- Born
- Died
- Birth nameIrene Lentz
- Irene Maud Lentz was born on December 8, 1901 in Baker, Montana. When she was a teenager, she moved to Hollywood to become an actress. She found work as a Mack Sennett bathing beauty and appeared in the comedies Picking Peaches (1924) and A Tailor-Made Man (1922). Irene married director F. Richard Jones in 1929. Tragically he died a year later from tuberculosis. To make extra money Irene decided to open a dress shop. In 1933 she was asked to design the clothes for Lili Damita in Goldie Gets Along (1933). She quickly became one of Hollywood's top costumes designers. Irene had a passionate affair with actor Gary Cooper. She later said he was the only man she really loved. In 1936 she married Eliot Gibbons, a writer. Irene became the head costume designer at MGM, where she created iconic costumes for Lana Turner and Judy Garland.
She was nominated for an Academy Award in 1948 for her work on B.F.'s Daughter (1948). Eventually she left MGM to open her own fashion house. Unfortunately her marriage to Elliot was troubled and they began living apart. In 1960 Irene's close friend Doris Day asked her to design the clothes for Midnight Lace (1960). She received her second Academy Award nomination for her work on the film. By this time Irene had a serious drinking problem and was suffering from depression. On November 15, 1962 Irene checked into the Knickerbocker hotel in Hollywood. She committed suicide by jumping out of a bathroom window. Irene was sixty-one years old. In her suicide note she wrote ""I'm sorry. This is the best way." She was buried next to her first husband at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California.
- IMDb mini biography by: Elizabeth Ann
- SpousesEliot Gibbons(1936 - November 15, 1962) (her death)F. Richard Jones(1929 - December 14, 1930) (his death)
- Doris Day wrote in her 1975 autobiography that she got to know Irene quite well. One night after Irene had a few drinks, Irene told Day that the "love of her life" was Gary Cooper. On several other occasions Irene spoke about the intensity of her love for Cooper, and Day got the feeling that Irene had never mentioned this to anyone before her. Day wrote that today she honestly could not tell if they actually had or were having an affair, or if it was a one-sided love. Irene took her own life about a year and a half after Cooper's death from cancer.
- On November 15th, 1962, she took a room at the Knickerbocker Hotel in Los Angeles, under an assumed name. She cut her wrists. This did not prove immediately fatal so she jumped to her death from the fourteenth floor window. Her suicide note read: "I'm sorry. This is the best way. Get someone very good to design and be happy. I love you all. Irene."
- She was known to have a long standing problem with alcohol addiction, which contributed to her turbulent private life.
- Began in the film industry in 1925 as an extra, working at MGM. After studying design at the Wolf School in Los Angeles, she opened her own salon in 1928. In 1932, she designed 'Irene' originals for motion pictures, first free-lancing, then under contract at United Artists (1937-1941) and Columbia (1941-1942). Her reputation for designing sophisticated and unique evening gowns led to her being signed by MGM in 1942, replacing Adrian as executive costume designer. After her contract expired in 1949, she concentrated on managing her design boutiques.
- Became sister-in-law to legendary MGM art director Cedric Gibbons, when she married his brother.
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