For many yrs now I've thought of Irene Dunne as Iren with a silent E at the end of her Christian name. However, it occurred to me that the correct way to speak her name might be as Irene, using the E at the end.
It maybe a British thing, because Irene with a silent E at the end is quite common over here. So can anyone tell me which is right
Is it Irene Dunne with or without an E
- moira finnie
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Re: Is it Irene Dunne with or without an E
I believe that the letter "e" at the end of both Irene and Dunne are usually silent in the American pronunciation, Stuart. Most Americans are taken aback by the British way of saying Irene as "Irenee" which I think I first heard when enjoying The Forsythe Saga years ago.
Re: Is it Irene Dunne with or without an E
Thanks Moria
I don't know if you've heard of Irene Handle, who played Peter Seller's wife in I'm Alright Jack and Bernard Cribbon's mum in Two Way Stretch. She became a star in old age in the sit com and Feature film For The Love Of Ada with Wilfred Pickles. She also did a sit com Maggie And Her with a youngish Maggie Smith. Well her Irene was Ireneeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
Here's a link
I don't know if you've heard of Irene Handle, who played Peter Seller's wife in I'm Alright Jack and Bernard Cribbon's mum in Two Way Stretch. She became a star in old age in the sit com and Feature film For The Love Of Ada with Wilfred Pickles. She also did a sit com Maggie And Her with a youngish Maggie Smith. Well her Irene was Ireneeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
Here's a link
Last edited by stuart.uk on November 15th, 2010, 12:58 pm, edited 1 time in total.
- moira finnie
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Re: Is it Irene Dunne with or without an E
I don't know her by name, but since I'm Alright, Jack has always struck me as hilarious, I know the face of that Ireneeeeee.stuart.uk wrote:I don't know if you've heard of Irene Handle, who played Peter Seller's mum in I'm Alright Jack ...Well her Irene was Ireneeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
Re: Is it Irene Dunne with or without an E
Irenemoirafinnie wrote:I don't know her by name, but since I'm Alright, Jack has always struck me as hilarious, I know the face of that Ireneeeeee.stuart.uk wrote:I don't know if you've heard of Irene Handle, who played Peter Seller's mum in I'm Alright Jack ...Well her Irene was Ireneeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
In Australia The E would be silent. Americans do tend to spell things differently sometimes. Note Irene with 6 E`s in America and 17 British E`s.
Dunne
The E would always be silent. To pronounce it other wise would be to give it meaning.
Re: Is it Irene Dunne with or without an E
I was surprised when I found out that stage and film actress Irene Worth was pronounced as Ireneee.
Joseph Goodheart