mother, her father, and the children lived. The one thing she remembered so well was a funny old stove that stood in the dark corner of the shack. On one burner, her mother kept a pan with some test tubes in it. There, Madame Curie had sterilized the implements that were one phase of her life. On another burner, there was a pan in which she had placed her baby's clothes, the other symbol of her existence.
"It was this contrast that impressed me so vividly; her work, her love for her husband and her babies that stood as a silent monument to this woman who suffered in a life that had so many heartaches. It taught me that a woman can be a good wife and mother at the same time. So, whenever I hear the typical comment in Hollywood that a career and a home can't mix. I always think of that marvelous woman as she worked steadfastly by her husband's side, of those two pans on the stove, and of the beautiful combination of a career and of motherhood without any advantages.
"In my own life, I've tried to combine a career and a home successfully. And I know that in some way or another, the humility and greatness of Madame Curie have been a tremendous influence in teaching me to be an understanding wife and a tolerant mother."
I wasn't surprised to hear her talking finally of her first opera ... the Metropolitan Opera House where Madame Butterfly was showing. And - of Geraldine Farrar.
"That afternoon in the Metropolitan," Irene exclaimed enthusiastically as she recalled the moment, "was like heaven to me. I was thrilled to death. It was the world, the atmosphere that I had decided I wanted. And then - when Miss Farrar stepped on the stage, it was as if she were beckoning me to join her.
"Maybe it was because she was the first grand opera star that I ever saw. Maybe it was because she was so different from all recognized standards for an operatic personality. Whatever it was, I thought she was the most exciting woman I had ever seen. She seemed to have boundless energy and enthuiasm for her work. She didn't simply wave her arms about and sing. She was acting besides!
"From that day on, I made up my mind that I would never be contented with singing alone. I would be an actress too, and I'd combine the two fields successfully. I realized that few possess a voice, but that a sense of drama was even more important than a voice that comes only to some once a lifetime. I know now how right I was in believing that, for the day has gone when acting and singing are seperated. And I know now why Geralding Farrar was such a vibrant personality to me. What luck it was that my first opera star should also have been a spontaneous actress!
"Miss Farrar is still a wonderful person to me. It's remarkable to see how she has retired quietly, let her hair go white, and accepted her future with a fond memory of the past. No one will ever forget Geraldine Farrar. She has real greatness!"
Irene rolled the years back for me again and lifted the curtain on a personality who only recently passed away. Mary Anderson - once the toast of New York!
"Mary Anderson and my father were very close friends when I was young," Irene remarked almost reverently. "We were living in Louisville, Kentucky, at the time, and Miss Anderson was referred to in our house almost with reverence. She was practically ethereal to us, like a goddess.
"She was a magnificent character. Her forte was the tragic portrayal of the classics. Her life was just as magnificent. It was one of those lives that can truly be called glamorous. She married an Italian nobleman whose name was Navarro. She owned and Italian villa. Her career wasn't a long one, for she left it at the peak of her success. But New York idolized her. To me, she was almost unreal.
"I hadn't thought of the theater as a career then, but I realize now that the glamour that was hers had its effect on my young mind. It must have, sub-consciously, instilled in me an ambition to be a part of the exciting life she led. She is still a memorable person to me, for she was the personification of a glamour that has long since died. There are no more toasts of New York or of Hollywood. There are no more Mary Andersons. And the theater has lost a great deal."
The nine woman who have made up such a character-forming and inspirational background in Irene Dunne's life are Jane Addams, Madame Curie, Geralding Farrar, Mary Anderson, Katharine Cornell, Mrs. Franklin D. Roosevelt, Georgia Coleman, Edna Ferber - and Irene's mother.
"NOW, Miss Cornell was different from Mary Anderson." I wondered what she would say about Katharine Cornell.
"Katherine Cornell is the embodiment of the life of a stage star today," Irene went on over my thoughts. "She isn't glamorous, and her life is far from exciting. She takes plenty of excercises, goes for long walks, takes regular tests, eats only certain kinds of food, does her performances, and that is her existence. She has learned that in this day her health must come first. Unlike Mary Anderson who loved the gay nightlife and the glamorous age of which she was so much a part. Miss Cornell is almost a recluse. Her private life is a simple one.
"Yet, she has left an impression on me, too. Whereas Mary Anderson gave me my first taste of the excitement and color of a stage career, Miss Cornell has taught me the importance of protecting that career by watching my health, by taking care of myself. Consequently, I, too, go for long walks; I play golf continuallly; and I do get regular hours of sleep. Recently, though, I've been getting up rather early, but I've found that it doesn't always agree with me. I apparently need a great deal of sleep.
"There is one thing that I have learned, however, from both Miss Cornell and Mary Anderson. Even in their contrasting lives, they were at least doing something. From them, I have learned that a strict routine like Katharine Cornell's and a gay life like Mary Anderson's are both better than doing non-essential and trivial things. Therefore, life has become to me a combination of many activities and many interests, an existence filled with an attempt to do really worth-while things so I shall remain fresh and alive for each new undertaking."
To emphasize Irene's interest in the out-of-doors, she told me she was going out on the golf-links later in the day. No, she's no wobbly amateur on the game. Anyone who has been taken to cleaners by her in a game of golf can tell you that she has no cause to be ashamed by her score.
WOMEN in politics! And Irene Dunne wasn't afraid to let her hair down on one of politics' most interesting and discussed women - Mrs. Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
"There are so few women in politics," Irene said to me, "at least outstanding women. Yet, I can't help admiring Mrs. Roosevelt's vitality.
"She has made me realize that just because a woman is mother of grown children, she still doesn't need to hibernate. The keynote of her life has been to be active and persistently vital, and, to me, that is the keynote of a meaningful life. Certainly Mrs. Roosevelt has taken her life by the horns and made it mean something. Her interests and her limitless energy have kept her always on the alert, always, receptive and eager to face the many problems that confront her. There is no element of defeat in her character, and that is important to any woman. At least it is for me, for I have always tried to deny defeat."
A picture of a smiling young girl in the newspaper before Irene drew our attention to another woman who should be an inspiration to all. Georgia Coleman was gone, but the memory of her courage will never die.
Irene leaned forward on the patio table. Here eyes were misty. "I can't help wondering why Georgia Coleman had to die. It does seem that anyone who wanted to live so badly should live. Few of us will forget that girl's courage.
"When I think of the dreadful pain that wracked her body for so long, I wonder how she stood it. I can't stand pain myself, so to see anyone suffer so terribly and yet be able to smile until the end is a remarkable thing to me.
"Georgia Coleman was the kind of a person who makes me feel very insignificant when I begin to complain about minor pains. For a long time, I have tried to adopt her characteristic of dismissing pain from my mind, but it is a hard process for anyone who has continually feared and kind of hurt.
"I get many fan letters from people who are in constant pain. They even send me gifts that they have made themselves. One woman who has written me constantly and who has made me many beautiful things has only a few months to live. Yet, she told me recently that she had seen one of my pictures and had enjoyed it so much. That she was able to forget health and to enjoy what was left of her life was a tremendous thing to me. She, like all of the others, is a genuinely courageous person in this world.
"When I consider what such women as Miss Coleman and those fans have done with their lives, I am deeply impressed. It makes me more determined than ever to conquer my fear of pain. With the memory of Miss Coleman, I think I shall be able to."
Jane Addams Mary Anderson Georgia Coleman
(photos not included in the original article)
"WHAT about helping you in your career?" I asked a few minutes later. "Who has done a great deal for you in this respect?"
Irene's surprising answer was - "Edna Ferber!"
She saw that I was surprised, so she said, "Why should you think that odd? Why, she's been positively prophetic for me. It it hadn't been for her brillian writing, for her sharply-etched characterizations that were so eays to play, I might never have hit the top - if I have. Some actresses are unlucky enough to make their debut in parts that are never well-written, that aren't real. Miss Ferber's characters have impressed me so vividly that I couldn't help registering in them.
"She is directly associated with my life. I had my big chance on the stage in her Show Boat, and it was her remarkable characterization of the heroine in my first picture, Cimarron, that enabled me to give a performance that established me in Hollywood. And again it was Show Boat that brought me out of a slump in pictures that I thought was going to finish me ... Certainly I owe a lot to Edna Ferber. She seems to have written my future and my career for me."
The woman I had been waiting to hear about was when Irene quietly began talking about her mother.
"Naturally, every woman owes a lot to her mother. Mine was everything to me. She encouraged my interest in singing and acting. She presented no barriers to my ambition. She helped me to take advantage of every opportunity that came my way. She raised me to express myself in the most sensible ways. I adored her. It is to her that I owe the understanding with which I have been able to treat my daughter. It is because of her that I'm able to be a good and helpful wife, to be patient and cooperative. It is because of her that I have been able to manage a career that, at times, has had its perplexing moments. She has naturally been an ideal that was never diminished."
"What is your idea of the perfect composite woman?" I asked Irene.
She must have been thinking of her mother when she answered me, for her eyes were dreamy and intense. "She should have a sense of humor above else. She must be tolerant, gracious and tactful. Charm is another important attribute, charm in her bearing and in her relations to others. She should have tenacity, to let nothing keep her from her goal in life. And, most definitely, she must be a good companion."
From now on, you shall think of Irene Dunne as a woman who had made a life that has few equals for honest idealism and genuineness. You might also wonder what would have happened to Irene Dunne if she hadn't had the inspiration and the help of those women who have become an intimate part of her existence.
(Motion Picture, June 1941)