Irene Beasley
Toronto Daily Star, December 3 1934
Irene Beasley (1904-1980) showed a talent for music early in life: she sang in Sunday school at the age of three and played piano by ear when she was four. She started her adult life as a teacher in Mississippi before becoming a singer and songwriter in the late 1920s. By the mid-1930s, she was performing regularly on first the CBS and then the NBC radio networks.
In 1938, she became the writer, director, and sole actor of RFD #1, a radio program for farm women. From 1943 to 1953, she was the writer, producer, and host of Grand Slam, a musical quiz program. In the 1950s, she retired from radio and went into real estate.
Created October 8, 2025.