Renie Riano

Born in London on August 7, 1899, but raised in the United States, rubber-faced character player Renie (short for Irene, and pronounced "Reenie") Riano was the daughter of British stage actress Irene Riano (1871-1940) and vaudeville acrobat Robert Riano (1867-1909). Irene and Robert were part of the Four Rianos acrobatic act at one time. Entertainment was an obvious direction for their daughter with her born-in-a-trunk existence. Renie loved an audience, loved singing, and loved to make people laugh. She began things off top-lining in vaudeville shows and music halls as child performer "Baby Irene" in a mother/daughter act. Making her solo Broadway stage debut in 1905 as Florette in "A Society Circus," she progressed to solo as a spirited adult in such shows as "Honey Girl" (1920), "Music Box Revue" (1921) and "The Greenwich Village Follies" (1925). She met American John W. Neil from New Jersey in 1918 and became a U.S. citizen. Their daughter, Jane, was born a year later in Philadelp