Tribute to Irene Rich, 1927 Maybelline Model - Silent Film and Radio Star

Irene Rich was a glamorous actress who played Will Rogers' nagging wife in 1930s films and read radio's World War II-era "Dear John" letters.

She was a San Francisco real estate agent before she got her first movie job as an extra in Mary Pickford's "Stella Maris" in 1918.

Soon, she had graduated to starring roles in silent melodramas, usually portraying mature women of the world, and in short films with Rogers.

By the late 1920s and early 1930s, she was playing Will Rogers' wife in talkies, including "They Had to See Paris," "So This is London" and "Down to Earth."

From 1933 to 1945, she was a popular radio star, reading "Dear John" letters to introduce and close Sunday-night episodes on the Welch's Grape Juice program.

The term "Dear John" became soldiers' slang for mail from a lover breaking off a romance.

Later, Rich appeared in 21 Warner Bros. movies—including "Lady Windermere's Fan" in 1925, "Craig's Wife" in 1928 and "The Champ" in 1931. She also performed in several Broadway shows.

Actress

Born Irene Luther on Oct. 13, 1891 in Buffalo, N.Y.

Died April 22, 1988 in Santa Barbara, CA

She retired from show business after her fourth marriage, to George H. Clifford, in 1950.

— Judy Pasternak in the Los Angeles Times April 25, 1988

Woman can't be truly independent and free without being financially independent.....

When Women gained the power of Financial Freedom they chose the right to be noticed with MAYBELLINE..

In the 1920's the American frontier had been explored, and cities were now the epicenters of discovery. New technology demanded an expanded workforce. Women defied their stay-at-home roles. With the freedom of their own money, they behaved differently. They even started smoking.

Massive advertising campaigns by Lucky Strike Tobacco Company lured women as well as men into smoking with the slogan “It’s toasted!” After all, what could be more pure and aromatic than toasted, golden leaves.

The public fell for it. With product placement in the first self-serve grocery stores—the Piggly Wiggly chain—it was easy to develop a smoking and Maybelline habit overnight.

No one could stop their little purchases, which included beauty-products. The era when only performers and prostitutes wore make-up had passed.

The age of cosmetics had begun with Lash-Brow-Ine in 1915, which became Maybelline in 1916.....

Irene Rich worked for Will Rogers, John Wayne, John Ford, Ward Bond, Gale Gordon, George M. Cohan.

  She was a Maybelline Model in 1925 . 

Financial empowerment.....is about knowledge..... which comes with education! 

Read all about it in my book, The Maybelline Story and the Spirited Family Dynasty Behind It.....