Irene Genna

Irene Genna (4 January 1931 – 6 February 1986) was a Greek-born Italian film and television actress.

Life and career

Born in Athens by an Italian father and a Greek mother, Genna made her high school studies in Greece, then she moved to Italy with her family. In Rome she enrolled at the school of the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma and she followed the acting courses held by actress Teresa Franchini.

Genna debuted at a very young age in Mario Mattoli's The Two Orphans. She had her breakout in 1949, with Renato Castellani's neorealist post-war drama It's Forever Springtime, in which she also had her first major role. In spite of the critical appreciation she received, Genna's career mainly continued in less ambitious productions, including several RAI TV-series. In 1957 Genna married Amedeo Nazzari with whom she had a daughter, Evelina, also an actress, and she retired from showbusinnes.

Selected filmography

Genna

Genna (元和) was a Japanese era name (年号,, nengō,, lit. "year" name") coming after Keichō and before Kan'ei. This period spanned the years from July 1615 to February 1624. The reigning emperor was Go-Mizunoo-tennō (後水尾天皇).

Change of era

The Siege of Osaka was a series of battles undertaken by the Tokugawa shogunate against the Toyotomi clan, and ending in that clan's destruction. Divided into two stages (the "Winter Campaign" and the "Summer Campaign"), and lasting from 1614 through 1615, the siege put an end to the last major armed opposition to the establishment of an enduring Tokugawa shogunate. The end of this period of fighting is also sometimes called the Genna Armistice (元和偃武,, Genna-enbu) because the era name was changed from Keichō to Genna immediately following its ultimate resolution.

Irene (1940 film)

Irene (1940) is an American musical film produced and directed by Herbert Wilcox. The screenplay by Alice Duer Miller is based on the book of the 1919 stage musical of the same name by James Montgomery, who had adapted it from his play Irene O'Dare. The score features songs with music by Harry Tierney and lyrics by Joseph McCarthy.

Plot

Upholsterer's assistant Irene O'Dare meets wealthy Don Marshall while she is measuring chairs for Mrs. Herman Vincent at her Long Island estate. Charmed by the young girl, Don anonymously purchases Madame Lucy's, an exclusive Manhattan boutique, and instructs newly hired manager Mr. Smith to offer Irene a job as a model. She soon catches the eye of socialite Bob Vincent, whose mother is hosting a ball at the family mansion. In order to promote Madame Lucy's dress line, Mr. Smith arranges for his models to be invited to the soiree.

Irene accidentally ruins the gown she was given to wear and substitutes a quaint blue dress belonging to her mother, and it creates a sensation. Irene is mistaken for the niece of Ireland's Lady O'Dare and, in order to publicize his collection, Mr. Smith decides to exploit the error and moves Irene into a Park Avenue apartment. Dressed in furs and draped with diamonds while escorted around town by Bob, Irene's appearance prompts gossip columnist Biffy Webster to suggest she is a kept woman. Outraged, Irene demands Madame Lucy protect her reputation by revealing the truth, only to discover Don is the owner of the shop.

Irene (ketch)

Irene is a 100-foot ketch built in Bridgwater in 1907, the last ship built in the docks and the only ketch built in the West Country still sailing. It was built by FJ Carver and Son and launched in May 1907. The Blake Museum in Bridgwater opened an exhibit about the ship in 2010.

She was first owned by Symons of Bridgwater and named after Irene Symons. For 53 years the ship was a trading vessel for bricks, tiles and other goods, mainly in the Severn estuary and to Ireland. She was owned by the Bridgwater Brick and Tile Company. The ship retired from service in the 1960s and was found derelict by Dr Leslie Morrish, the present owner, in 1965. The ship was restored in Brentford, Middlesex, and the cargo hold was converted into quarters for 15.

The ship was a charter vessel in the Caribbean until she sank due to a fire in 2003 and was restored once more. She ran aground off Arran on the way to the Tall Ships Race in Greenock July 2011, before being refloated. The ship sailed from Plymouth with an international crew called the New Dawn Traders to promote the transport of goods by sailing ships and to take goods including beer, olive oil, cocoa and coffee over the Atlantic.

Irene (musical)

Irene is a musical with a book by James Montgomery, lyrics by Joseph McCarthy, and music by Harry Tierney. Based on Montgomery's play Irene O'Dare, it is set in New York City's Upper West Side and focuses on immigrant shop assistant Irene O'Dare, who is introduced to Long Island's high society when she's hired by one of its leading grande dames to help redecorate her home.

The musical opened on Broadway in 1919 and ran for 675 performances, at the time the record for the longest-running musical in Broadway history, which it maintained for nearly two decades. It starred Edith Day in the title role, who repeated the role in the London production. It was revived on Broadway in 1923, filmed twice, and had a major Broadway revival in 1973, starring Debbie Reynolds, followed by a 1976 London run that lasted 974 performances.

Early productions

The original Broadway production, directed by Edward Royce, opened on November 18, 1919 at the Vanderbilt Theatre, where it ran for 675 performances, at the time the record for the longest-running show in Broadway history, one it maintained for nearly two decades. The cast included Edith Day as Irene, Walter Regan as tycoon Donald Marshall, Eva Puck as Helen Cheston, Gladys Miller as Jane Gilmour, and Bobby Watson as 'Madame Lucy', a flamboyant male dress designer. The show made a star of Day, who departed the cast after five months to recreate her role at London's Empire Theatre, where it ran for 399 performances. Day was replaced in the Broadway production by Helen Shipman.