Editing Irene Manning (section)

==Biography==
Manning was born as '''Inez Harvuot''' on July 17, 1912 in [[Cincinnati, Ohio]],<ref name="nytimes-obit"/> one of five siblings. Both of her parents were singers.<ref name="nytimes-obit"/> Her family loved to go on outdoor picnics where the featured activity was group singing. This family environment helped Irene to develop a keen interest in singing at a very early age. Her sisters later complained that little Irene would sing in her sleep, keeping them awake. Manning trained as an opera singer at the [[Eastman School of Music]] in Rochester<ref name="nytimes-obit"/> and performed with that city's Civic Music Association in 1935.<ref>{{cite news |title=Hope Manning (Inez Harvuot to Us) Back As Blond to Tell of Glamour in Filmland |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/42300961/irene_manning/ |accessdate=January 14, 2020 |work=Democrat and Chronicle |date=January 9, 1937 |location=New York, Rochester |page=15|via = [[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref>

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.<ref name="sfss" /> 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. Her sides were some of the last records made by Glenn Miller, prior to his being lost on an ill-fated flight to Paris over the English Channel in December 1944.

She was credited as '''Hope Manning'''<ref name="dp" /> in her first films, as she broke in with the [[Republic Studios]] system in 1936.{{Citation needed |date=January 2020}} Her first film placed her as the lead actress in a western, ''[[The Old Corral]]'' (1938), opposite [[Gene Autry]].<ref name="sfss">{{cite news |title=Irene Manning, 91, star of musical hits |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/42341755/irene_manning/ |accessdate=January 15, 2020 |work=South Florida Sun Sentinel |agency=Associated Press |date=June 6, 2004 |location=Florida, Fort Lauderdale |page=16}}</ref>

By the early 1940s, 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]].<ref name="sfss" /> In this film, she had a scene in which she had to simultaneously act, sing the song "Mary", and play the piano. She starred with [[Humphrey Bogart]] in ''[[The Big Shot (1942 film)|The Big Shot]]'' (1942) and with [[Dennis Morgan]] in both ''[[The Desert Song (1943 film)|The Desert Song]]'' (1943) and ''[[Shine On, Harvest Moon (film)|Shine On, Harvest Moon]]'' (1944).

Her contract was picked up by [[Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer]] (MGM) to place her singing skills as a threat to [[Jeanette MacDonald]], who was giving MGM fits with her difficult demands. In private, Manning claimed that she was a better singer. The problem between MacDonald and MGM subsided, and Manning's contract was dropped without any appearances in an MGM film. In all, Irene Manning made a dozen films.

On Broadway, Manning performed in ''[[The Day Before Spring]]'' (1945) and ''Susanna, Don't You Cry'' (1939).<ref name="ibdb">{{cite web |title=Irene Manning |url=https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/irene-manning-51283 |website=Internet Broadway Database |publisher=The Broadway League |accessdate=January 15, 2020 |archiveurl=https://archive.today/20200115193357/https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/irene-manning-51283 |archivedate=January 15, 2020}}</ref> She also appeared in [[Gräfin Dubarry|''The Dubarry'']],<ref>{{Cite book|last=Wearing, J. P.|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/24544270|title=The London stage, 1940-1949 : a calendar of plays and players|date=1991|publisher=Scarecrow Press|isbn=0-8108-2500-7|location=Metuchen, N.J.|oclc=24544270}}</ref> ''[[Castle in the Air (play)|Castle in the Air]]'' and ''Serenade'' in London. She remained in England and appeared on her own [[BBC TV]] show, ''[[An American in England]]'', until 1951, when she returned to the United States for television and nightclub work. Eventually she retired to teach acting and voice.