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Having enjoyed such brilliant success so young, Irene felt herself old and outdated before her time. She saw herself as a dancer, not an actress, even though she might easily have continued her acting career had she wished to take smaller character parts. Other actresses born in the early 890s found fame in the 90s and held onto it into the 920s and beyond: Mae West, Lillian Gish, Peggy Wood, and Ina Claire worked well into old age; Norma Talmadge, Leatrice Joy, Ann Pennington, and gold digger extraordinaire Peggy Hopkins Joyce held on till the talkie era. Charlotte Greenwood ,Fay Holden,and Ruth Chatterton enjoyed even greater success after forty as character actresses. But Irene felt her day had passed with the old decade. In the summer of 920, Robert Treman made a halfhearted bid for the office of New York senator (Democratic ticket), while Irene spent her free time riding at the Rochester Horse Show (the local paper called her “a little dynamo of enthusiasm . . . the best-dressed woman in the country . . . probably the best-known feminine figure on the American continent today”). She became a regular at the local horse shows: “One saw yesterday at the horse show a trim, swiftly moving figure along the walk between the paddock rail and the arena boxes. It was a boyish figure with bobbed, goldtinted hair, a piquant face, an adorable nose, eyes as bright as new dimes and a little swank or swagger, what may it be called.”In 92, Irene made a scene at one show by ordering the arrest of a rider who “brutally beat his mount when the animal sulked in taking the jump.” She insisted to a reporter that she was “daffy, but not foolish, over animals.”Frank A. Spencer, manager of Irene’s stable, told how “Mrs.Treman will bravely bring her dogs to the college vet for treatment, and she will explain just what needs to be done to make them well, and then leave, “POOR IRENE CASTLE. SHE CERTAINLY ISN’T WHAT SHE USED TO BE” CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX  CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX 217 because she can’t stand it to see one of them suffer, and if an operation is necessary, she doesn’t want to be there to look on.” She also tried to bring in extra money. Irene signed with a clothing manufacturer, Philipsborn’s, to lend her name to a line of clothing, which she “actually designed herself.” Irene’s image began appearing in newspaper ads around the country, bedecked in these “enchanting Castle creations .” By 92, Irene had begun what would be a two-decade career as a lecturer on fashion and style, subsidized by a series of stores and designers. In Berkeley she gave coeds a lecture on proper dress, offering advice that is still worth following: “First of all, don’t imitate each other in dressing. . . . There’s nothing more uninspiring than a flock of women with their hair combed just alike and dressed nearly the same. Women are apt to imitate each other, especially if they are in constant contact on the campus, but my advice is, don’t do it.” All through the early 920s, Irene’s photo popped up in Vanity Fair, Vogue, Theatre magazine, and Town and Country with amazing regularity: Irene decked out in Lucile frocks (“that express the distinguished grace and charm of the wearer”), Irene in her gracious home, Irene lounging elegantly by her pool, Irene posing “for her millionth picture with her thousandth dog,” as one sarcastic caption writer put it. At thirtyish, Irene was lovelier than ever,her short,fluffy hair still a bit ahead of the times,her face maturing into its perfect, delicate bone structure, her figure as trim as ever. She also devoted some time to her favorite charities, including dance lessons for the underprivileged, both in Ithaca and New York City.“I tried teaching dancing to wealthy children,” she explained, “but gave it up. It meant a fortune for me, but I’d rather work with my poor kiddies. . . . They’re so intent, and anxious to improve.” In December 922, she gave a benefit performance for a Catholic high school and threw a Christmas party for seventy-five underprivileged children at her home. Irene gave one last jump start to her film career in 92,with the financial help of her somewhat reluctant husband. Her last three films, French Heels, No Trespassing, and Slim Shoulders, were filmed...

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