Educated at UCLA, she made her Broadway debut in 1943. Primarily a stage actress she moved to Britain in 1944, where she worked at the Old Vic and with the Royal Shakespeare Company. She returned to the US in 1975, continuing her stage work on Broadway, and making occasional films. She has won three Tony Awards for her stage work.
The pronunciation she used for her first name was "I-ree-nee" which consistently threw announcers off as her fame grew.
2
She was awarded the 1975 Joseph Jefferson Award for Best Guest Artist for her performance in "Sweet Bird of Youth" at the Academy Festival Theatre in Chicago, Illinois.
3
She made her Broadway debut with "The Two Mrs Carrolls" in 1943, which starred the legendary Elisabeth Bergner. It was Bergner and her film director husband Paul Czinner who persuaded Irene that London was the center of the English-speaking theatre. She moved there and immediately trained at the Old Vic in 1944.
4
In 1951 she joined the Old Vic company, and there she played Helena in "A Midsummer Night's Dream", directed by Tyrone Guthrie, and her first Lady Macbeth. When the Old Vic went touring in South Africa, Irene was one of the leading ladies.
5
In 1999, Worth had a stroke just before she was to begin preview performances in a Broadway revival of Anouilh's "Ring Round the Moon". She never managed to appear in the production.
6
Never married.
7
Joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1962.
8
Her parents, Agnes Thiessen and Henry Abrams, were educators. Her grandparents, who were Mennonites, had settled with others in the nearby Jansen area of Nebraska during the late 19th century.
9
In 1920 her family moved to Reedley, California. She graduated from Newport Harbor High School in 1933.
10
She was inducted into the New York Hall of Fame and the London Hall of Fame, and received honorary doctorates from Tufts University and Queens College of the City University of New York.
11
Changed her professional name to Irene Worth in 1942 just as she was making her stage debut in "Escape Me Never".
12
In 1935, she transferred to the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) where she was admitted to three honorary dramatics societies.
13
She was awarded an honorary C.B.E. (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) for her services to drama in 1975.
14
Has won three Tony Awards: in 1965, as Best Actress (Dramatic) for "Tiny Alice;" in 1976, as Best Actress (Play) for a revival of "Sweet Bird of Youth;" and in 1991, as Best Actress (Featured Role - Play) for "Lost in Yonkers," a role that she recreated in the movie version with the same name, Lost in Yonkers (1993). She was also nominated for Tony Awards two other times: in 1960, as Best Actress (Dramatic) for "Toys in the Attic," and in 1977, as Best Actress (Play) for "The Cherry Orchard."
15
Former kindergarten school teacher.
Actress
Title
Year
Status
Character
Onegin
1999
Princess Alina
Just the Ticket
1999/I
Mrs. Haywood
Remember WENN
1996
TV Series
Florence Dunthorpe Mellon
The Poetry Hall of Fame
1993
TV Movie
Lost in Yonkers
1993
Grandma Kurnitz
The Shell Seekers
1989
TV Movie
Dolly Keeling
American Playhouse
1988
TV Series
Patty Benedict
Ladies in Charge
1986
TV Series
Countess Kutuzov
Fast Forward
1985
Ida Sabol
Forbidden
1984
Ruth Friedländer
The Tragedy of Coriolanus
1984
TV Movie
Volumnia
Separate Tables
1983
TV Movie
Mrs. Railton-Bell
Storyboard
1983
TV Series
Mrs. Bressingham
Deathtrap
1982
Helga ten Dorp
Eyewitness
1981
Mrs. Sokolow
Great Performances
1980
TV Series
Winnie
Happy Days
1980
TV Movie
Winnie
Under This Sky
1979
TV Movie
Elizabeth Cady Stanton
Rich Kids
1979
Madeline's Mother
The Displaced Person
1977
TV Movie
Mrs. McIntyre
Arena
1976
TV Series documentary
Princess Kosmonopolis
Great Mysteries
1974
TV Series
Mrs. Purdy
Nicholas and Alexandra
1971
The Queen Mother Marie Fedorovna
King Lear
1971
Goneril
A Touch of Venus
1969
TV Series
Linda Carfield
ITV Play of the Week
1957-1966
TV Series
Rose / Mrs. Gunhild Borkman / Delia Moon
Thirty-Minute Theatre
1965
TV Series
Miss Collins
First Night
1964
TV Series
White Lady
Seven Seas to Calais
1962
Queen Elizabeth I
Festival
1962
TV Series
Rachel Verney
Drama Into Opera: Oedipus Rex
1961
TV Movie
Jocasta (in play "Oedipus Rex")
ITV Television Playhouse
1960
TV Series
Inez
The Scapegoat
1959
Francoise
Orders to Kill
1958
Léonie
BBC Sunday-Night Theatre
1953-1955
TV Series
Alcestis / Nurse Wayland / Candida / ...
Wednesday Theatre
1953
TV Series
Anne Whateley
Secret People
1952
Miss Jackson
The Philco-Goodyear Television Playhouse
1950
TV Series
The Duchess of Malfi
1949
TV Movie
The Duchess of Malfi
Antigone
1949
TV Movie
Antigone
Counsel's Opinion
1949
TV Movie
Leslie
Myself a Stranger
1949
TV Movie
Hazel Crawford
Another Shore
1948
Bucksie Vere-Brown
One Night with You
1948
Lina Linari
Thanks
Title
Year
Status
Character
The Stratford Adventure
1954
Documentary short acknowledgment: The National Film Board wishes to thank: for their active interest and help in the production of the film - as Miss Irene Worth
Self
Title
Year
Status
Character
The Kennedy Center Honors: A Celebration of the Performing Arts
1996
TV Special documentary
Herself
The 45th Annual Tony Awards
1991
TV Special
Herself - Winner: Best Featured Actor in a Play
Working in the Theatre
1990
TV Series documentary
Herself - Guest
The 32nd Annual Tony Awards
1978
TV Special
Herself - Presenter: American Theatre Wing
The 30th Annual Tony Awards
1976
TV Special
Herself - Winner: Best Actress in a Play
A Birthday Gala Tribute Noel Coward
1970
TV Movie
Herself - Performer
An Evening with...
1970
TV Series
Herself - Guest Reader
Omnibus
1969
TV Series documentary
Herself / Jill Johnson
Tempo
1968
TV Series
Herself / Celia Copplestone
Camera Three
1965
TV Series
Herself
The 19th Annual Tony Awards
1965
TV Special
Herself - Winner: Best Performance by Leading Actress in a Play
Mourir à Madrid
1963
Documentary
Co-Narrator (English version) (voice)
Men, Women and Clothes
1957
TV Series
Herself Modelling Fashions
The Stratford Adventure
1954
Documentary short
Herself
Won Awards
Year
Award
Ceremony
Nomination
Movie
1959
BAFTA Film Award
BAFTA Awards
Best British Actress
Orders to Kill (1958)
Nominated Awards
Year
Award
Ceremony
Nomination
Movie
1996
Primetime Emmy
Primetime Emmy Awards
Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series
Remember WENN (1996)
1994
CFCA Award
Chicago Film Critics Association Awards
Best Supporting Actress
Lost in Yonkers (1993)
1990
Primetime Emmy
Primetime Emmy Awards
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Special
The Shell Seekers (1989)
1984
Grammy
Grammy Awards
Best Spoken Word Album
1983
Saturn Award
Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films, USA
Best Supporting Actress
Deathtrap (1982)
Known for movies
Deathtrap (1982) as Helga ten Dorp
Lost in Yonkers (1993) as Grandma Kurnitz
Nicholas and Alexandra (1971) as The Queen Mother Marie Fedorovna
$1.1 Million
