Irene Ware

Irene Ware (born Irene Catherine Ahlberg; November 6, 1910 – March 11, 1993) was an American actress. She was a beauty queen and showgirl before appearing in 29 films between 1932 and 1940, and is mostly remembered for her roles as Princess Nadji in Chandu the Magician with Edmund Lowe and Bela Lugosi, and as Boris Karloff's and Lugosi's leading lady in 1935's The Raven.

Early years

Irene Catherine Ahlberg was born November 6, 1910, in Albany, New York. Her father, Ernest Ahlberg, born in Sweden, managed a saloon. Her mother, Anna Freya, born in New York to Austrian parents, was a real estate agent. She lived in New York and Los Angeles. Her sister, Anita, was an artist.

Beauty queen As an 18-year-old stenographer, (5`6"/1.68 cm tall), Ware was crowned Miss Greater New York, then Miss United States in 1929, and the same year was first runner-up for the title of Miss Universe at a pageant held in Galveston, Texas. She also won $1,000. ("Miss United States" was an unofficial alternative to the Miss America Pageant, which was not held in 1929. The Miss Universe contest of the 1920s was not connected to the current Miss Universe system, which was launched in 1952.)

Acting Ware debuted on stage in a revue at the Metropolitan Theatre Boston in July 1929, She was then contracted to Fox Studios and moved to Hollywood, changing her name to Irene Ware. Her first movie was Society Girl, in 1932 at Fox Film Corporation uncredited together with names like James Dunn, Peggy Shannon and Spencer Tracy. The second film, which quickly made her a star, was Chandu the Magician, also released in 1932 and directed by Marcel Varnel.

Personal life Irene WareWare's first marriage was to American screenwriter John Meehan, Jr., who won three Oscars for his work. Her second marriage was to federal Judge Fred Campbell. She left the industry to become a mother to their two children, John and Deirdre Meehan.

Author Gregory William Mank wrote in Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff the Expanded Story of a Haunting Collaboration, (McFarland & Company), (2010), that Ware lived in Encinitas; had "Severe dementia"; and that she died in the evening, of "Pneumonia", in the Western Medical Centre, Santa Ana.

Filmography

1932: Society Girl – (uncredited) 1932: Chandu the Magician – Princess Nadji 1932: Six Hours to Live – The Prostitute 1933: Humanity – Olive Pelton 1933: Brief Moment – Joan 1933: My Weakness – Eve Millstead 1934: Moulin Rouge – show girl (uncredited) 1934: Orient Express – Janet Pardoe 1934: Let's Talk It Over – Sandra 1934: The Affairs of Cellini – Daughter Of The House Of Bocci 1934: You Belong To Me – Lila Lacey 1934: King Kelly of the U.S.A. – Princess Tania aka Catherine Bell 1935: Rendezvous at Midnight – Myra 1935: Night Life of the Gods – Diana 1935: Whispering Smith Speaks – Nan Roberts 1935: The Raven – Jean Thatcher 1935: Cheers of the Crowd – Mary Larkin 1935: Happiness C.O.D. – Carroll Sherridan 1935: False Pretenses – Mary Beekman 1936: The Dark Hour – Elsa Carson 1936: Murder at Glen Athol – Jane Maxwell 1936: O'Malley of the Mounted – Edith "Edie" Hyland 1936: In Paris, A.W.O.L. – Constance 1936: Federal Agent – Helen Lynch / Helen Gray 1936: Gold Diggers of 1937 – Irene (Sally´s pal) 1937: The Live Wire – Jane 1938: No Parking – Olga 1938: Around the Town – Norma Wyngold 1940: Outside the Three-Mile Limit – Dorothy Kenney (final film role)