Irene Ryan Biography

Fast Facts

• During World War II, she toured with Bob Hope's USO troupe, known as "the gal who makes Bob Hope laugh․"
• Endowed the Irene Ryan Foundation to provide scholarships for promising theatre arts students
• Her career started when she won $3 for singing "Pretty baby" in an amateur contest when she was 11, a performance she particularly wanted to excel at because she was afraid the audience would throw tomatoes at her new, pink dress otherwise
• Was an established vaudeville, radio and movie actress even before she caught the eye of the general public, appearing as fussy, nervous women in films and a "Dumb Dora" in comedy routines
• Was best known for playing the feisty Daisy "Granny" Moses on the comedy "The Beverly Hillbillies," a part that even Bea Benaderet, who the producers had already decided on for the role, agreed was perfect for her
• Joked that though people most often recognized her as Granny by her voice, she would rather be known for her body
• Her gravestone in Woodlawn Cemetery reads "Irene 'Granny' Ryan․"