Iris Meredith (born Iris Shunn; June 3, 1915 – January 22, 1980) was a

B-movie A B movie, or B film, is a type of cheap, low-budget commercial motion picture. Originally, during the Classical Hollywood cinema, Golden Age of Hollywood, this term specifically referred to films meant to be shown as the lesser-known second ...

actress An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

of the 1930s and 1940s film era. She starred mostly in

heroine A hero (feminine: heroine) is a real person or fictional character who, in the face of danger, combats adversity through feats of ingenuity, courage, or Physical strength, strength. The original hero type of classical epics did such thin ...

roles, in

westerns The Western is a genre of fiction typically set in the American frontier (commonly referred to as the "Old West" or the "Wild West") between the California Gold Rush of 1849 and the closing of the frontier in 1890, and commonly associated wit ...

Early years

Meredith was born in

Sioux City, Iowa Sioux City () is a city in Woodbury County, Iowa, Woodbury and Plymouth County, Iowa, Plymouth counties in the U.S. state of Iowa. The population was 85,797 in the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in Iowa, fo ...

, but grew up in Eagle Rock, California. She was active in journalism and dramatics at Eagle Rock High School, from which she graduated. Both of her parents died while Iris was in her teens, forcing her into the working world at an early age. She worked as a cashier in a Los Angeles theater before she became an actress.

Career

In 1935 she joined the

Fox Foxes are small-to-medium-sized omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull; upright, triangular ears; a pointed, slightly upturned snout; and a long, bushy tail ("brush"). Twelve species ...

studio (as Iris Shunn), as a member of its stock company, playing incidental roles without screen credit. She was released after one year and joined

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc., Trade name, doing business as Columbia Pictures, is an American film Production company, production and Film distributor, distribution company that is the flagship unit of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group ...

, which changed her screen name to Iris Meredith and promoted her immediately to leading-lady status. She was featured opposite Columbia's leading cowboy star Charles Starrett, and appeared in most of his films through 1940. She also worked in Columbia short subjects, notably the serials '' The Spider's Web'' (1938), and '' Overland with Kit Carson'' (1939), and a two-reel comedy with

Charley Chase Charles Joseph Parrott (October 20, 1893 – June 20, 1940), known professionally as Charley Chase, was an American comedian, actor, screenwriter and film director. He worked for many pioneering comedy studios but is chiefly associated with pro ...

, ''His Bridal Fright'' (1940). When Starrett withdrew from westerns, Columbia disbanded the unit and Iris Meredith left the studio. She joined the small

Producers Releasing Corporation Producers Releasing Corporation (generally known as PRC) was the smallest and least prestigious of the 11 Hollywood film companies of the 1940s. It was considered a prime example of what was called " Poverty Row": a low-rent stretch of Gower St ...

studio in 1942, and was featured in two low-budget westerns there.

Personal life and death

Meredith married one of her Columbia co-workers, assistant director Abby Berlin, and retired from the screen, returning only once (to Columbia, in 1951) for a bit role in the "B" melodrama '' Chain of Circumstance''. In her late fifties, she was diagnosed with

oral cancer Oral cancer, also known as oral cavity cancer, tongue cancer or mouth cancer, is a cancer of the lining of the lips, mouth, or upper throat. In the mouth, it most commonly starts as a painless red or white patch, that thickens, gets ulcerated ...

that resulted in the surgical removal of part of her jaw and tongue, which disfigured her face and affected her speech. She seldom appeared in public, but in 1975 she did accept an invitation to a convention of western and serial fans, where she wore a veil over her face and was treated as a special guest. The oral cancer finally claimed her life on January 22, 1980, in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. She was 64 years old. She is interred at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in

Glendale, California Glendale is a city located primarily in the Verdugo Mountains region, with a small portion in the San Fernando Valley, of Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is located about north of downtown Los Angeles. As of 2024, Glendale ha ...

.Wilson, Scott. ''Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons'', 3d ed.: 2 (Kindle Locations 25047-25048). McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. Kindle Edition.

Partial filmography

* '' Hat Check Girl'' (1932) - Sales Lady (uncredited) * '' Roman Scandals'' (1933) - Shantytown Resident / Goldwyn Girl (uncredited) * '' Lottery Lover'' (1935) - Manicurist (uncredited) * ''

George White's 1935 Scandals ''George White's 1935 Scandals'' is an American musical film, written by Jack Yellen, directed by George White and Harry Lachman, and produced in 1935 by Fox Film Corporation. It was a follow-up to (but not a sequel to) the 1934 release, ' ...

'' (1935) - Miss Smith - Secretary (uncredited) * '' Tumbling Tumbleweeds'' (1935) - Girl (uncredited) * '' Ticket to Paradise'' (1936) - Girl (uncredited) * '' Bulldog Edition'' (1936) - Camille Club Hatcheck Girl (uncredited) * '' The Cowboy Star'' (1936) - Mary Baker * '' Rio Grande Ranger'' (1936) - Sandra Cullen * '' The Gambling Terror'' (1937) - Betty Garret * ''

Trail of Vengeance ''Trail of Vengeance'' is a 1937 American Western film directed by Sam Newfield, written by Fred Myton and George H. Plympton, and starring Johnny Mack Brown, Iris Meredith, Warner Richmond, Karl Hackett, Earle Hodgins and Frank LaRue. ...

'' (1937) - Jean Warner * '' A Lawman Is Born'' (1937) - Beth Graham * ''

The Mystery of the Hooded Horsemen ''The Mystery of the Hooded Horsemen'' is a 1937 American Western (genre), Western film directed by Ray Taylor (director), Ray Taylor. It was singing cowboy Tex Ritter's eighth film for Grand National Pictures. While the film had an original copy ...

'' (1937) - Nancy Wilson * '' Outlaws of the Prairie'' (1937) - Judy Garfield * '' All American Sweetheart'' (1937) - Alice (uncredited) * '' Murder Is News'' (1937) - Ann Leslie * '' Little Miss Roughneck'' (1938) - Girl (uncredited) * '' Cattle Raiders'' (1938) - Nancy Grayson * '' Call of the Rockies'' (1938) - Ann Bradford * '' Law of the Plains'' (1938) - Marion McGowan / Norton * '' West of Cheyenne'' (1938) - Jean Wayne * '' South of Arizona'' (1938) - Ann Madison * '' I Am the Law'' (1938) - Eddie's Girlfriend (uncredited) * '' The Colorado Trail'' (1938) - Joan Randall * '' West of the Santa Fe'' (1938) - Madge Conway * '' The Spider's Web'' (1938, Serial) - Nita Van Sloan * ''

The Thundering West ''The Thundering West'', also known as ''Trail of the Tumbleweed'', is a 1939 American Western film directed by Sam Nelson Sam Nelson (1896–1963) was an American film director who worked from the end of the silent era through the early ...

'' (1939) - Helen Patterson * '' Texas Stampede'' (1939) - Joan Cameron * '' First Offenders'' (1939) - Mary Kent * '' Spoilers of the Range'' (1939) - Madge Patterson * '' Western Caravans'' (1939) - Joyce Thompson * '' The Man from Sundown'' (1939) - Barbara Kellogg * '' Overland with Kit Carson'' (1939, Serial) - Carmelita Gonzalez * '' Riders of Black River'' (1939) - Linda Holden * '' Outpost of the Mounties'' (1939) - Norma Daniels * '' Those High Grey Walls'' (1939) - Mary MacAuley * '' The Taming of the West'' (1939) - Pepper Jenkins * '' Beware Spooks!'' (1939) - Babe, Spook House Ticket Seller (uncredited) * '' Two-Fisted Rangers'' (1939) - Betty Webster * '' Convicted Woman'' (1940) - Nita Lavore * '' Blazing Six Shooters'' (1940) - Janet Kenyon * '' The Man from Tumbleweeds'' (1940) - 'Spunky' Cameron * '' Texas Stagecoach'' (1940) - Jean Harper * '' The Return of Wild Bill'' (1940) - Sammy Lou Griffin * '' The Green Archer'' (1940, Serial) - Valerie Howett * '' Thundering Frontier'' (1940) - Norma Belknap * '' Caught in the Act'' (1941) - Lucy Ripportella * '' The Son of Davy Crockett'' (1941) - Doris Mathews * ''

Louisiana Purchase The Louisiana Purchase () was the acquisition of the Louisiana (New France), territory of Louisiana by the United States from the French First Republic in 1803. This consisted of most of the land in the Mississippi River#Watershed, Mississipp ...

'' (1941) - Lawyer's secretary * '' The Rangers Take Over'' (1942) - Jean Lorin * '' The Kid Rides Again'' (1943) - Joan Ainsley * '' Chain of Circumstance'' (1951) - Minor Role (uncredited) (final film role)

References

External links

*
Iris Meredith
at b-westerns.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Meredith, Iris Actresses from Iowa Deaths from cancer in California American film actresses 20th-century American actresses Actors from Sioux City, Iowa 1915 births 1980 deaths Western (genre) film actresses