Trivia

Invented daytime radio soap operas followed by television.

Received a Masters Degree from the University of Wisconsin.

The first radio program she sold, to WGN in Chicago, was a ten-minute program "A Thought For Today".

The third soap opera she created, this time for NBC, was her breakout hit "The Guiding Light".

Her fourth, fifth & sixth radio soap operas were "The Road To Life", "The Right To Happiness" and "Woman In White". By the 1940s her annual salary was $300,000 per year ($4 million in 2020 dollars).

Father William was a child of Polish immigrants. Her mother Betty was a Jewish German immigrant.

Was a member of Phi Sigma Sigma Fraternity, Inc.

She lived in Chicago, Illinois and commuted by telephone to New York City regarding her shows. She also dictated her writing to her secretaries and assistants.

She adopted two children in her forties. A son, Thomas Dirk Phillips, and a daughter, Katherine Louise Phillips.

She began her teaching career as a junior college speech and drama instructor in Fulton, Missouri in 1924. She was a teacher in Dayton, Ohio from 1924 until 1929. She was hired by WGN Radio Station in Chicago, Illinois as a writer.

She was the youngest of ten children. She earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Education from the University of Illinois in Chicago, Illinois in 1923.

Upon her death, she was interred at the Memorial Park and Crematorium in Skokie, Illinois.

Her father owned a grocery store until his death when Irna was eight.

Graduated from Senn High School in Chicago, Illinois.

The second radio program she created for WGN was "Painted Dreams", it is considered the first soap opera She was initially paid $50 per week . The program premiered on 20 October 1930 and aired 6 days per week.

In 1932 she left WGN and moved to WMAQ where she created her second soap opera "Today's Children". The show ran until 1938.