Irene Ware

Irene Ware
Irene Ware in "Murder At Glen Athol" 1936
Born	Irene Catherine Ahlberg 6 November 1910(1910-11-06) Bronkx, New York, U.S.
Died	11 March 1993(1993-03-11) (aged 82) Orange, California, U.S.
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1932–1940

Irene Ware (November 6, 1910 — March 11, 1993) was an American Hollywood movie actress of Swedish-Austrian ancestry. Born with maiden name Ahlberg. She was also an American beauty queen, and she was Miss United States for the Miss Universe competition International Pageant of Pulchritude 1929. Irene appeared in 29 films between 1932-1940, and is mostly remembered for playing the role of princess Nadji in Chandu The Magician 1932 with Edmund Lowe and Bela Lugosi, and as Boris Karloff's and Bela Lugosi's leading lady in 1935's The Raven. She died in 1993, aged 82, in Orange, California.

Biography

Irene Catherine Ahlberg was born 6/11 1910 in Bronx, New York. Her father, Ernest Ahlberg, born in Sweden, and manager of a saloon in Bronx, New York. Her mother, Anna Frey, born in New York from Austrian parents. Lived for many years in Long Island, New York. Her first marriage was with American screenwriter John Meehan Jr., who won three Oscars for his work. Her second marriage was to federal judge Fred Campbell.

Irene Ware(Ahlberg), a very beautiful and talented woman, was not known to the swedish public as an actress with swedish heritage, and she made more movies in Hollywood than the more famous and international star Greta Garbo, who got the attention and made movies also at the same time.

Beauty Queen

She was also an American beauty queen, (5`6"/1.68cm tall), and she was named Miss Greater NY in 1929, and then Miss United States for the Miss Universe competition in Galveston, Texas, an International Beauty Contest. There Irene Ahlberg, a Manhattan stenographer, 18 and blond, won $1,000 and second honors after an Austrian girl from Vienna, Lisl Goldarbeiter. A documentary TV movie about Lisl´s life, "Miss Universe 1929-Lisl Goldarbeiter. A Queen In Wien", was released 2006 and directed by Hungarian Peter Forgacs. In honor of Irene Ware´s memory, websites reporting that she was Miss USA in 1926 are incorrect, and should be amended.

Early Film Years

From late 1929 through early 1932 Irene Ahlberg appeared in several of Earl Carroll´s Vanities Broadway productions. In 1932 she went to Hollywood, changed her name to Irene Ware, and signed a contract with Fox Film Corporation. Her first movie was, Society Girl, in 1932 at Fox Film Corporation as uncredited together with names like James Dunn, Peggy Shannon and Spencer Tracy. It was produced by William Fox and directed by Sidney Lanfield, and was released 29/5 1932. The second film, Chandu The Magician, was filmed between 11/7-August 1932 and released 18/9. It was directed by Marcel Varnel. She played the role of princess Nadji together with Edmund Lowe and Bela Lugosi.

False Pretenses (1935) Betty Compson, Sidney Blackmer, and Irene Ware

Filmography

• 1932 Society Girl (uncredited)

• 1932 Chandu The Magician (as Princess Nadji)

• 1932 6 Hours To Live (as The Prostitute)

• 1933 Humanity (as Olive Pelton)

• 1933 Brief Moment (as Joan)

• 1933 My Weakness (as Eve Millstead)

• 1934 Moulin Rouge (as show girl uncredited)

• 1934 Orient Express (as Janet Pardoe)

• 1934 Let´s Talk It Over (as Sandra)

• 1934 The Affairs Of Cellini (as Daughter Of The House Of Bocci)

• 1934 You Belong To Me (as Lila Lacey)

• 1934 King Kelly Of The U.S.A. (as Princess Tania aka Catherine Bell)

• 1935 Rendezvous At Midnight (as Myra)

• 1935 Night Life Of The Gods (as Diana)

• 1935 Whispering Smith Speaks (as Nan Roberts)

• 1935 The Raven (as Jean Thatcher)

• 1935 Cheers Of The Crowd (as Mary Larkin)

• 1935 Happiness C.O.D. (as Carroll Sherridan)

• 1935 False Pretenses (as Mary Beekman)

• 1936 The Dark Hour (as Elsa Carson)

• 1936 Murder At Glen Athol (as Jane Maxwell)

• 1936 O´Malley Of The Mounted (as Edith "Edie" Hyland)

• 1936 In Paris, A.W.O.L. (as Constance)

• 1936 Federal Agent (as Helen Lynch/Helen Gray)

• 1936 Gold Diggers Of 1937 (as Irene(Sally´s pal))

• 1937 The Live Wire (as Jane)

• 1938 Around The Town (as Norma Wyngold)

• 1938 No Parking (as Olga)

• 1940 Outside The Three-Mile Limit (as Dorothy Kenney)

References

• "Silents and Talkies: Irene Ware". New York Times. http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/392229/Miss-Universe-1929/overview. 

External links

• Irene Ware at the Internet Movie Database
• Silents and Talkies: Irene Ware {Starlet Dreams}