(2 of 2)
In all her scripts, Irna carefully abides by the cardinal plot rule of soap opera: Get your females behind the eight ball and keep them there. Irna is assisted in her work by two secretaries and a pair of literary Girl Fridays. She dictates all her material, frequently has an impassioned male remark to his sweetheart that he is happy "to have contacted her." To make sure she is right on legal and medical matters, Irna retains a lawyer and a pair of doctors. She has plunked most of her cash into annuities.
Irna describes herself as "part mechanic, part psychologist, part dialogist." She regards her fellow-workers in soap-opera vineyard in the same light. Outstanding among them are Mrs. Gertrude Berg (The Goldbergs), who makes $5,000 a week, but has to pay all expenses for her show, acts the leading role too, which drops her below Irna; Elaine Sterne Carrington (Pepper Young's Family), who collects an estimated $2,500 a week; Jane Cruisinberry (The Story of Mary Marling and Jane West (The O'Neills), who pull up fourth with about $1,250 a week each. Although she makes more than her three associates, Irna lives as modestly as a mouse in a two-and-a-half-room apartment in Chicago's Edgewater Beach Hotel.
For relaxation, Irna rides horseback, takes boat trips, collects dolls. Recently she was given a new Plymouth convertible coupe by the agencies in recognition of her anniversary. She calls it "Sheila." Proud of her achievements, Irna still isn't happy. "I'd give it all up," she says, "if the right man came along." (Fade up to Karen Adams.)