Editing Irene Dunne (section)

=== 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>