Irene Fenwick (born Irene Frizell; 1887 – 1936). American stage and silent film actress. She was married to Lionel Barrymore from 1923 until her death in 1936. Years before marrying Lionel, Irene had dated Lionel's brother, John.
In New York she met Broadway producer Charles Frohman who gave her the stage name Fenwick and the ingénue role in The Brass Bottle (1910). She continued on stage in 1912 opposite Douglas Fairbanks in Hawthorne of the U.S.A.
While on Broadway, she started working in silent films with producer George Kleine. Fenwick often played wronged women and vamps in films such as The Sentimental Lady (1915), The Woman Next Door (1915), A Coney Island Princess (1916).
Fenwick felt restricted by these film roles and returned to the stage. In the hit plays The Claw (1921) and Laugh, Clown, Laugh (1923) she co-starred with Lionel Barrymore, whom she married in 1923, after a brief engagement. She retired in 1926 after her husband chose a Hollywood career.
She died from complications of anorexia nervosa (called "overdieting" then).
- "A vivacious redhead, adept at both drama and comedy, she had a forceful stage presence that belied her tiny stature of 4'11"." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irene_Fenwick
- "The petite redhead was nicknamed "The Pocket Venus"." https://www.classicactresses.org/2021/01/irenefenwick.html
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