Worth, Irene (1916–2002)

American actress and director. Pronunciation: eye-REENY. Born Harriet Elizabeth Abrams, June 23, 1916, in Lincoln, Nebraska; died Mar 10, 2002, in New York, NY; University of California at Los Angeles, BEdn, 1937; studied for stage in London under Elsie Fogarty, 1944–45.

Made stage debut while touring with Elizabeth Bergner in Escape Me Never (1942); made Broadway debut in The Two Mrs. Carrolls (1942) and UK debut as Elsie in The Time of Your Life in Hammersmith (1946); remaining in England, played a variety of parts, including that of Cella Copplestone in Eliot's The Cocktail Party; performed with Old Vic (1951–53), as Desdemona in Othello, Helena in A Midsummer Night's Dream, Catherine de Vausselles in The Other Heart and Portia in The Merchant of Venice; co-founded the Stratford Festival in Ontario, Canada (1953); joined Royal Shakespeare Company to play the Marquise de Merteuil in The Art of Seduction (Les liaisons dangereuses, 1962); originated title role in Albee's Tiny Alice (1964), for which she received a Tony Award; received Evening Standard Award for Best Actress for Suite in Three Keys (1965); at Stratford, was critically acclaimed for performance as Hedda Gabler (1970); triumphed as Mrs. Alving in Greenwich Theater's Ghosts (1974); won British Film Academy Award for performance as Leonie in Orders to Kill (1958); also had a distinguished career as a tv actress, receiving awards for "The Lady from the Lake" and "The Lady from the Sea" (1954). Received Order of the British Empire, and Obie Award for Sustained Achievement in the Theater (1989).

See also Women in World History.