"Dennis the Menace" Character Actress Irene Tedrow 1995 Westwood Village Cemetery

Irene Tedrow (August 3, 1907 – March 10, 1995)[1] was an American character actress in stage, film, television and radio.

Among her most notable roles are Janet Archer in the radio series Meet Corliss Archer, Mrs. Lucy Elkins on the TV sitcom Dennis the Menace and Mrs. Webb in the stage production Our Town at the Plumstead Playhouse.[2]

Early years

Tedrow was born in Denver, Colorado. She earned a BA degree in drama from Carnegie Tech in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1929.

Stage

Tedrow studied with Ben Iden Payne, who directed the Memorial Theater at Stratford-on-Avon, in England. She also had three seasons' experience with Maurice Evans' troupe in New York City and touring nationally.[3]

In 1931, Tedrow was a member of the Chautauqua Repertory Theater.[4]

Tedrow was a founding member of San Diego's Old Globe Theater and was cast as an ingénue in the beginning of her career. In 1934, she portrayed eighteen (18) characters in multiple adaptations of Shakespearean plays at The Old Globe during the Chicago Fair.[2] She later joined Orson Welles' Mercury Theater.

She appeared on Broadway even through her eighties, in King Richard III (1937), Hamlet (1938-1939), King Henry IV, Part I (1939), Our Town (1969)[5] and Pygmalion.

Film

As Tedrow grew older, she found more work in films as the meddling old woman.

Television

One of Tedrow's earliest roles as a regular cast member on a television program was that of Mrs. Ruggles on the first season of The Ruggles (1949-1950).[6] She had a recurring role as Mrs. Elkins on the Dennis the Menace television sitcom in the 1950s. As a character actor she appeared in many shows, including Lux Video Theatre,[7] Jefferson Drum, Rawhide, The Twilight Zone and The Andy Griffith Show.[8] In 1955, she appeared on The Jack Benny Program as a contestant with Jack Benny on a mock You Bet Your Life segment with Groucho Marx.[9]

In the early 1960s, Tedrow made two guest appearances on Perry Mason, including the role of Amy Douglas in "The Case of the Ominous Outcast," and a role in Bonanza in the episode "Abner Willoughby's Return." Later she would also appear in Dundee and the Culhane, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Diff'rent Strokes, The Rockford Files and Facts of Life. In 1976, Tedrow played Mary Ludlow Hall, Eleanor Roosevelt's grandmother in Eleanor and Franklin.

Radio

Tedrow's work in radio dated back at least to 1929. As a drama student at Carnegie Institute of Technology, she was master of ceremonies and student director for "Carnegie Tech Day at Gimbel's," which was broadcast on WCAE.[10] A 1937 radio listing shows her as one of the actresses in George Bernard Shaw's Back to Methuselah when it was broadcast on NBC Blue.[11]

During the 1940s and 1950s, Tedrow had quality acting roles in radio productions, including The Baby Snooks Show.[12]

Recognition

Tedrow's performance in Eleanor and Franklin garnered her one of the first Primetime Emmy Award nominations for "Best Supporting Actress in a Television Comedy or Drama Special". ("Outstanding Single Performance by a Supporting Actress in Comedy or Drama Special - 1976" per the Emmy Awards website)[17] In 1979, she received her second Emmy Award nomination (Outstanding Lead Actress for a Single Appearance in a drama or comedy series)[17] for her role in James at 15.[8]

Personal life

Tedrow "became the mother of a baby girl early in January" in 1945.[18]

Death

On March 10, 1995, Tedrow died of a stroke in Hollywood. Her grave is located at Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery. She was survived by her children, actress Enid Kent and Roger Kent and her three grandchildren.[2]

References

1. Ellenberger, Allan R. (2001). Celebrities in Los Angeles Cemeteries. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland and Company, Inc. p. 222. ISBN 0-7864-0983-5. 
2. Myrna Oliver (March 18, 1995). "Irene Tedrow; Actress on Radio, Stage and Screen". Los Angeles Times. 
3. "Actress Will Give Program". California, San Bernardino. The San Bernardino County Sun. February 11, 1942. p. 15. 
4. "Chautauqua Has Varied Program". New York, Dunkirk. Dunkirk Evening Observer. July 18, 1931. p. 12. 
5. "Irene Tedrow". Playbill Vault. 
6. Vernon, Terry (October 23, 1949). "Tele-Vues". California, Long Beach. Long Beach Independent. p. 34. 
7. "(TV listing)". Massachussetts, Pittsfield. The Berkshire Eagle. March 31, 1945. p. 10. 
8. Irene Tedrow at the Internet Movie Database 
9. The Jack Benny Program, "Groucho Marx", 1955 on YouTube 
10. "Radio Programs". Pennsylvania, Indiana. The Indiana Gazette. March 23, 1929. p. 16. 
11. "(radio listing)". Kansas, Hutchinson. The Hutchinson News. September 29, 1937. p. 10. 
12. "Spooks Give Snooks Wide Berth During Halloween Celebration". Pennyslvania, Harrisburg. Harrisburg Telegraph. October 26, 1946. p. 21. 
13. "Corliss Archer Is Coming Back". The Sunday Star. August 20, 1950. 
14. ""The Nebbs" Gain New Stars Sunday". Wisconsin, Janesville. Janesville Daily Gazette. November 10, 1945. p. 4.
15. "This Is Judy Jones" Harrisburg Telegraph. August 21, 1941. p. 17. 
16. Dunning, John, On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio, Oxford University Press, pp. 444–445
17. "Awards Search". Emmy Awards. 
18. "Mama Archer". Pennyslvania, Harrisburg. Mama Archer. January 27, 1945. p. 16.