The Incredible Life Of Beverly Hillbillies Star Irene Ryan

To this day, "The Beverly Hillbillies" remains one of the most popular and beloved sitcoms of all time. It's hard to imagine "The Beverly Hillbillies" without actors like Donna Douglas and, of course,
Irene Ryan, who played the cantankerous but lovable Granny Daisy Moses for all nine seasons. Up until that point, she'd been acting and working in radio for decades, but she'd yet to secure a role that would make her a household name. Granny, of course, changed that.

"Honestly, it's so funny I sit and just laugh," Ryan said in a 1963 interview with The Buffalo News (via MeTV). "Six months ago, no one cared whether I was alive or dead. Now, everyone I meet asks, 'How old are you, really, Granny?' Let's just say I'm older than Shirley Temple but younger than Sophie Tucker."

After "The Beverly Hillbillies" ended, Ryan focused on giving back some of the wealth she amassed during her time on the show by fostering theater scholarships for young students. Ryan also found success on Broadway in the debut of "Pippin," but her time on the stage was cut tragically short. Her life and career are both fascinating, producing the kind of old school star rarely seen these days.

Irene Ryan was born Irene Noblette in El Paso, Texas, in 1902. She told The El Paso Times in 1981, "I think I was born at home. My father was in the Army, stationed at Ft. Bliss, and not long after that we moved to San Francisco. But I came back, many years later, and played an ingenue in the Ed Redmond stock company at the Crawford Theater."

Ryan was interested in performing from a young age and made her debut singing "Pretty Baby" at age 11 at the old Valencia Theater in San Francisco, per her New York Times obituary, earning $3 for her efforts. In her obit from The Beaver County Times, she is quoted as saying, "The manager told me I wouldn't get hit with garbage if I sang loud enough. I didn't want my pink dress to get ruined, so I sang 'Pretty Baby' at the top of my lungs. I won first prize and I've been singing loud ever since." She moved on to a stock company at 14, and she happens to belong in the group of celebrities who never finished high school.

After her stock company days, Irene Ryan transitioned into a career in vaudeville and radio. Her time on the vaudeville circuit was formative, as she told TV Graphic (via MeTV) "It's the reason I'm the first one on the set for every scene. All my life I've been on time." She also admitted to the outlet that much of her hard work was borne out of anxiety induced by the fickle nature of the entertainment industry. "I was always scared I would be fired. And you know something, I'm still scared," she said.

While on the road, she met and married her first husband, Tim Ryan, and they worked as a duo in vaudeville and radio. Ryan was described as the "loony and squeaky" one in the duo, according to "On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio." Together they appeared on shows hosted by legends like Bob Hope and Jack Benny. She and Tim were married until he died in 1958, and she later married movie producer Harold Knox, who she divorced in 1963. She had no children with either partner, not unlike her fellow "Beverly Hillbillies" star Nancy Kulp, who had an amazing life of her own.

Though she certainly had a long list of acting credits before she got her big break, "The Beverly Hillbillies" star Irene Ryan's journey to superstardom wasn't necessarily easy. For one thing, while her role of Granny Daisy Moses is certainly her most well-known credit, she nearly missed out on it due to, of all things, her age. If there's one thing "Beverly Hillbillies" fans certainly know, it's that Ryan was much younger than the character of Granny, and that almost worked against her. However, she argued her youth was an asset (she would have been about 60 when the show began airing), as well as her stage experience. Speaking to The El Paso Times, she recalled speaking with the show's creator, Paul Henning, saying, "Look, Paul, do I have to go home and get my grey wig and shawl to convince you? If you get anybody older to play the role, she won't be able to stand the pace. I know what those 7-to-7 schedules are like."

Ryan was also questioned by Henning on whether or not she could play a hillbilly. Per The AB Journal, she replied, "Are you kidding? I was in a stock company when we played a theater in Arkansas. We kept waiting backstage for the curtain to go up. There was nobody in the theater. So, we talked to the manager and asked why he didn't let the people in. He said if he'd let them in before the curtain rose, they would whittle away the seats. So, believe me, I know hillbilly!'"

"The Beverly Hillbillies" was a ratings success, running for nine seasons and 274 episodes. However, it wasn't always a hit with the critics. "The intelligentsia tell their friends they hate it," an observer wrote at the time, per The AB Journal. "Then they go home, draw the curtains so no one can see, turn on the 'Hillbillies,' and laugh till their sides hurt."

But the critiques didn't seem to bother Ryan. Explaining the show's success, she told The Buffalo News (via MeTV), "It's so simple, just good old-fashioned comedy. No one is neurotic; we solve no world problems, and there's no message about anything."

Though the show was a hit for the majority of its nine-season run, it only received seven Emmy nominations ever, never winning any. And two of those Emmy nominations were earned by Ryan. In the aforementioned interview, she noted that becoming a TV star wasn't all fun and games. "Now, at my age, all of a sudden I have income tax problems," she quipped.

Irene Ryan may not have been entirely joking about being in a new income tax bracket. Her New York Times obituary mentioned that, thanks to some investments, she became a millionaire. Evidently, one of her investments was a nice piece of property near the ocean. In a 1972 interview with The Daily Independent Journal, she mentioned having a home in Santa Monica on the coast. "I'm used to opening my front door and picking roses and avocados from my garden. I look out of my window at the Pacific Ocean," she said.

At the time of her aforementioned interview, she was in New York for the Broadway musical "Pippin." Ryan actually landed her role in the Bob Fosse-directed production through a connection she made through her Irene Ryan Foundation, which granted scholarships to college actors. "And thank God for 'The Beverly Hillbillies. The TV series made it all possible" she said in a 1971 piece in The Lawton Constitution covering the announcement of her fund. Ryan invited "Pippin" producer Stuart Ostrow to be a judge, but he couldn't make it. However, Ryan believed he kept her in the back of his mind for the role in the musical.

Irene Ryan's life after "The Beverly Hillbillies" took her back to the stage. As previously noted, she was in the 1972 Broadway debut of "Pippin," playing Berthe, grandmother to the title character. "It's the hardest work I've ever done," she told The Daily Independent Journal. She also said that her role in the show is small, as she was in it approximately nine minutes in total, including the song "No Time at All." She said it was an honor to be in a Bob Fosse-helmed musical, and she praised star Ben Vereen, calling him "brilliant" and thanking him for giving her "a comfortable chair." "It's been a privilege working with Bob Fosse our director," she said.

The role earned Ryan a Tony nomination, but sadly, she died shortly after the award ceremony. Ryan died on April 26, 1973, at the age of 70. She suffered a stroke on stage during a "Pippin" performance a month earlier. She was flown to Los Angeles for treatment but she never recovered.

Ryan was always dedicated to her craft until the end. As she told Redlands Daily Facts (via MeTV), "But I loved show business. Every minute of it. Why? To really love show business you have to be OF it, not just IN it. That's me, honey. I'm OF it."