Irene Tedrow (August 3, 1907 – March 10, 1995) was an American character actress in stage, film, television and radio. Tedrow is also the mother of actress Enid Kent.
Career
She was born in Denver, Colorado. She earned a BA degree in drama from Carnegie Tech in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1929. Tedrow was a founding member of San Diego's Old Globe Theaterand was cast as an ingénue in the beginning of her career. As she grew older, she found more work in films as the meddling old woman. However, she did have an intermittently recurring role as Mrs. Elkins on the Dennis the Menace television sitcom in the 1950s where her character was a dignified, yet domineering woman, who was a nemesis to the pompousness of George Wilson, played by Joseph Kearns. Being a character actor she was never given substantial roles, despite having appeared in many shows, including The Twilight Zone, Dundee and the Culhane, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Diff'rent Strokes and Facts of Life.
During the late 1940s, she was the voice of Dorothy Regent in the radio series Chandu the Magician. Theater offered a better outlet and Tedrow appeared on Broadway even through her eighties, in such productions as Our Town and Pygmalion. In 1955, she appeared on The Jack Benny Program as a contestant with Jack Benny on a mock You Bet Your Life segment with Groucho Marx.[1]
Death
On March 10, 1995, Tedrow died of a stroke in Hollywood. Her grave is located at Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery.
Source: Wikipedia