Josephine Lucille Sanders (July 21, 1900 – June 14, 1985), known by her stage name Irene Delroy, was an American stage actress.

Early years

Born Josephine Lucille Sanders, Delroy was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Roy Sanders of Bloomington, Illinois. She attended Bloomington High School and University High School.

Career

Delroy's stage debut came when she appeared as a ballet dancer with the Chicago Opera Company. During a visit of that company to New York City in 1920, she left the group to join a fledgling production, ''A Night Off'', in Plainfield, New Jersey. Two weeks after the debut, the inexperienced producers left to return to their former jobs. Delroy returned to Chicago and joined a production of ''Angel Face'', which soon ended during a strike by the Actors' Equity Association. She made her Broadway debut in the musical revue ''Frivolities of 1920''. She starred in the '' Greenwich Village Follies'' from 1923 through 1926 and the '' Ziegfeld Follies of 1927''. She also had leading roles in the musicals ''Round the Town'' (1924), ''

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'' (1928), ''Follow Thru'' (1929), and ''Top Speed'' (1930). A review of ''Greenwich Village Follies'' published in '' The New York Times'' on December 25, 1925, noted that Delroy was "radiantly beautiful and sweetly graceful and tuneful" in the production. Hans J. Wollstein, writing on the

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website, described Delroy as being "completely wasted by the new audible motion picture industry in 1930." She appeared in ''Oh! Sailor Behave'' (1930), '' The Life of the Party'' (1930), and '' Men of the Sky'' (1931).

Personal life

Delroy retired from the entertainment business after marrying W. L. Austin, Jr. on July 15, 1931. He was president of Island Park Associates, Inc., the company that operated Atlantic Beach and part of Rockaway Point. While they were on their honeymoon in Murray Bay, Quebec, Canada, she fell from a horse. Her injuries included "a slight fracture of the skull and slight concussion; a double fracture of a finger, and dislocation of one of the bones about the hip." They were divorced on July 1, 1937.

Filmography

* ''

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'' (1921) * '' Oh Sailor Behave'' (1930) * '' The Life of the Party'' (1930) * '' Divorce Among Friends'' (1930) * '' Men of the Sky'' (1931) * '' Sound Defects'' (1937, short)

References

Bibliography

* David L. Lightner. ''Winnie Lightner: Tomboy of the Talkies''. University Press of Mississippi, 2016. * Paul Rayburn and Denise Sampson
''Josephine Lucille Sanders “Irene Delroy” Collection''
inding aid McLean County Museum of History. 2009.

External links

*
Irenene Delroy at IBDBPersonal Papers of Josephine Sanders (Irene Delroy) at the McLean County Museum of History
{{DEFAULTSORT:Delroy, Irene 1900 births 1985 deaths American film actresses American stage actresses People from Bloomington, Illinois 20th-century American actresses