Editing Irene Dunne (section)

==Hollywood retirement==
[[File:Christening of the Liberty Ship S. S. Carole Lombard 1944.jpg|thumb|Dunne christens SS ''Carole Lombard'' next to [[Louis B. Mayer]]. Standing behind her is [[Clark Gable]], [[Carole Lombard]]'s widower, and Lombard's secretary Madalynne Field.|253x253px]]
Dunne was a presenter at the [[3rd British Academy Film Awards|1950 BAFTAs]] when she was in London filming ''The Mudlark'',<ref>{{cite news |title=Irene Dunne to present "Oscars" to Britons |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/63823325/irene-dunne-presents-at-baftas/ |work=Los Angeles Times |date=May 31, 1950 |page=18}}</ref> and then represented Hollywood for the [[12th Venice International Film Festival]] in 1951.<ref>{{cite news |title=[Clipped From Detroit Free Press] |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/63812117/detroit-free-press/ |work=[[Detroit Free Press]] |date=September 2, 1951 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201222124514/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/63812117/detroit-free-press/ |archive-date=2020-12-22 |url-status=live |page=39}}</ref> She later appeared at 1953's [[March of Dimes]] showcase in New York City to introduce two little girls nicknamed the Poster Children, who performed a dramatization about [[Polio eradication|polio research]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Stars Shine in Gala Fashion Revue for March of the Dimes |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/654843473/?terms=irene%2Bdunne%2Bmarch%2Bof%2Bdimes |work=The News and Observer |date=1953-02-02 |page=8 |quote=Basil O'Connor, president of the Foundatioin, opened the show. Irene Dunne introduced the 1953 March of Dimes Poster Children... |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |access-date=June 15, 2020 |archive-date=June 15, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200615095453/https://www.newspapers.com/image/654843473/?terms=irene%2Bdunne%2Bmarch%2Bof%2Bdimes |url-status=live }}</ref>

She accepted [[Walt Disney]]'s offer to present at [[Disneyland]]'s "Dedication Day" in 1955, and christened the [[Mark Twain Riverboat]] with a bottle containing water from several major rivers across the United States.{{sfnp|Bochenek|2015}}<ref>{{cite news |last1=Humphrey |first1=Hal |title='Disneyland' Dedication to Draw Notables |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/296376411/ |work=Oakland Tribune |date=1955-07-11 |quote=Irene Dunne, a personal friend of [Walt] Disney, will christen the ''Mark Twain'', a 105-foot {{not a typo|sternwheeler}} which plies its way around a three-quarter mile canal in Frontierland. |access-date=June 13, 2020 |archive-date=June 13, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200613204132/http://www.newspapers.com/image/296376411/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="derby">{{cite web |author1=Susan Pennington |author2=Chris Beachum |title=Irene Dunne movies: 12 greatest films ranked from worst to best |url=https://www.goldderby.com/feature/irene-dunne-movies-12-greatest-films-ranked-from-worst-to-best-1203242692/ |website=Gold Derby |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200802011515/https://www.goldderby.com/feature/irene-dunne-movies-12-greatest-films-ranked-from-worst-to-best-1203242692/ |archive-date=August 2, 2020 |date=December 20, 2019 |url-status=bot: unknown |access-date=May 26, 2020 }}</ref> Years before, Dunne had also christened the [[List of Liberty ships (A-F)|''SS Carole Lombard'']].<ref>{{cite news |title=Launch S.S. Carole Lombard Tomorrow |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/526280190/ |work=[[The Herald-News]] |date=1944-01-14 |location=[[Passaic, New Jersey]] |page=18 |quote=Actress Irene Dunne will break the wine bottle on the S.S. Carole Lombard's steel prow... |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |url-access=subscription |access-date=June 13, 2020 |archive-date=June 13, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200613204702/http://www.newspapers.com/image/526280190/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Liberty Ship Carole Lombard Sent Down Ways |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/20842456/the-los-angeles-times/ |work=Los Angeles Times |date=1944-01-16 |quote=''Best of Luck'' – Capt. Gable, [[Louis B. Mayer]], head of M.G.M., and Irene Dunne, waving farewells as the S.S. Carole Lombard slides down ways of Calship yards. |access-date=June 13, 2020 |archive-date=August 1, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200801221503/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/20842456/the-los-angeles-times/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

Dunne was the only actress to be appointed a member of the [[California Arts Commission]] between 1967 and 1970.<ref name="MLM"/><ref name="docents">{{cite news |title=Docents Do Great Job For Blind |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/28461559/ |work=The San Francisco Examiner |date=January 13, 1970 |page=17}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Gov. Reagan Appoints Wife to Arts Panel |url=https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/51900/images/News-CA-PR_3.1967_08_11-0042?treeid=&personid=&hintid=&queryId=5a9f8cae43329ae9a74d8d7066b5248f&usePUB=true&_phsrc=pMC8&_phstart=successSource&usePUBJs=true&pId=507259946 |work=Press-Telegram |date=1967-08-11 |page=C-11}}</ref> The three years were spent developing a museum exhibit called "Dimension" for [[visually impaired]] visitors<ref>{{cite news |title=Art Perception through the Sense of Touch |work=San Francisco Chronicle-Examiner |date=1970-01-04 |quote=The purpose of the show was to make art more accessible to the blind and give the sighted a new perspective.}}</ref> which officially opened on January 12, 1970,<ref name="docents"/> in the [[M.H. de Young Memorial Museum]],<ref>M.H. de Young Memorial Museum., Sachko, D., California Arts Commission., & Touring Art Gallery for the Sighted and the Blind. (1969). Dimension, an exhibition of sculpture for the sighted and the blind. Exhibition: San Francisco, Jan. 12 – Feb. 22.</ref><ref name="docents"/> and toured California for eleven months.{{sfnp|Schultz|1991|p=24}} Dunne recorded a talking booklet,<ref>{{Cite AV media|title=A Guide to "Dimension: An Exhibition of Sculpture for the Sighted and Blind"|type=Spoken word (audio)|publisher=[[Capitol Records|Capitol]]|ref=SPRO-4924/4925}}</ref> explaining the history of the 30 sculptures on display and inviting guests to touch.{{sfnp|Schultz|1991|p=24}}

=== Activism ===
During the Second World War, Dunne joined the Beverly Hills United Service Organization,{{sfnp|Schultz|1991|p=180}} and co-founded the [[Clark Gable]]'s Hollywood Victory Committee.{{sfnp|Gehring|2003|p=135}} It organized servicemen entertainment and war-bond sales tours on behalf of willing Hollywood participants.{{refn|group=Note|A few video clips of Dunne during bond tours appeared in the movies ''[[Show Business at War]]'' (1943) and ''[[Follow the Boys (1944 film)|Follow the Boys]]'' (1944).{{sfnp|Gehring|2003|p=135}}}} The National War Savings Program awarded her a certificate for her work from their Treasury Department.{{sfnp|Schultz|1991|p=180}}

In her retirement, she devoted herself primarily to humanitarianism.{{sfnp|Gehring|2003|page=168-170}} Some of the organizations she worked with include the Sister Kenny Foundation,<ref>{{cite news |title=Irene Dunne Takes Lead in Charity Work |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/63807981/ |work=Los Angeles Times |date=December 30, 1951 |page=59}}</ref> the [[American Cancer Society]]{{sfnp|Bochenek|2015}} (becoming Chairwoman of its Field Army in 1948),<ref>{{cite news |title=Cancer Society Names Irene Dunne to High U.S. Post |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/63704226/cancer-society-names-irene-dunne-to-high/ |work=Los Angeles Evening Citizen News |date=22 April 1948 |page=15}}</ref><ref name="chairman">{{cite news |title=Laetare Winner is Irene Dunne |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/576301054/ |work=The Tablet |date=1949-05-02}}</ref> the Los Angeles Orphanage,<ref name="courier">{{cite news |title=Irene Dunne Returns in Television Drama |work=The Press Courier |date=February 10, 1959}}</ref> the Archdiocesan Council of Catholic Women,<ref name="MLM"/> and was Co-Chairman of the [[American Red Cross]].<ref name="chairman"/>{{sfnp|Bochenek|2015}}<ref name="Moines">{{Cite news|date=1949-03-28|title=Irene Dunne Named Top Member of Catholic Laity|page=3|work=The Des Moines Register|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/57886864/the-des-moines-register/|url-status=live|access-date=August 23, 2020|archive-date=September 14, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200914175536/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/57886864/the-des-moines-register/}}</ref> She was elected president of [[Santa Monica, California|Santa Monica's]] St. John's Hospital and Health Clinic<ref name="courier"/> in 1950<ref name=john>{{cite news |title=Irene Dunne Heads Guild of Hospital |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/63825809/ |work=Los Angeles Times |date=December 14, 1950 |pages=78}}</ref> (she resigned in 1966 to work in the developing council){{sfnmp|Schultz|1991|1p=23|Schultz|1991|2p=184}} and became a board member of [[Technicolor]] in 1965, the first woman ever elected to the board of directors.<ref>{{cite news |title=Irene Dunne: From Boards to the Board |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/53408974/the-san-francisco-examiner/ |work=[[The San Francisco Examiner]] |date=1965-02-16 |page=28 |access-date=June 14, 2020 |archive-date=June 14, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200614103024/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/53408974/the-san-francisco-examiner/ |url-status=live }}</ref>{{sfnp|Gehring|2003|page=176}} She established an [[African Americans|African American]] school for Los Angeles,<ref name="well done"/> negotiated donations to St. John's through box office results,<ref>{{cite magazine|author=Irene Dunne|title=If You Want Success...|magazine=[[Screenland]]|issue=July 1951|quote=More recently, I've worked with heart and cancer foundations, Red Cross and especially the St. John's Hospital for which our premiere of "[[The Mudlark]]" raised $137.000 for a new building wing.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|date=1963-02-10|title=Film Premiere to Help: St. John's Hospital Addition Advanced|page=2|work=Los Angeles Times|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/58160947/|url-status=live|quote=The premiere [of ''[[How the West Was Won (film)|How the West Was Won]]''] is sponsored by the St. John's Hospital Foundation. [...] Irene Dunne, who became president of the St. John's Hospital Foundation in 1951, was instrumental in arranging the benefit premiere.|archive-date=September 14, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200914175539/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/58160947/the-los-angeles-times/}}</ref> and Hebrew University Rebuilding Fun's sponsors committee.<ref name="MLM"/><ref name="about"/> [[Harold Stassen]] appointed her chairwoman for the [[American Heart Association]]'s<ref>{{cite news |title=Irene Dunne Voted Notre Dame Honor |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/367365319/ |work=[[Baltimore Sun]] |date=1949-03-28 |page=11}}</ref>{{sfnp|Bochenek|2015}} women's committee on February 7, 1949,<ref name="MLM">{{cite book |last1=McAuliffe |first1=Martin L. |title=Profiles of Excellence |date=1970 |publisher=[[University of Evansville Press]] |location=[[Evansville, Indiana]] |pages=93–96 |url=https://archive.org/details/profilesofexcell0000unse/}}</ref><ref name="well done"/><ref>{{cite magazine |title=Hollywood's 10 Best Citizens |url=https://archive.org/details/modernscreen4041unse/page/n273/ |magazine=Modern Screen |volume=40 |issue=3 |date=1950 |page=73}}</ref> and she held the position until February 28.{{sfnp|Schultz|1991|p=182}} She appeared in a celebrity-rostered television special ''Benefit Show for Retarded Children'' (1955)<ref name="benefit">{{cite news |last1=Anderson |first1=Jack E. |title=TV-Radio Vie with Eats Today |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/63711407/ |work=[[The Miami Herald]] |date=1955-11-24 |page=18-B |quote=At 3:30 WITV (Ch. 17) is telecasting the National Association for Retarded Children benefit show. Jack Benny is [[emcee]]ing and everybody from Irene {{sic|Dunn}} to [[Art Linkletter]] is in it.}}</ref> with [[Jack Benny]] as host.{{sfnp|Gehring|2003|p=175}} Dunne also donated to refurbishments in Madison, Indiana, funding the manufacture of Camp Louis Ernst Boy Scout's gate in 1939<ref>{{cite news |title=Irene Dunne Remembers Home Town Scout Camp |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/63666139/ |work=The Indianapolis News|url-status=live |date=1939-06-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201120204203/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/63666139/irene-dunne-camp-louis-ernst-boy/ |archive-date=2020-11-20 |page=10}}</ref> and the Broadway Fountain's 1976 restoration.{{sfnp|Bochenek|2015}}<ref name="sign"/> In 1987, she founded the Irene Dunne Guild, a foundation which remains "instrumental in raising funds to support programs and services at St. John's."<ref>{{cite web |title=Saint John's Health Center Foundation |url=https://saintjohnsfoundation.org/support/ |website=Saint John's Foundation |access-date=15 May 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200801214950/https://saintjohnsfoundation.org/support/ |archive-date=August 1, 2020 |url-status=bot: unknown }}</ref> It was reported that the Guild had raised $20 million by the time of her death.<ref name="dies88"/>

Dunne reflected in 1951: "If I began living in Hollywood today, I would certainly do one thing that I did when I arrived, and that is to be active in charity. If one is going to take something out of a community—any community—one must put something in, too."<ref>{{cite magazine|author=Irene Dunne|title=If You Want Success...|magazine=[[Screenland]]|issue=July 1951}}</ref> She also hoped that charity would encourage submissive women to find independence: "I wish women would be more direct. [...] I was amazed when some quiet little mouse of a woman was given a job which seemed to be out of all proportion to her capabilities. Then I saw the drive with which she undertook that job and put it through to a great finish. It was both inspiring and surprising. I want women to be individuals. They should not lean on their husbands' opinions and be merely echoes of the men of the family[.]"<ref>{{cite news |last1=Wilson |first1=Bess M. |title=Irene Dunne Describes Charity as Key to Women's Services : 'More Direct Approach Advised' |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/385606669 |work=Los Angeles Times |date=1951-04-20 |pages=1–2 |access-date=June 13, 2020 |archive-date=August 9, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200809073649/http://www.newspapers.com/image/385606669/ |url-status=live }} ({{url|https://www.newspapers.com/image/385606682|other half of article}})</ref>

=== American delegate to the United Nations ===
In 1957, [[Dwight David Eisenhower|President Eisenhower]] appointed Dunne one of five alternative U.S. delegates to the United Nations in recognition of her interest in [[international relations|international affairs]] and Roman Catholic and [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] causes.<ref>{{cite news|title=Ike Appoints Irene Dunne to U.N. Post|date=August 10, 1957|work=Palm Beach Post|page=4|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/53370535/|via=[[Newspapers.com]]|access-date=June 13, 2020|archive-date=September 14, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200914175540/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/53370535/the-palm-beach-post/|url-status=live}}</ref> Dunne admired the U.N.'s dedication to creating [[world peace]],<ref>{{harvp|Bell|1958}}: 'Says Irene: "You never for a moment forget that war and peace and life itself are at stake. When I go back home after this session of the General Assembly, I'll be an enthusiastic saleslady for the U.N. as an essential force [for] world peace in this age of atoms and outer-space moons."'</ref><ref name="gentlewoman">{{cite news|date=1958-03-05|title=Irene Dunne: Gentlewoman|work=Los Angeles Times|url=http://www.irenedunnesite.com/press/1958-irene-dunne-gentlewoman/|url-status=usurped|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160430032001/http://www.irenedunnesite.com/press/1958-irene-dunne-gentlewoman/|archive-date=2016-04-30}}</ref> and was inspired by colleagues' beliefs that Hollywood influenced the world.<ref>{{harvp|Bell|1958}}: '"There are a great many thoughtful people in Hollywood," Irene says, "especially among the writers, directors, and technicians. I think they are aware of Hollywood's impact on people all over the world, but even they have no idea of how tremendous that impact is. I know now—from talking with the other U.N. delegates. And I'm going home and try to tell the people back there what an important contribution Hollywood can make, or how much harm it can do."'</ref> On September 12, she was sworn in with [[Herman B Wells|Herman B. Wells]], [[Walter H. Judd]], [[A. S. J. Carnahan]], [[Philip M. Klutznick]] and [[George Meany]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Meany, Many Others Take Oaths As Delegates to UN |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/617898080/ |work=The Sacramento Bee |date=1957-09-13 |page=A-8 |access-date=August 24, 2020 |archive-date=September 14, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200914175541/https://www.newspapers.com/image/617898080/ |url-status=live }}</ref> She held delegacy for two years and addressed the [[U.N. General Assembly|General Assembly]] twice.<ref>{{cite news |title=Irene Dunne |url=http://projects.latimes.com/hollywood/star-walk/irene-dunne/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200802012242/http://projects.latimes.com/hollywood/star-walk/irene-dunne/ |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-date=August 2, 2020 |access-date=May 16, 2020 }}</ref> She gave her delegacy its own anthem: "[[Getting to Know You (song)|Getting to Know You]]" because "it's so simple, and yet so fundamental in international relations today."<ref name="harvp|Bell|1958">{{harvp|Bell|1958}}</ref> Dunne later described her Assembly request for $21 million to help [[Palestinian refugees]] as her "biggest thrill,"<ref>{{cite news|title=Irene Dunne Describes Work as U.N. Delegate|work=[[Los Angeles Times]]|date=1958-02-03|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/381194252/?terms=Irene%2BDunne%2BDescribes%2BWork%2Bas%2BU.N.%2BDelegate|url-access=subscription|page=9|via=[[Newspapers.com]]|access-date=June 13, 2020|archive-date=June 13, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200613204128/http://www.newspapers.com/image/381194252/?terms=Irene%2BDunne%2BDescribes%2BWork%2Bas%2BU.N.%2BDelegate|url-status=live}}</ref> and called her delegacy career the "highlight of my life."<ref>{{cite news |title=Irene Dunne Finds Career in U.N. "Highlight of My Life" |work=[[New York Herald Tribune]] |date=1957-10-16 |page=3}}</ref> She also concluded, "I came away greatly impressed with the work the U.N. does in its limited field—and it does have certain limits. I think we averted a serious situation in Syria, which might have been much worse without a forum to hear it... And I'm much impressed with the work the U.N. agencies do. I'm especially interested in [[UNICEF]]'s work with children[,] and the [[World Health Organization|health organization]] [.]"<ref>{{cite news |last1=Thomas |first1=Bob |title=Actress Found U.N. Exciting |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/53409272/ |location=[[Hanover, Pennsylvania]] |work=The Evening Sun |date=February 27, 1958 |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |access-date=June 14, 2020 |archive-date=September 14, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200914175554/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/53409272/the-evening-sun/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Political views===
Dunne was a lifelong [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] and served as a member of the Californian delegation in 1948's Republican National Convention and campaigned for [[Thomas Dewey]] in the [[1944 United States presidential election]]<ref>{{Cite book | title=When Hollywood Was Right: How Movie Stars, Studio Moguls, and Big Business Remade American Politics| isbn=9781107650282| last1=Critchlow| first1=Donald T.| date=2013|pages=67| publisher=Cambridge University Press}}</ref> and [[Ronald Reagan]] in the [[1966 California gubernatorial election]].<ref>{{Cite book | title=When Hollywood Was Right: How Movie Stars, Studio Moguls, and Big Business Remade American Politics| isbn=9781107650282| last1=Critchlow| first1=Donald T.| date=2013|pages=192| publisher=Cambridge University Press}}</ref>{{sfnmp|Gehring|2003|1p=163|Schultz|1991|2p=182}} She accepted the U.N. delegacy offer because she viewed the U.N. as [[apolitical]].<ref name="lateran"/><ref>{{harvp|''McCall's''|1964}}: "Ever since my United Nations work, for instance, they've been saying that I've gone into politics. The United Nations is a nonpolitical body."</ref> She later explained: "I'm a [[Richard Nixon|Nixon]] Republican, not a [[Barry Goldwater|Goldwater]] one.{{refn|group=Note|Dunne supported Nixon in the [[1950 United States Senate election in California]] and Goldwater in the [[1964 United States presidential election]].<ref>{{Cite book| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QfHXAAAAQBAJ&q=andy%20devine| title=When Hollywood Was Right: How Movie Stars, Studio Moguls, and Big Business Remade American Politics| isbn=978-1107650282| last1=Critchlow| first1=Donald T.| date=2013| publisher=Cambridge University Press| access-date=June 16, 2020| archive-date=September 14, 2020| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200914175526/https://www.google.com/books/edition/When_Hollywood_Was_Right/QfHXAAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=andy+devine| url-status=live}}</ref> She also seconded [[Earl Warren]]'s vice presidential nomination in 1948.{{sfnp|Schultz|1991|p=182}}}} I don't like extremism in any case. The extreme rights do as much harm as the extreme lefts."<ref name="la1970"/> Her large input in politics created an assumption that she was a member of the "Hollywood right-wing fringe," which Dunne denied, calling herself "foolish" for being involved years before other celebrities did.<ref name="lateran"/>