Irene Dunne on What's My Line?

Irene Dunne appears as a mystery guest on the long-running CBS television program "What's My Line?" Dated February 1st, 1953.

[@TheLights045]

I just realized that she was born in 1898, this was taken in 1953, making her 55 years old... I cannot believe it! She looks SO young! My god! She's always been so beautiful and has such a wonderful personality!

[@rubberduckie8922]

I love how she turns to look at John Daly after she said something funny - almost like she wants his approval or something. She's just too charming!

[@lizzyvance]

Irene Dunn is truly talented. She is one of my favorite actresses. She really is lovely and very versatile.

[@scotnick59]

Well you should know how to spell here name correctly then

[@marthalillard3193]

Such a beautiful lady, and in her 50's here. She was a fabulous actress and person too. She could make me laugh like no one else, like in "my Favorite Wife" and bring tears too, like in "Penny Serenade". She was my favorite actress.

[@dennialewis4055]

Martha Lillard d

[@wholeNwon]

Ah, you have good taste.

[@mckavitt13]

@@wholeNwon I was just going to write precisely the same thing!

[@moravocis]

Brilliant clip! What a lovely, enchanting woman she was! After watching many of these WHAT'S MY LINE clips I am sadly reminded of the abyss that separates us from that time of natural good manners of "ladies" and "gentlemen" of intelligent and indeed intelligible conversations and wit and our own ghastly age. Looking at this, it seems one must ask "have we really progressed"?

[@loganriki2625]

I have pondered that question a few times myself, the answer is no. It was better back when. Look at society today, what a big disappointment.

[@astralagosto]

Irene Dunne...........one of the beautiful ladies of the screen. Lovely to look at and a pleasure to listen to. What a lovely voice she had......I wish she had made more records. I'll always think of her as a singer instead of an actress. Always elegant, classy, and refined. I love Irene Dunne!!!!

[@waynebrasler]

She was a very non-neurotic actress, enjoyed a wonderful marriage, was a devout Catholic (as were so many in the Hollywood of her time), was a great dramatic actress and a great comic actress and a great singer, and as you can see at 55 she was still gorgeous. This was the real her and note how warm and witty she is.

[@mmjhcb]

Irene Dunne is perhaps the only actress who can create a full blown character (and an hysterically funny one at that) simply answering questions on What's My Line. Incredible! What a talent she was!

[@1laughinggravy]

Too short! I wanted her to talk more. She was a class act all the way. I've seen several of her movies, but I love The Awful Truth the best. She was a riot in that.

[@soulierinvestments]

I cannot think of many Hollywood actresses, either in her generation or this one, who served both as a Knight of Malta and a Knight of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre -- but Irene Dunne was a knight in both orders.

[@mca1218]

What loveliness and glamor: The hat, the dress, the fur, the little sashay as she left to say "goodnight to the panel," etc. Thank you for this.

[@sjjcws]

Mr. Faulkner, thanks for posting! The fact that she never received an Oscar is the Academy's failure, not hers.

[@waynebrasler]

I think Dunne never won because the award is for the outstanding performance of any one year. I think she was always up against stars in more striking roles. As for the honorary Oscar, she was so adept at drama, satire, comedy and music I think she was taken for credit. She was known to be easy to work with because she could do so much so well. When it looks so easy I think actors are overlooked. In "Show Boat" what she does with different body attitudes for different ages is magical.

[@cjb8010]

“I had one exactly like that. ‘Zactly!” “Watch my purse.” Two great Irene Dunne lines and scenes, one from My Favorite Wife and the other from the The Awful Truth.

[@Buga1965]

Holy Smokes - this woman was amazing. Quick-witted, gorgeous, classy, spicy yet graceful, elegant, and charming as all get out - she was the whole package. Irene Dunne - she could melt you down with just one facial expression or gesture - just incredible. Seen other clips of Ms. Dunne - it's just sort of mindblowing how cool that woman was.

[@gailjarvis2592]

She is one of the True Greats in American entertainment history.

[@ladynfsoffice]

Ms. Dunne is TRULY donning the lost style of the 'lady look' of the 1950s with her GORGEOUS hat, mink, pearls, etc! What's my line is a forever favorite, and this clip is a great sample of lost Tv entertainment and it's GREAT!! :-)

[@larkpraise]

Very classy and elegant lady! A true legend! They don't make them like her anymore.

[@freddyfurrah3789]

Of course, she was a Republican.

[@BeeWhistler]

"Are you in New York at the present time..." "Uh-huh." Dying.

[@simeonbaumel7293]

Allan Sherman, when asked "Are you in new York..."? interrupted and said "Obviously"... to the same response.

[@lucycatism]

I don't think most folks know that she was a fabulous singer. Check her out in the 1930s version of Showboat. A beautiful and talented woman.

[@lisabrooks8092]

I love this! She gives a full-blown comedic performance all in a little over six minutes' time. To me, she is channeling "Lola", Cary Grant's party-crashing "sister" in "The Awful Truth" (1937). She puts one over on everybody--the funniest being her response to Steve Allen's question "Are you in New York at the present time...". To which she cuts him to the quick by simply responding "Uh huh". LOL!

[@dylandunne-watkins1854]

my great aunt , irene dunne

[@bumblebee2410]

+Dylan Dunne-watkins She is one of my favorite all time actresses. She always made me think she would be a fun person to hang around with.

[@pauldriscoll5356]

+Dylan Dunne-watkins Was Miss Dunne really your great aunt? She's my all time favorite.

[@fairleighbrooks4902]

Wow-you possess some class DNA! She is revered in Louisville, her hometown as well as mine. There are state historical plaques commemorating her life and work both in Louisville and in Madison, IN, where she spent the first and second halves of her childhood, respectively.

[@brianoyler4777]

Dylan Dunne Watkins, how marvelous that you are related to one of the great Hollywood actresses of all time. Miss Dunne was such an elegant lady with so much savoir-faire. I do miss her and many of those elegant actresses such as Greer Garson,Gene Tierney, Ann Sheridan, Jean Arthur, Claudette Colbert, Loretta Young...who of today's film actresses can measure up to Irene and these other's? I do not know of any. By the way, I am from Marion, IN originally. Very close to the hometown of Cole Porter in Peru, IN.

[@randysills4418]

I loved her and was so upset when she passed! Such a talented, beautiful lady!

[@violinthief]

Big Irene Dunne fan here. Thanks for posting. What a lovely lady. She's in her 50s here and still radiant as ever.

[@RMSAquitania]

Thank you so much for uploading this clip. Irene Dunne looks so glamourous and absolutely beautiful. Since she was born in 1898, I cannot believe she is 55 here - such elegance and poise She was a lovely Class Act in so many of her films and is considered the most talented actress never to receive an Academy Award, despite five nominations. She was wonderful in Penny Serendade and the Show Boat (1936) where her lovely singing voice can be heard in this iconic American musical.

[@haskellbob]

Joh Daly really got off on having beautiful women next to him. What a lucky stiff!

[@SueBeaWho]

I know I am the bizillionth person to say this but: I can't believe she is 55 on this clip!!!! Beautiful and classy. Where have the people like that gone?

[@sjjcws]

@myrnaloysboy --My theory is: as brilliant and talented as she was, culturally, she was never a part of Hollywood. Hollywood knew it and acted accordingly. This was no ordinary person.

[@velma8714]

Oh dear, I couldn't help laughing all the way through this... just about as good as any scene from The Awful Truth (one of my all-time favourites, especially when I need a bit of cheering up). Oh, she was such a great actress - and such a great person.

[@williamsnyder5616]

Irene Dunne was an absolute treasure, versatile in both comedy and drama. Her transition into comedy came in 1936 when she signed a three-picture contract with Columbia Pictures and, in two years, gave us two gems: "Theodora Goes Wild" (1936) and "The Awful Truth" (1937). She was nominated for Best Actress for the '37 film. Later, she fulfilled her Columbia contract with the wonderful weepie, "Penny Serenade," in 1941.

[@4Topwood]

The things that lovely lady could do with her voice! She can make me laugh, cry and most of all, just sigh with longing.

[@randysills4418]

I loved her in "I Remember Mama"...

[@TheBatugan77]

Me too!

[@wholeNwon]

And remember Peggy Wood?

[@Fordham1969]

She's 54 in this clip,and John Daly is 38.I'd say she looks about his age and he looks about hers.

[@sjjcws]

One class act of another: it was none other than Jimmy Stewart who remarked, "She was way up there at the top, in a class by herself." What a woman!

[@tallpaul521]

She is just so great here. Saw "The Awful Truth" today on TCM -- she and Cary Grant together are magic!

[@jackiebeh6702]

Just watched her in Penny Serenade...so lovely years later as well...

[@bumblebee2410]

+Jackie Beh That is so funny because I just watched penny serenade 10 minutes ago. And here I am.

[@Daisnap]

What a powerful movie!

[@Kiwi0321]

Arlene says "than springtime" (like the song) and Irene says no

[@mckavitt13]

What a distinctive voice she had too. And articulate manner of speaking. None of the nasal "like you know" they all Hollywood speak today. But why such a lukewarm applause from the audience, both before AND after?

[@rogerpropes7129]

She didn't make any movies after 1948 'I Remember Mama'. (Greta Garbo had turned down the role.)

[@mckavitt13]

@@rogerpropes7129 Why on earth not? Considered too old? Retired? Love her anyway.

[@jmj5388]

Although a great singer and actress, she seemed to fly under the Hollywood radar, especially at awards time. She was faithfully married to the same man for many years, was a devout Catholic, lived very modestly and was active in charitable works after her retirement from the screen. Her lifestyle did not generate much hype or notoriety, unlike that of most of her peers.

[@mckavitt13]

@@jmj5388 But she was so good. Better than the many you refer too. Her films w Cary Grant are so witty!

[@keca1430]

They say she was the best movie actress to NEVER win an Academy Award; nominated for an Oscar 5 times in the 1930s and '40s, but never won! Retired from acting in 1962; died in 1990 at age 91. Watching her tonight on Father's Day on Turner Classic Movies in 1947's Life With Father with William Powell. She was also in 1948's I Remember Mama, one of her Oscar nominated roles.

[@IronClad292]

Irene was such a doll. What a lovely lady !!

[@mctalks]

Classic actress and a very talented singer AND musician. She was great in the comedies she did with Cary Grant and in " Love Affair " with Charles Boyer which was remade as " An Affair to Remember " with Grant and Deborah Kerr... Kerr was great but I'd love to have seen Dunne play opposite Grant in that one too!

[@sjjcws]

"One daughter, one husband, one house---and no lovers." Counter culture doesn't fly now and it didn't then. Of course Irene never used this as an excuse; she was the ultimate in class.

[@molinny]

Her husband was a dentist from New Jersey who she met at an event in the old Biltmore NY. No pretentiousness or shallowness here.

[@ringbolt9]

@Smalltowngal29 over 40? wiki says she was born in 1898 and this show is like 1956 57? so can she really be almost 60?? lord she looks good. and her face looks very natural so id rule out much plastic surgery . d

[@6313anderson]

She is one class act lady. She looks so great for her age,I loved her in all of her films,a true southern,gentel lady.One of the great women actors of the 30's,40's...

[@ashleyg325]

Wow, she was born in 1898, which makes her 55 here. She could totally pass for 35!

[@emergdispatch]

I had the privilege many years ago to see Irene Dunne in person at an AFI event-She was interviewed on stage after a retrospective showing of her 1939 classic ,"Love Affair", was run.One of the highlights of the interview was when she said "Cary Grant" when she meant to say "Charles Boyer" and she then looked at the interviewer (Hollis Alpert) and "begged" him not to tell Boyer of her momentary confusion.......intimating the French lover would not take it well

[@erzbet07]

Delightful...utterly delightful!! Irene looked so lovely and radiant..and talk about a sense of humor. Thanks so much for sharing this rare glimpse of a true Hollywood great. No one can match her!

[@andrewj.alexander4546]

I lived in Madison, Indiana for a few years in the 1980s, and met an elderly lady there who had been friends with Irene Dunne when they were teenagers, after Miss Dunne's family moved to Madison from Kentucky. This lady told me Irene Dunne was a wonderful person and greatly beloved by everyone who knew her in Madison. In reference to Miss Dunne's career, the lady said Miss Dunne had "Done Madison proud."

[@kitty3863]

What a lovely , classy, and funny lady!

[@nonstoprocker5377]

I love John Dalys reaction when Irene say "Why Mr. Daly...."

[@myzticvizionary]

She was fifty-eight years old here. I would have courted her at age twenty-one when she was fifty-eight. And she would have politely declined and walked away as I melted. She truly was refined and elegant and extremely charismatic. What a beautiful woman. God bless her. (Hmmph . . . I bet HE asked HER out when her wonderful soul arrived in His Kingdom. She WAS a devout Roman Catholic afterall.)

[@markallen4356]

God,I wish movie stars were still like her.

[@wholeNwon]

Amen!

[@brianoyler4777]

So do I. I cannot believe what (and I mean what) has been "passing for" entertainers and movie stars for at least the last 40 years in the USA. The studio system of the 30s and 40s truly developed and trained these actors to be stars. And the public saw these stars regularly when their pictures were playing at local movie theatres. It is sad that this part of US culture is no longer with is. I miss all of those major and minor stars as well as the character actors and directors, producers, and film personnel so greatly achieving and establishing a culture for USA. Today's caliber of people working in the US entertainment industry is degrading to our society as a whole. Since we have experienced Covid-19, economic crisis and racial protests which have become demonstrations of hate, what will become of these United States?

[@mca1218]

Well said. The lady oozed elegance- even in a disguised voice. Wish she had done more interview television- not that this was an interview, but y'know what I mean.

[@2legit64]

Wow! She was absolutely stunning at 55!

[@davidreidenberg9941]

Finest actress never to win an academy award.

[@scotnick59]

Irene Dunne = *Class*

[@soulierinvestments]

Can't think of many actresses -- in fact she is the only one I know -- that was a full-scale knight: a Knight of Malta.

[@ghtsw11]

A complete lady, and equally at home in comedy and tragedy, plus a lovely voice, both speaking and singing - how on earth could she never have won an Oscar - it beggars belief, regardless of her political stance.

[@violinthief]

I recognize this particular troll - he is one of the nastiest posters on IMDB. Pretty much every week he starts up a new account, makes 100s of hateful posts a day, and gets banned after a few days by the IMDB mods. Looks like he has now discovered youtube. KZbin doesn't have mods who actively ban users, but those who post the videos can be responsible and remove his trash. Needless to say, his comments would never see the light of day on my videos.

[@TheLights045]

Do you mean 1904? Actually, either way, being 104 or 1904, you're incorrect. Miss Dunne was born in 1898, making her age 55 in this airing. She looks GOREOUS in my opinion. She was just lovely, wasn't she? "Ehheeee" haha!

[@soulierinvestments]

Arlene Francis was notoriously accident prone. She appeared from 1953-1960 not once not twice, not three times but four times in an eye patch on WML. And once she sunburned her eyes and appeared in the broadcast wearing dark glasses. Regular eye infections. Shingles infection in the eye. Self inflicted eye injuries. I think this was the time that her son Peter Gabel accidentally poked her in the eye.

[@sjjcws]

Linda---Yes, myzticvisionary's sentiments, in my opinion, are wonderfully stated. One correction, however: she was 54 at the time of this appearance. "What brings you here?" I'm not sure I understand the question. If you mean to the post, I would just say What's My Line? was a favorite show of mine and over the years I have come to realize, more and more, just what a class act it was. If you mean Irene Dunne, there is not enough space here to adequately express my admiration for that woman.

[@Dayniac4324]

Love Irenne Dunne - thank you !!

[@jeffreyenglish1815]

Beautiful people so pleasant and polite. Some with sordid lives but not in your face. Discreet. A bygone day.

[@ringbolt9]

why do so many of these women from this time seem sexy to me even in their 50s.?

[@bostonblackie9503]

Everybody is so polite Miss this and Mr that. Nowadays they don't even know you and they call you by your first name. However if they have title such as Dr try calling them by their first name.

[@Superstar2kaii8]

there is another clip of irene dunne on this show i think its about 1957 which would make her almost 60 years old, she looks amazing in it.

[@hspolomo18]

hoooly goodness grracious this woman is absolutely beautiful, I can't believe she was actually 55 here. ridiculous...wow. I love love love The Awful Truth! she's so funny.

[@iamintheburg]

Omigosh, OmiGod : Imagine her and Miss A. Francis as a duo on a chat show : My brain smoothes over with the idea.....Charm Overload. ( Hoda and Kathie Lee, you two could not compete. )

[@hspolomo18]

thanks : )

[@augerontgen8240]

Hal Blocks question for her age in public was clumsy.

[@marjoriemargel1567]

Auge Röntgen He was very crass.

[@wholeNwon]

Completely out of place on that panel.

[@molinny]

he was fat and clumsy and did not get the hint when she admitted herself to be "older than spring"

[@jamesfox2579]

Irene Dunne was such a beautiful and gracious woman!💕

[@classicmovieclub9760]

"Are you in New york" "Aha" lol!!! What a beautiful speaking voice she has!

[@sjjcws]

@myrnaloysboy ---Have only seen Myrna in the Thin Man series---and thought she was terrific. Interestingly, Dunne almost became Nora in "The Thin Man Goes Home". Stories differ; but, the one I prefer to believe is that Myrna, for personal reasons, was holding out when offered---until she heard that Irene Dunne might become the new Nora! And, Powell welcomed her back with open arms.

[@mikenaughton4298]

Great Comments to read here. Irene Dunne gave her characters such lively humor and reality. "A Guy Named Joe", "Showboat" (1936), "The Awful Truth" and more owe a lot to Irene Dunne's skill and charm.

[@bashbrannigan]

Hal Block didn't last long after this show. He got fired sometime around this time.

[@whispperson]

This was Very Funny. I Love this Actress and What a Great Actress she was. Thanks for this.

[@piponope]

More fur than we can shake a PETA at. Funny how things change.

[@ShawDAMAN]

If she had guarded her speaking voice a bit more studiously they might never have gotten it ;P she relaxed the disguise a bit toward the end. Great actress my favorite film of hers is 'life with father' with william powell.

[@georgestrum3478]

I loved this show. Can't they do an updated version of it today?

[@sjjcws]

In my opinion, the people made the show---not the format. It is questionable (in the Entertainment World) that they could come up with four people to match those that appeared on this show in the 1950s. They might create a product that would entertain many people; but to do with the CLASS and intelligence that was then is highly doubtful.

[@mckavitt13]

@@sjjcws That's a thought. But I fear the whole idea is too above present day America.

[@molinny]

The entertainment world of today is crass and vulgar.

[@ediekoller2636]

She was in the original movie in 1935 Showboat..loved her in that.

[@Daisnap]

Hers was not the original Showboat. One was filmed before, kind of a hybrid of a silent and a talkie! I remember a wonderful older actress named Emily Fitzroy played Parthy Hawkes in it. In the next version I loved watching Irene cavorting with Helen Morgan, Hattie McDaniel and Paul Robeson in the kitchen. What a charismatic quartet!

[@sjjcws]

Why do YOU think Irene Dunne never received an Oscar? The standard answer is extra-ordinary "competition". Do you agree with that assessment? And, if so, why don't you think she ever won an Honorary award? (She had certainly been around long enough---and was very well known.)

[@MostlyBrenda]

Notice the signature. Her family name was Dunn and she added the "e" for show business. She signed here with the "e" seperated: Dunn e

[@mca1218]

Well said-- and after all those elegant accolades, she gives the funniest answers here with such a deadpan "ah-hah!!"

[@sjjcws]

Appreciate the response. I think your analysis of Irene Dunne's various talents is spot on. Your Oscar response is pretty conventional. The Honorary Oscar theory is interesting. To your last point: the "shuffle" in "Showboat" (especially in the context of the real Irene Dunne) is a riot. My opinions, which you didn't ask for, pretty much concur with yours. I would only add: she was a great lady---in many respects.

[@chucknyc123]

I love these women 'of a certain age' who wore gloves all the time. She is a brilliant comedienne. 'The Awful Truth' is absolutely priceless. She always did something funny with her voice, so it's no surprise here. I hope she's never forgotten.

[@velma8714]

My favorite line of the clip: "Are you in New York at the present moment ummm..." "Aha!" Ad-libbing at its finest - one of those talents that earned Mrs. Dunne her "very justly earned fame" (so nicely put!)...

[@Cosmic86x]

like others wrote before, i can't believe that she was 55 years old in this clip as well. she was born in 1898. what a classy and talented actress!

[@Dolphin-cb9sq]

A classy lady. I always enjoy John Daly having so my genuine fun.

[@SueBeaWho]

@Mascro1977 COOOL i thought i replyed before. cool

[@1soprano20]

She's incredible! Love her!

[@GuinnevereB]

She was wittier and funnier here than most of the characters she was given to play (by that I mean SHE should have been writing her own dialog, she would have shown up the writers for sure). This clip had me laughing out loud, practically howling, she was so funny. In an interview I read, she said people always called her Such A Lady; she laughed and said even in her infancy they probably called her Such A Lady Baby. Well, they were right, but that didn't diminish her wit and vivacity.

[@operjxm]

thanks for the info, soul. I knew I had seen her with the patch more than once.

[@sergiolobato1798]

What an elegant lady!

[@ajaxfitch]

She's so adorable

[@coloradogal100]

i loved her in movie i remember mama.

[@Just1Sambo]

Whats Dunne is Dunne ....Love It !

[@jmccracken1963]

Every inch a lady.....Thanks for sharing!!!!!

[@marianestephens]

I love so muchhh Irene Dunne...she was so perfect.

[@monielove14]

I just luv her!! she is so funny

[@FranklyMyDearTV]

She's sweet! I love her! And yes... I ADORE that hat. I want one!!!