Irene Tedrow, a Denver-born supporting actress, is a familiar face whose six-decade career is marked by durability rather than standout roles. Born in 1907, she began her acting career as a teenager, training in drama at Carnegie Tech in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1929.
As a young woman, Tedrow was slim and handsome, but her features became more severe with age, ultimately typecasting her as puritanical meddlers and no-nonsense matrons from her early days in film in 1937. She rarely, if ever, landed a significant part, often appearing towards the end of the credits.
A founding member of the Old Globe Theatre, Tedrow was featured in classical productions such as "Richard III," "Hamlet," and "Henry IV, Part I." During the war years, she became a primary player on radio, notably as Mrs. Janet Archer in the popular serial "Meet Corliss Archer" (1950),which she later adapted for television for one season.
Tedrow's radio role lasted for nine years (1943-1952),and she went on to appear in hundreds of episodic guest appearances for nearly 35 years, including "Dragnet" (1951),"The Andy Griffith Show" (1960),"The Twilight Zone" (1959),and more recent shows like "The Facts of Life" (1979),"St. Elsewhere" (1982),and "L.A. Law" (1986).
Despite never becoming a regular series player, Tedrow is probably best remembered as the kindly Mrs. Elkins who occasionally appeared on the sitcom "Dennis the Menace" (1959). Throughout her career, she never abandoned the stage, gracing numerous shows in her senior years, including "Our Town" on Broadway, "Foxfire," "The Hot L. Baltimore," and "Pygmalion."
Even in her octogenarian years, Tedrow continued to work, eventually passing away at the age of 87 due to a stroke in the Los Angeles area.
