Conditions Governing Access
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Biographical / Historical
Preferred Citation
Processing Information
Scope and Contents
Rights Statement for Archival Description
Conditions Governing Use
Contributing Institution:
USC Libraries Cinematic Arts Library
Title: Irene Dunne papers
Creator:
Dunne, Irene, 1898-1990
Identifier/Call Number: 2217
Physical Description:
22 Linear Feet
17 boxes
Date (inclusive): 1920-1971
Abstract: This collection contains the papers of American actor Irene Dunne (1898-1990) and chiefly consists of press clippings, photographs
and film stills, and business files related to her movie career.
Language of Material:
English.
Conditions Governing Access
Advance notice required for access.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift of Irene Dunne.
Biographical / Historical
Irene Dunne (1898-1990) was an American actor who starred in over forty movies between 1930 and the 1950s. She was nominated
for the Academy Award for Best Actress five times but never won. Outside of acting, Dunne was involved in philanthropic and
humanitarian causes. Dunne was married to Dr. Francis D. Griffin and they had one daughter, Mary Frances Griffin.
Preferred Citation
[Box/folder no. or item name], Irene Dunne papers, Collection no. 2217, Cinematic Arts Library, Special Collections, USC Libraries,
University of Southern California.
Processing Information
Processed by USC students in 2019 as part of the "Piloting a Shared Practice for Accessible Archival Descriptions" Dean's
Challenge Grant. Additional description and some rearrangement by Diann Benti in 2021.
Scope and Contents
This collection contains the papers of American actor Irene Dunne (1898-1990) and chiefly consists of press clippings, photographs
and film stills, and business files related to her movie career. Additional materials include small files of awards, correspondence,
and event programs, two music books, and four scripts (A Guy Named Joe; How the West was Won; I Remember Mama; and The White
Cliffs of Dover). There are also some scrapbooks/commemorative albums including ones for the christening of the S.S. Carole
Lombard in 1944 (Box 16, Volume 2); a New Jersey war bond luncheon and rally in 1942 (Box 16, Volume 3); and an American Red
Cross album, 1949 (Box 16, Volume 4).
The press clippings consist of files of loose newspaper clippings and well as forty-six 11 x 17" volumes with pasted clippings
of articles that mention or feature Dunne, dating from 1935 to 1951. While most of the clippings relate to her celebrity as
a movie star, the last volume (Box 11, Volume 7) deals with her work with St. John's Hospital.
There is little in the collection that reflects Dunne's personal life or family.
Rights Statement for Archival Description
Finding aid description and metadata are licensed under an Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license.
Conditions Governing Use
All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Cinematic Arts Library
at ctlibarc@usc.edu. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the Cinematic Arts Library as the owner of the physical
items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Motion picture actors and actresses -- United States -- Archival resources
Motion picture actors and actresses -- United States -- Photographs
Actors -- California -- Los Angeles -- Archival resources
Motion pictures -- Photographs
Film stills
Photographs
Clippings
Dunne, Irene, 1898-1990 -- Archives
Dunne, Irene, 1898-1990 -- Photographs