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Denver-born supporting actress Irene Tedrow was one of many familiar character actors whose career spanned six decades, known more for its longevity than for starring roles. Born in 1907, she was primarily a stage actress, beginning her career as a teenager. She studied drama at Carnegie Tech in Pittsburgh, PA, earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1929. In her youth, she was a slim, attractive woman, but her features became more severe with age, often casting her as puritanical, no-nonsense matrons from her film debut in 1937 onward. She rarely landed substantial parts, usually appearing far down the cast list, if credited at all. A founding member of the Old Globe Theatre, she performed in classical plays including "Richard III," "Hamlet," and "Henry IV, Part I." During the war years, she was a prominent radio actress, notably playing Mrs. Janet Archer, the motherly figure in the popular serial Meet Corliss Archer (1950), a role she reprised for one season on television. Her radio work spanned nine years (1943–52). Irene made hundreds of guest appearances on television over nearly 35 years, in shows ranging from Dragnet (1951), The Andy Griffith Show (1960), and The Twilight Zone (1959) to later series like The Facts of Life (1979), St. Elsewhere (1982), and L.A. Law (1986). Though never a regular cast member, she is perhaps best remembered as the kindly Mrs. Elkins on the Dennis the Menace (1959) sitcom. Throughout her life, Irene remained active on stage, performing in productions such as "Our Town" on Broadway, along with "Foxfire," "The Hot L. Baltimore," and "Pygmalion" during her later years. She continued working into her eighties and passed away from a stroke at age 87 in the Los Angeles area.
