Background
Dailey, Irene was born on September 12, 1920 in New York, United States. Daughter of Daniel James and Helen Therese (Ryan) Dailey.
Dailey, Irene was born on September 12, 1920 in New York, United States. Daughter of Daniel James and Helen Therese (Ryan) Dailey.
Student of, Uta Hagen, New York City, 1951-1961; student of, Herbert Berghof, New York City, 1951-1961.
Her brother was the late actor Dan Dailey. Other Broadway credits included Idiot"s Delight, The Good Woman of Szechwan, and You Know I Can"t Hear You When the Water"s Running. In 1969, Dailey joined the cast of the long-running Columbia Broadcasting System serial The Edge of Night as Pamela Stewart, the vindictive wife of Nicole Drake"s ex-husband Duane who stabbed Stephanie Martin to death.
Dailey later joined the cast of Another World in 1974 as the fourth actress to play the role of family matriarch Liz Matthews.
As Liz mellowed, Dailey was allowed to show her flair for comedy, but as the Matthews family dwindled onscreen, she became a sounding board for various friends and family and a well-meaning busy-body. After the death of Liz"s great niece Sally, Dailey was written out, but the following year was brought back due to popular demand.
After that storyline ended, Liz continued to appear at special events, most notably at Ada Hobson"s memorial and at a Cory Publishing gathering which coincided with the show"s 30th anniversary. After her final appearance in 1994, she appeared on Broadway in a revival of the Strindberg play The Father, receiving excellent notices for her performance as Frank Langella"s nurse who must manipulate him into a straight jacket after he goes insane.
Her film credits include Number Way to Treat a Lady (1968), Five Easy Pieces (1970) and The Amityville Horror (1979).
Dailey died September 24, 2008 of colon cancer at a healthcare facility in Santa Rosa, California, according to Arleen Lorrance, a longtime friend. She had been a resident of the Sonoma County town of Guerneville.
While other members of the Matthews family were written out in the early 1980s, she remained a major character on the show until the summer of 1986, returning in November 1987 on a non-contract basis, being prominently featured in the show"s 25th and 30th anniversary shows, and making her last appearance in May 1994.