| Irene Ware | |
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Irene Ware in "Murder At Glen Athol" 1936 |
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| Born | Irene Catherine Ahlberg 6 November 1910 Bronkx, New York, U.S. |
| Died | 11 March 1993 (aged 82) Orange, California, U.S. |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1932–1940 |
Irene Ware (November 6, 1910 — March 11, 1993) was an American Hollywood movie actress of Swedish-Austrian ancestry. Born with maiden name Ahlberg. She was also an American beauty queen, and she was Miss United States for the Miss Universe competition International Pageant of Pulchritude 1929. Irene appeared in 29 films between 1932-1940, and is mostly remembered for playing the role of princess Nadji in Chandu The Magician 1932 with Edmund Lowe and Bela Lugosi, and as Boris Karloff's and Bela Lugosi's leading lady in 1935's The Raven. She died in 1993, aged 82, in Orange, California.
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Irene Catherine Ahlberg was born 6/11 1910 in Bronx, New York. Her father, Ernest Ahlberg, born in Sweden, and manager of a saloon in Bronx, New York. Her mother, Anna Frey, born in New York from Austrian parents. Lived for many years in Long Island, New York. Her first marriage was with American screenwriter John Meehan Jr., who won three Oscars for his work. Her second marriage was to federal judge Fred Campbell.
Irene Ware(Ahlberg), a very beautiful and talented woman, was not known to the swedish public as an actress with swedish heritage, and she made more movies in Hollywood than the more famous and international star Greta Garbo, who got the attention and made movies also at the same time.
She was also an American beauty queen, (5`6"/1.68cm tall), and she was named Miss Greater NY in 1929, and then Miss United States for the Miss Universe competition in Galveston, Texas, an International Beauty Contest. There Irene Ahlberg, a Manhattan stenographer, 18 and blond, won $1,000 and second honors after an Austrian girl from Vienna, Lisl Goldarbeiter. A documentary TV movie about Lisl´s life, "Miss Universe 1929-Lisl Goldarbeiter. A Queen In Wien", was released 2006 and directed by Hungarian Peter Forgacs. In the honor of Irene Ware´s memory all information stating that she was Miss USA in 1926 are false, and should be removed from all websites claming so.
From late 1929 through early 1932 Irene Ahlberg appeared in several of Earl Carroll´s Vanities Broadway productions. In 1932 she went to Hollywood, changed her name to Irene Ware, and signed a contract with Fox Film Corporation. Her first movie was, Society Girl, in 1932 at Fox Film Corporation as uncredited together with names like James Dunn, Peggy Shannon and Spencer Tracy. It was produced by William Fox and directed by Sidney Lanfield, and was released 29/5 1932. The second film, Chandu The Magician, was filmed between 11/7-August 1932 and released 18/9. It was directed by Marcel Varnel. She played the role of princess Nadji together with Edmund Lowe and Bela Lugosi.