Irene Manning

 Irene Manning, born Inez Harvuot (July 17, 1912 – May 28, 2004)

Manning performed with a four-woman USO show in England and the United States and recorded with Glenn Miller and his Army Air Force Band. Miller was involved in making swing records to be broadcast into Nazi Germany as part of the American Broadcasting System in Europe. Because she had been a light opera star prior to World War II and was fluent in singing in German, she was asked to sing some American pop tunes which had been translated into German vocals. She was credited as Hope Manning in her first films, as she broke in with the Republic Studios system in 1936. Her first film placed her as the lead actress in a western, The Old Corral (1938), opposite Gene Autry. By the early 1940's, Irene was employed in the Warner Bros. studio system as a contract actress and singer. She is probably best remembered as diva "Fay Templeton" in Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942), opposite James Cagney.

She also starred with Humphrey Bogart in The Big Shot (1942) and with Dennis Morgan in both The Desert Song (1943) and Shine On, Harvest Moon (1944). On Broadway, Manning performed in The Day Before Spring (1945) and Susanna, Don't You Cry (1939). After working in England, she returned to the U.S. in 1951, but soon retired to teach acting and voice. Manning died on May 28, 2004, from congestive heart failure at her home in San Carlos, California, at the age of 91. Upon her death, she was cremated with her ashes scattered at sea.