Ellen Irlene Mandrell (born January 29, 1956) is an American

musician A musician is a person who composes, conducts, or performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general term used to designate one who follows music as a profession. Musicians include songwriters who wri ...

. She is the younger sister of country singers Barbara and

Louise Mandrell Thelma Louise Mandrell (born July 13, 1954) is an American country music singer. She is the younger sister of fellow country singer Barbara Mandrell, and older sister of actress Irlene Mandrell. Louise had a successful singing career in country ...

. Irlene Mandrell first rose to prominence as a model for

CoverGirl CoverGirl is an American cosmetics brand founded in Maryland, United States, by the Noxzema Chemical Company. It was acquired by Procter & Gamble in 1989 and later acquired by Coty, Inc. in 2016. The Noxell Company advertised this cosmetics li ...

, and later gained national attention when she appeared from 1980–1982 with her siblings on the highly rated ''

Barbara Mandrell and the Mandrell Sisters ''Barbara Mandrell & the Mandrell Sisters'' was an American variety show starring American country artist Barbara Mandrell, along with her sisters Irlene Mandrell and Louise Mandrell. The show ran for two seasons on the NBC network between Novemb ...

'' TV variety show. Shortly after the show's cancellation, she joined the cast of ''

Hee Haw ''Hee Haw'' is an American television variety show featuring country music and humor with the fictional rural "Kornfield Kounty" as the backdrop. It aired first-run on CBS from 1969 to 1971, in syndication from 1971 to 1993, and on TNN from 199 ...

'' for a number of years as one of the "Hee Haw Honeys." She also appeared on two episodes of ''

The Love Boat ''The Love Boat'' is an American romantic comedy/drama television series that aired on ABC from 1977 to 1986; in addition, four three-hour specials aired in 1986, 1987, and 1990. The series was set on the luxury passenger cruise ship MS ''Pac ...

'', and worked as a commercial spokesperson for a wide range of products. She has also competed in

auto racing Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. Auto racing has existed since the invention of the automobile. Races of various sorts were organise ...

. Since the late 1990s, Mandrell has hosted the annual Irlene Mandrell Celebrity Shoot to raise money for Wish Upon a Star, Inc. and the

Boy Scouts of America The Boy Scouts of America (BSA, colloquially the Boy Scouts) is one of the largest scouting organizations and one of the largest youth organizations in the United States, with about 1.2 million youth participants. The BSA was founded i ...

Early life

Ellen Irlene Mandrell was born on January 29, 1956, to Mary Ellen (née McGill; born 1931) and Irby Matthew Mandrell (October 11, 1924 – March 5, 2009) in

Corpus Christi, Texas Corpus Christi (; Ecclesiastical Latin: "'' Body of Christ"'') is a coastal city in the South Texas region of the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat and largest city of Nueces County, it also extends into Aransas, Kleberg, and San Patrici ...

. Sister Barbara is older by seven years;

Louise Louise or Luise may refer to: * Louise (given name) Arts Songs * "Louise" (Bonnie Tyler song), 2005 * "Louise" (The Human League song), 1984 * "Louise" (Jett Rebel song), 2013 * "Louise" (Maurice Chevalier song), 1929 *"Louise", by Clan of ...

, by a year and a half. Irlene's mother Mary was a homemaker and musician hailing from rural

Wayne County, Illinois Wayne County is a county located in the U.S. state of Illinois. According to the 2010 census, it had a population of 16,760. Its county seat is Fairfield. It is located in the southern portion of Illinois known locally as " Little Egypt". Hi ...

. Her father Irby was a

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

naval veteran and Texas police officer from

Garland County, Arkansas Garland County is located in the U.S. state of Arkansas. As of the 2020 census, the population was 100,180. The county seat is Hot Springs. Garland County comprises the Hot Springs, AR Metropolitan Statistical Area. The county includes Hot S ...

. Irby Mandrell was an accomplished musician and

entrepreneur Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value. With this definition, entrepreneurship is viewed as change, generally entailing risk beyond what is normally encountered in starting a business, which may include other values th ...

, as well. He used his impeccable social skills and knowledge of the music industry to manage all three of his daughters' careers for over three decades. Mandrell's early life started off much like her older sisters'. Her family was always musical; her parents came from a musical background. She played the

drum The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel-Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a she ...

s as one of the first members of Barbara's band, The Do Rites; she is one of the first commercially significant female drummers.https://guitargirlmag.com/interviews/irlene-mandrell-at-cma-fest-its-the-best-year-ever/ Irlene Mandrell at CMA Fest: It’s the best year ever! She also played

vibraphone The vibraphone is a percussion instrument in the metallophone family. It consists of tuned metal bars and is typically played by using mallets to strike the bars. A person who plays the vibraphone is called a ''vibraphonist,'' ''vibraharpist,' ...

and

mandolin A mandolin ( it, mandolino ; literally "small mandola") is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally plucked with a pick. It most commonly has four courses of doubled strings tuned in unison, thus giving a total of 8 ...

Career

She appeared from 1980–1982 with her siblings on the highly rated

TV variety show. Mandrell captured two awards for Comedy Act of the Year from Music City News and later sought opportunities in film, television, and video. Her many fans followed her talents as she joined the cast of ''

'', where she had an eight-year run as one of the "Hee Haw Honeys". Irlene has also made appearances on other television shows, including ''

'', ''

The Oprah Winfrey Show ''The Oprah Winfrey Show'', often referred to as ''The Oprah Show'' or simply ''Oprah'', is an American daytime broadcast syndication, syndicated talk show that aired nationally for 25 seasons from September 8, 1986, to May 25, 2011, in Chicag ...

'', ''

The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson ''The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson'' was an American late-night talk show hosted by Johnny Carson on NBC, the third iteration of the ''Tonight Show'' franchise. The show debuted on October 1, 1962, and aired its final episode on May 22, ...

'', ''

The Mike Douglas Show ''The Mike Douglas Show'' was an American daytime television talk show that was hosted by Mike Douglas. It began as a local program in Cleveland before being carried on other stations owned by Westinghouse Broadcasting. The show went into nati ...

'', and many game shows. She co-hosted ''Bright Lights & Country Nights'' and ''This Week in Country Music'', and televised benefits with names such as George Lindsey, Bob Hope, and Sammy Davis Jr. Mandrell has been a model for several companies, including Cover Girl shoes, Lanne Skin Care products, and 9West shoes. Irlene and her sisters Louise and Barbara co-starred in the top-rated ''Barbara Mandrell and the Mandrell Sisters'' television variety show on NBC from 1980–1982. The show had 40 million viewers weekly and was the last successful American primetime TV variety show. Irlene was a member of the ''Hee Haw'' cast from 1983–1991. She also appeared as a celebrity panelist on ''

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'' in 1981 and ''

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'' in 1982. On May 23, 2015, Irlene released her first single, "We Will Stand", which went to number 1 on the Indie charts.

Personal life

Mandrell was married to Ric Boyer, whom she divorced in 1992. They have two children. She married Rob Pincus in 1994, with whom she has one child. They were divorced in 2004. In 2015, she married musician Patrick Holt. She is an accomplished hunter. She has hunted North America extensively (in the U.S. and Mexico) and has taken hunting trips to South America and Africa. Mandrell is proficient with handgun, shotgun, rifle, and crossbow. She is competitive in many sporting events, including as a race car driver. The Irlene Mandrell Celebrity Shoot raises a large amount of money for Wish Upon A Star and the

Boy Scouts Boy Scouts may refer to: * Boy Scout, a participant in the Boy Scout Movement. * Scouting, also known as the Boy Scout Movement. * An organisation in the Scouting Movement, although many of these organizations also have female members. There are ...

. , Irlene Mandrell is a celebrity spokesperson for several companies, such as CZ-USA, She Safari, Horton Crossbows, DRT Ammo, Wild Ride Beef Jerky, and Deerassic Park. She has appeared on several outdoor shows, and was featured in "Irlene Mandrell: Straight Shooter", a segment on PBS's ''Tennessee's Wildside''.

References

*
Official Irlene Mandrell website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mandrell, Irlene American country singer-songwriters American women country singers People from Corpus Christi, Texas 1956 births Living people Singer-songwriters from Texas American women drummers 20th-century American drummers 20th-century American women musicians Country musicians from Texas 21st-century American women