Irene Dunne

Irene Dunne

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Irene Dunne (born Irene Marie Dunn, December 20, 1898 – September 4, 1990) was an American film actress and singer of the 1930s, 1940s and early 1950s. Dunne was nominated five times for the Academy Award for Best Actress, for her performances in Cimarron (1931), Theodora Goes Wild (1936), The Awful Truth (1937), Love Affair (1939) and I Remember Mama (1948). In 1985, Dunne was given Kennedy Center Honors for her services to the arts. Dunne was discovered by Hollywood while starring with the road company of Show Boat in 1929. She signed a contract with RKO and appeared in her first movie, Leathernecking (1930), a film version of the musical Present Arms. Already in her thirties when she made her first film, she would be in competition with younger actresses for roles, and found it advantageous to evade questions that would reveal her age. Her publicists encouraged the belief that she was born in 1901 or 1904, and the former is the date engraved on her tombstone. During the 1930s and 1940s, Dunne blossomed into a popular screen heroine in movies such as the original Back Street (1932) and the original Magnificent Obsession (1935) and re-created her role as Magnolia in Show Boat (1936), directed by James Whale. Love Affair (1939) is the first of three films she made opposite Charles Boyer. She starred, and sang "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes", in the Fred Astaire-Ginger Rogers film version of the musical Roberta (1935). Dunne was apprehensive about attempting her first comedy role, as the title character in Theodora Goes Wild (1936), but discovered that she enjoyed it. She turned out to possess an aptitude for comedy, with a flair for combining the elegant and the madcap, a quality she displayed in such films as The Awful Truth (1937) and My Favorite Wife (1940), both co-starring Cary Grant. Other roles include Julie Gardiner Adams in Penny Serenade (1941), again with Grant, Anna and the King of Siam (1946) as Anna Leonowens, Lavinia Day in Life with Father (1947), and Marta Hanson in I Remember Mama (1948). In The Mudlark (1950), she was nearly unrecognizable under heavy makeup as Queen Victoria. The comedy It Grows on Trees (1952) became Dunne's last screen performance, although she remained on the lookout for suitable film scripts for years afterwards. The following year, she was the opening act on the 1953 March of Dimes showcase in New York City. While in town, she made an appearance as the mystery guest on What's My Line? She also made television performances on Ford Theatre, General Electric Theater, and the Schlitz Playhouse of Stars, continuing to act until 1962. In 1952–53, Dunne played newspaper editor Susan Armstrong in the radio program Bright Star. The syndicated 30-minute comedy-drama also starred Fred MacMurray. Dunne commented in an interview that she had lacked the "terrifying ambition" of some other actresses and said, "I drifted into acting and drifted out. Acting is not everything. Living is."

  • Title: Irene Dunne
  • Popularity: 4.424
  • Known For: Acting
  • Birthday: 1898-12-20
  • Place of Birth: Louisville, Kentucky, USA
  • Homepage:
  • Also Known As: Irene Marie Dunn
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Irene Dunne Movies

  • 1936
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    Show Boat

    Show Boat

    6.7 1936 HD

    Despite her mother's objections, the naive young daughter of a show boat captain is thrust into the limelight as the company's new leading lady.

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  • 1935
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    Roberta

    Roberta

    7 1935 HD

    Football player John Kent tags along as Huck Haines and the Wabash Indianians travel to an engagement in Paris, only to lose it immediately. John and...

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  • 1944
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    Together Again

    Together Again

    5.4 1944 HD

    Anne Crandall is the mayor of a small town in Vermont. Her deceased husband had been the mayor for years and when he died, she was left to carry on...

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  • 1940
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    My Favorite Wife

    My Favorite Wife

    6.9 1940 HD

    Years after she was presumed dead in a shipwreck, Ellen Arden returns home to the surprise of her husband recently remarrying. But he too gets a...

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  • 1947
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    Life with Father

    Life with Father

    6.5 1947 HD

    A straitlaced turn-of-the-century father presides over a family of boys and the mother who really rules the roost.

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  • 1937
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    The Awful Truth

    The Awful Truth

    7.2 1937 HD

    Unfounded suspicions lead a married couple to begin divorce proceedings, whereupon they start undermining each other's attempts to find new romance.

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  • 1931
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    Cimarron

    Cimarron

    5.6 1931 HD

    When the government opens up the Oklahoma territory for settlement, restless Yancey Cravat claims a plot of the free land for himself and moves his...

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  • 1943
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    A Guy Named Joe

    A Guy Named Joe

    6.5 1943 HD

    A cocky Air Force pilot stationed in England during World War II falls for a daring female flier. After he's killed on a mission, he is sent back to...

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  • 1948
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    I Remember Mama

    I Remember Mama

    7 1948 HD

    Norwegian immigrant Marta Hanson keeps a firm but loving hand on her household of four children, a devoted husband and a highly-educated lodger who...

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  • 1946
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    Anna and the King of Siam

    Anna and the King of Siam

    6.1 1946 HD

    In 1862, a young Englishwoman becomes royal tutor in Siam and befriends the King.

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  • 1941
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    Penny Serenade

    Penny Serenade

    6.5 1941 HD

    Julie and Roger are a love-struck married couple who desperately want to have a child. Tragedy after tragedy gets in their way, as the two attempt to...

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  • 1933
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    Ann Vickers

    Ann Vickers

    5.9 1933 HD

    After a love affair ending in an abortion, a young prison reformer submerges herself in her work. She then falls for a controversial and married...

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  • 1934
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    Sweet Adeline

    Sweet Adeline

    5.7 1934 HD

    In 1898, composer Sid Barnett manages to get his sweetheart, Adeline the beer-garden singer, to sing the lead in his new Broadway operetta; this...

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  • 2017
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    Becoming Cary Grant

    Becoming Cary Grant

    6.8 2017 HD

    For the first time one of Hollywood's greatest stars tells his own story, in his own words. From a childhood of poverty to global fame, Cary Grant,...

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  • 1939
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    Love Affair

    Love Affair

    7.023 1939 HD

    A French playboy and an American former nightclub singer fall in love aboard a ship. They arrange to reunite six months later, if neither has changed...

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  • 1938
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    Joy of Living

    Joy of Living

    5.7 1938 HD

    Falling in love with the voice of Broadway chanteuse Margaret Garret, cocksure young tycoon Daniel Brewster decides to rescue the star from her...

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  • 1935
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    Magnificent Obsession

    Magnificent Obsession

    7.361 1935 HD

    A playboy tries to redeem himself after his careless behavior causes a great man's death.

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  • 1936
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    Theodora Goes Wild

    Theodora Goes Wild

    6.547 1936 HD

    The small-town prudes of Lynnfield are up in arms over 'The Sinner,' a sexy best-seller. They little suspect that author 'Caroline Adams' is really...

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  • 1937
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    High, Wide and Handsome

    High, Wide and Handsome

    6 1937 HD

    The setting is a small town in 1870s Pennsylvania. Sally Waterson and her father have stopped in town with their traveling medicine show, but when...

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  • 1939
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    Invitation to Happiness

    Invitation to Happiness

    1 1939 HD

    An egotistical boxer romances a rich backer's daughter.

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  • 1944
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    The White Cliffs of Dover

    The White Cliffs of Dover

    6.7 1944 HD

    American Susan travels with her father to England for a vacation. Invited to a society ball, Susan meets Sir John Ashwood and marries him after a...

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  • 1931
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    The Stolen Jools

    The Stolen Jools

    5.603 1931 HD

    Famous actress Norma Shearer's jewels are stolen… (Star-packed promotional short film intended to raise funds for the National Variety Artists...

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  • 1932
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    Thirteen Women

    Thirteen Women

    6.3 1932 HD

    Thirteen women who were schoolmates ask a swami to cast their horoscopes. The news they receive is not good for any of them.

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  • 1941
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    Unfinished Business

    Unfinished Business

    5.3 1941 HD

    Starting with a cruel joke – a couple of callow men make a bet that one of them can seduce the woman sharing their train compartment –...

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  • 1933
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    The Secret of Madame Blanche

    The Secret of Madame Blanche

    4 1933 HD

    A murder trial reunites a former chorus girl and her son, a grandson of an English aristocrat.

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  • 1931
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    Bachelor Apartment

    Bachelor Apartment

    6.2 1931 HD

    A New York playboy, Wayne Carter, dates wild women until he falls for a hard-working stenographer, Helene Andrews.

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  • 1932
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    Symphony of Six Million

    Symphony of Six Million

    5.4 1932 HD

    A young doctor escapes the slums of New York City to make his fortune as a Park Avenue doctor. When a fatal mistake results in tragedy his resolve to...

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  • 1945
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    Over 21

    Over 21

    4.7 1945 HD

    A woman screenwriter lives in a shabby bungalow in order to be near her husband, a 39-year-old newspaper editor who has just joined the army.

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  • 1933
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    The Silver Cord

    The Silver Cord

    7.1 1933 HD

    A domineering matriarch is less than happy when her son brings home his new bride. She immediately sets to work at sabotaging their marriage as well...

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  • 1932
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    Back Street

    Back Street

    6.1 1932 HD

    A woman's love for and devotion to a married man results in her being relegated to the "back streets" of his life.

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  • 1934
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    The Age of Innocence

    The Age of Innocence

    5.4 1934 HD

    An engaged attorney and a divorcee fall for each other in 1870s Manhattan.

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  • 1950
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    The Mudlark

    The Mudlark

    6.5 1950 HD

    It's 1875 and a young street urchin wants to see Queen Victoria...

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  • 1933
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    If I Were Free

    If I Were Free

    5 1933 HD

    A recently divorced interior decorator falls in love with a married barrister.

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  • 1942
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    Lady in a Jam

    Lady in a Jam

    5.7 1942 HD

    A psychiatrist's patient, a nutty heiress, travels west to find gold in her grandfather's abandoned mine. The psychiatrist, unable to talk her out of...

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  • 1931
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    Consolation Marriage

    Consolation Marriage

    6.1 1931 HD

    A sportswriter jilted by his globe-trotting girlfriend marries a woman jilted by her boyfriend.

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  • 1931
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    The Great Lover

    The Great Lover

    5.3 1931 HD

    An aspiring classical singer is romanced by both a famous opera star and his younger understudy.

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  • 1939
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    When Tomorrow Comes

    When Tomorrow Comes

    5.3 1939 HD

    A famous concert pianist unhappily married to a woman who suffers from mental illness falls in love with a waitress.

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  • 1934
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    Stingaree

    Stingaree

    5.9 1934 HD

    A young lady named Hilda who works as a servant for the wealthy Clarksons, sheep farmers, and dreams of being a great singer. An upcoming visit by...

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  • 1950
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    Never a Dull Moment

    Never a Dull Moment

    5.4 1950 HD

    Kay Kingsley, a sophisticated and successful songwriter in New York City. falls in love with a widowed rancher, Chris Heyward, she meets at the...

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  • 1934
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    This Man Is Mine

    This Man Is Mine

    5.5 1934 HD

    The seemingly happy relationship between Tony and Jim is threatened when his manipulative, seductive former fiancee visits.

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  • 1933
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    No Other Woman

    No Other Woman

    5.2 1933 HD

    A steelworker and his aspiring wife make millions when they become partners in a dyeworks. Unfortunately, success does not bring happiness.

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  • 1952
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    It Grows on Trees

    It Grows on Trees

    7.7 1952 HD

    The Baxters are a typical happy American family trying to live on too little money. Mrs. Polly Baxter acquires two mysterious trees that got into a...

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  • 2022
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    Rat Pack

    Rat Pack

    9 2022 HD

    In the 1950s, a small group of artists monopolized the attention of the cameras and the public. Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Joey...

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  • 1988
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    Cary Grant: A Celebration of a Leading Man

    Cary Grant: A Celebration of a Leading Man

    7 1988 HD

    A retrospective of the life and career of actor Cary Grant, including clips from his films and interviews with his friends and co-workers.

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  • 1930
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    Leathernecking

    Leathernecking

    1 1930 HD

    Chick Evans is a Marine private in Honolulu, Hawaii. He falls for society girl Delphine Witherspoon, and begins to scheme as to how to win her over.

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  • 1935
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    Things You Never See on the Screen

    Things You Never See on the Screen

    5 1935 HD

    Flubs and bloopers that occurred on the set of some of the major Warner Bros. pictures of 1935.

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  • 1943
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    Show-Business at War

    Show-Business at War

    7 1943 HD

    A multi-studio effort to show the newsreel audience the progress of the Hollywood war effort.

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  • 1975
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    Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?

    Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?

    5.7 1975 HD

    Period music, film clips and newsreel footage combined into a visual exploration of the American entertainment industry during the Great Depression.

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  • 1944
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    Twenty Years After

    Twenty Years After

    6 1944 HD

    This short celebrates the 20th anniversary of MGM. Segments are shown from several early hits, then from a number of 1944 releases.

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  • 1950
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    You Can Change The World

    You Can Change The World

    5.8 1950 HD

    Comedian Jack Benny has his butler, Rochester, call several of his celebrity friends over to the house. Benny introduces them to a Catholic priest,...

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  • 1936
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    Screen Snapshots (Series 16, No. 1)

    Screen Snapshots (Series 16, No. 1)

    6 1936 HD

    Viewers are provided a visit to Ken Maynard's private circus; Bette Davis poses for her portrait; Frank McHugh plays with his children; a visit to...

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  • 2009
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    1939: Hollywood's Greatest Year

    1939: Hollywood's Greatest Year

    7.5 2009 HD

    This documentary focuses on 1939, considered to be Hollywood's greatest year, with film clips and insight into what made the year so special.

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  • 1985
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    Musical Comedy Tonight III

    Musical Comedy Tonight III

    1 1985 HD

    Sylvia Fine hosts this musical show featuring some great American singing and dancing stars, featuring music by Gershwin, Rodgers & Hart, Berlin and...

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  • 1950
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    The Colgate Comedy Hour

    The Colgate Comedy Hour

    7 1950 HD

    The Colgate Comedy Hour is an American comedy-musical variety series that aired live on the NBC network from 1950 to 1955. The show starred many...

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  • 1953
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    General Electric Theater

    General Electric Theater

    6 1953 HD

    General Electric Theater is an American anthology series hosted by Ronald Reagan that was broadcast on CBS radio and television. The series was...

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  • 1950
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    The Jack Benny Program

    The Jack Benny Program

    7.733 1950 HD

    Laugh along with funnyman Jack Benny as he brings his underplayed humor to TV along with regular performers from his radio show days.

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  • 1953
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    The Oscars

    The Oscars

    7 1953 HD

    An annual American awards ceremony honoring cinematic achievements in the film industry. The various category winners are awarded a copy of a...

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  • 1959
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    The DuPont Show with June Allyson

    The DuPont Show with June Allyson

    6.3 1959 HD

    The DuPont Show with June Allyson is an American anthology drama series which aired on CBS from September 21, 1959 to April 3, 1961 with rebroadcasts...

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  • 1978
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    The Kennedy Center Honors

    The Kennedy Center Honors

    7.333 1978 HD

    The Kennedy Center Honors is an annual honor given to those in the performing arts for their lifetime of contributions to American culture.

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  • 1953
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    Letter to Loretta

    Letter to Loretta

    6.2 1953 HD

    Letter to Loretta is an American anthology drama series telecast on NBC from September 1953 to June 1961 for a total of 165 episodes. The filmed show...

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  • 1959
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    The Big Party

    The Big Party

    1 1959 HD

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  • 1950
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    What's My Line?

    What's My Line?

    6.7 1950 HD

    Four panelists must determine guests' occupations - and, in the case of famous guests, while blindfolded, their identity - by asking only "yes" or...

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