In Remembrance: Irene Manning

     Irene Manning, the glamorous, classically trained singer who appeared in a number of 1940’s musicals, died of congestive heart failure on May 28^th. She was 91.

     Born Inez Harvout on July 17, 1916, in Cincinnati, Ohio, she moved with her family to Los Angeles at age 10. She later studied music at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York. Although she showed great potential for grand opera, she had aspirations to combine her musical talent with film.

     She made her film debut under the stage name, Hope Manning, in the 1936 Republic Studios picture, The Old Corral, starring opposite Gene Autry. Two more films for Republic Pictures followed, Two Wise Maids and Michael O’Halloran (both 1937). She had met Het Manheim, the Head of Publicity at Republic Studios who changed her stage name from Hope Manning to Irene Manning. The two were later married but the marriage didn’t last very long. Shortly after her contract was up with Republic she had lead roles with the Los Angeles Civic Light Opera. Meanwhile, Warner Bros. execs scouted her and she soon signed a contract with them in 1941.

     Manning is most remembered today for her small role in a big movie. She played real-life Broadway star Fay Templeton opposite James Cagney legendary song and dance man, George M. Cohan in 1942’s WB masterpiece Yankee Doodle Dandy, singing a number of notable tunes including “Mary’s a Grand Old Name”. She appeared in Humphrey Bogart’s 1942 gangster film The Big Shot and starred opposite Dennis Morgan in a couple of great musicals in 1944, The Desert Song and Shine On, Harvest Moon. Manning later appeared as herself in 1944’s all-star party film, Hollywood Canteen. Other film credits include the wartime comedy, The Doughgirls (1944) with Ann Sheridan, and 1945’s Escape in the Desert, a remake of Bette Davis’ The Petrified Forest.

     After I Live on Grosvenor Square (1945), Manning went back to the stage, appearing in The Day Before Spring on Broadway and Serenade in London. She had her own show on television for the BBC in 1951, An American in England, but came back to the US and retired.

     She came out of retirement in the 1970’s and appeared in a number of musicals in the San Francisco area, and later, taught voice lessons.

-John Gibbon