Wikipedia

Irene Ryan

This article is about the Beverly Hillbillies actress. For the aviator geologist and politician, see Irene E. Ryan. For the improv artist, see The Committee (improv group).

Irene Ryan (born Irene Noblitt;[1][2][3] October 17, 1902 – April 26, 1973) was an American actress and comedienne who found success in vaudeville, radio, film, television, and Broadway. She is most widely known for her portrayal of Daisy May "Granny" Moses, mother-in-law of Buddy Ebsen's character Jed Clampett on the long-running TV series The Beverly Hillbillies (1962–1971). She was nominated for Emmy Awards for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series in 1963 and 1964 for the role.

Irene Ryan
Ryan on The Beverly Hillbillies, 1968
Born
Irene Noblitt[1][2][3]

(1902-10-17)October 17, 1902
El Paso, Texas, U.S.[4]
DiedApril 26, 1973(1973-04-26) (aged 70)
Santa Monica, California, U.S.
Resting placeWoodlawn Memorial Cemetery, Santa Monica
Occupations
  • Actress
  • comedian
Years active1913–1973
Spouses
​
​
(m. 1922; div. 1942)​
Harold E. Knox
​
​
(m. 1946; div. 1961)​

Early years

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Ryan was born Irene Noblitt[1][2][3] on October 17, 1902, in El Paso, Texas, the second child and daughter of Catherine J. "Katie" (née McSharry) and James Merritt Noblitt. Her father was an Army sergeant from North Carolina and her mother had emigrated from Ireland. Irene was 17 years younger than her sister Anna (1885–1966).[4][5]

Career

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Ryan began her performing career at age 11, when she won $3 (equal to $97.75 today) for singing "Pretty Baby" in an amateur contest at the Valencia Theater in San Francisco.[6][7]

At 20, she married writer-comedian Tim Ryan. They performed in vaudeville as a double act, known in show business as a "Dumb Dora" routine, and epitomized by George Burns and Gracie Allen. Known professionally as "Tim and Irene" (and billed formally as Tim Ryan and Irene Noblette), they starred in 11 short comedies for Educational Pictures between 1935 and 1937. The films were usually vehicles for their vaudevillian dialogue, with Irene as the flighty young woman who drives Tim to distraction. Tim's frequent admonition, "Will you stop?", became a catchphrase and then the title of one of their shorts.[citation needed] Substituting for Jack Benny in 1936, they starred in The Jell-O Summer Show on NBC's Red Network.[6]

The Ryans had no children and divorced in 1942, although Irene kept the surname. She toured with Bob Hope, and was on his radio program for two years.[8] She played Edgar Kennedy's wife in two of his RKO short films in 1943.[9] That same year, she appeared in the country music film O, My Darling Clementine.

By 1943, Tim Ryan had become a prolific character actor in movies; Monogram Pictures reunited Tim and Irene for four feature films, the last being the 1944 musical feature Hot Rhythm with Dona Drake.

In 1946, Irene Ryan married Harold E. Knox. Mr. Knox worked in film production. After 15 years, Ryan and Knox divorced in 1961. She continued to work in motion pictures into the late 1940s and early 1950s, generally playing fussy or nervous women. In 1946, Ryan joined the cast of The Jack Carson Show on CBS Radio, playing "a neighborhood storekeeper who operates a combination candy shop and lending library."[10] In January 1955, Ryan made her first television sitcom appearance in an episode of the CBS series The Danny Thomas Show. She appeared with Walter Brennan in the 1959 episode "Grandpa's New Job" on the ABC sitcom The Real McCoys. In the 1960-1961 CBS sitcom Bringing Up Buddy, starring Frank Aletter, Ryan was cast in three episodes as Cynthia Boyle, and she appeared as Rusty Wallace in "The Romance of Silver Pines", a 1962 episode of My Three Sons, starring Fred MacMurray.[11] Ryan guest-starred as Ellie McCabe in "The Old Stowe Road," a 1962 episode of the CBS sitcom Ichabod and Me. In 1966, she was a contestant/celebrity guest star on the game show Password.

The Beverly Hillbillies

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In 1962, Ryan was cast in what was to be her best-known role as Daisy "Granny" Moses, mother-in-law of patriarch Jed Clampett, in The Beverly Hillbillies (although Ryan was only five and a half years older than Ebsen). The character was named in honor of the artist Anna Mary Robertson "Grandma" Moses, who had died at age 101 the previous year.

According to Filmways publicist Ted Switzer, series creator and producer Paul Henning had decided to cast Bea Benaderet as Granny, but when Ryan read for the role "with her hair tied back in a bun and feisty as all get-out," everyone was taken with her performance. Executive producer Al Simon and Henning immediately said, "That's Granny!" Later, when Benaderet saw Ryan's audition, she agreed. Benaderet was cast as Jed Clampett's cousin, Pearl Bodine.[12]

In 1966, Ryan played Granny in the comedy Don't Worry, We'll Think of a Title, co-starring Rose Marie and Morey Amsterdam.

Stage

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In 1972, Ryan starred as Berthe in the Bob Fosse–directed Broadway musical Pippin,[13] in which she sang the number "No Time at All." A live recording (sound with still photographs) was made.[14]

Club

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In 1965, Ryan signed a two-year contract to perform at the Sahara Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada.[15]

Recognition

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In both 1963 and 1964, Ryan was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Continued Performance by an Actress in a Series (Lead).[16]

Ryan was nominated for Broadway's 1973 Tony Award as Best Supporting or Featured Actress (Musical) for her performance in Pippin.[17] She lost to Patricia Elliott (A Little Night Music) in a ceremony held about a month before Ryan's death.

Death

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On March 10, 1973, Ryan suffered an apparent stroke during a performance of Pippin, flew home to California on her doctor's orders, and was hospitalized. She was diagnosed with an inoperable glioblastoma (malignant brain tumor). Ryan died at St. John's Hospital, Santa Monica, California, on April 26, 1973, aged 70. The causes of death were given as glioblastoma and arteriosclerotic heart disease.[18] Her body was interred in a mausoleum at the Woodlawn Memorial Cemetery in Santa Monica beside her sister, Anna Thompson.[19]

Legacy and charitable causes

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The Irene Ryan Acting Scholarship awards scholarships to outstanding actors who participate in the American College Theatre Festival. The scholarship provides "recognition, honor, and financial assistance to outstanding student performers wishing to pursue further education." These scholarships have been awarded by the Irene Ryan Foundation since 1972.[20]

Selected filmography

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L-R: Moyna Macgill, Irene Ryan, Florence Bates, and Margaret Hamilton in Texas, Brooklyn & Heaven (1948)

Notes

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References

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  1. ^ a b c "1910 United States Federal Census". Ancestry.com. Lehi, Utah: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, in association with National Archives and Records Administration. 2006. Retrieved September 27, 2025.
  2. ^ a b c "1920 United States Federal Census". Ancestry.com. Provo, Utah: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc. in association with National Archives and Records Administration. 2010. Retrieved September 27, 2025.
  3. ^ a b c "U.S., City Directories 1822-1995". Ancestry.com. Lehi, Utah: Ancestry.com Operations Inc. 2011. Retrieved September 27, 2025.
  4. ^ a b "Irene Ryan, 70, Actress, Is Dead". The New York Times. April 27, 1973. p. 40. Retrieved October 31, 2017.
  5. ^ "Irene Ryan -- 'Millionaire Granny' -- Establishes College Acting Scholarships". The Lawton Constitution. August 26, 1971. p. 30. Retrieved October 5, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.  
  6. ^ a b Dunning, John (May 7, 1998). "Tim and Irene". On the Air:The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio (2 ed.). Oxford University Press. p. 672. ISBN 978-0-19-507678-3.
  7. ^ "Stroke Takes TV's Granny". Evening Independent. St. Petersburg, Florida. April 27, 1973. p. 20A. Retrieved December 9, 2012.
  8. ^ Geaufort, John (December 8, 1972). "A New 'Granny' Role". San Rafael Daily Independent Journal. p. 17. Retrieved October 5, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.  
  9. ^ One of the short films in which Irene Ryan plays Edgar Kennedy's wife, Hold Your Temper (1943), is available for viewing on YouTube. Retrieved June 18, 2017.
  10. ^ "Jack Carson to Star Irene Ryan In New Fall Show". Harrisburg Telegraph. September 28, 1946. p. 19. Retrieved October 5, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.  
  11. ^ "The Romance of Silver Pines", My Three Sons (S02E15), originally broadcast January 11, 1962. TV Guide. Retrieved July 3, 2017.
  12. ^ The Beverly Hillbillies Ultimate Collection DVD set, Volume 1 Disc 4, Bonus materials film: Paul Henning and the Hillbillies
  13. ^ "Irene Ryan". Playbill. Archived from the original on October 6, 2015. Retrieved October 6, 2015.
  14. ^ "No Time at All {Pippin ~ Broadway, 1972} - Irene Ryan". YouTube. October 20, 2013. Retrieved November 19, 2017.
  15. ^ Vernon, Terry (January 17, 1965). "Tele-Vues". Independent. Long Beach. p. 34. Retrieved October 6, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.  
  16. ^ "Search: Irene Ryan". Emmy Awards. Retrieved October 6, 2015.
  17. ^ "Irene Ryan". Tony Awards. Archived from the original on August 31, 2016. Retrieved October 6, 2015.
  18. ^ "Success As Granny Clampett: Actress Irene Ryan Dies". The Beaver County Times. April 27, 1973. pp. A–14. Retrieved December 9, 2012.
  19. ^ Wilson, Scott. Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons, 3d ed.: 2 (Kindle Locations 25047-25048). McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. Kindle Edition.
  20. ^ "Irene Ryan Acting Scholarship". Kennedy Center. Retrieved September 14, 2012.
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