Irene Ryan was born Jessie Irene
Noblitt on October 17, 1902, in El Paso, Texas. She was the second child and
latter daughter born to Catherine J. "Katie" (née McSharry) and James
Merritt Noblitt. Her father was an army sergeant from North Carolina and her
mother had emigrated from Ireland.
At 20, she married
writer-comedian Tim Ryan. The Ryans had no children and divorced in 1942,
although Irene kept the surname.
Ryan was cast in what was her
best known role in 1962 as Daisy "Granny" Moses, mother-in-law of
patriarch Jed Clampett, in The Beverly Hillbillies (although Ryan was only five
and a half years older than Ebsen). The character was named in honor of the
artist Anna Mary Robertson "Grandma" Moses, who had died aged 101 the
previous year, and only started her professional career as a painter in her
later years.
According to Filmways publicist
Ted Switzer, series creator and producer Paul Henning had decided to cast Bea
Benaderet as Granny, but when Ryan read for the role "with her hair tied
back in a bun and feisty as all get-out," everyone was taken with her
performance. Executive producer Al Simon and Henning immediately said,
"That's Granny!"
