Irene Keene Editorial Profile

Irene Keene Senior Editor

Although somewhat new to the UPBEAT Entertainment News Online family, Irene Keene is no stranger when it comes to entertainment. For close to 20 years, Keene has been writing about television and film, as well as beauty and lifestyles, for a variety of publications, including 'Soap Opera Weekly' (where Keene spent 10 years as the magazine's senior editor), 'Soap Opera Stars', 'Bride's', 'Spotlight', 'Single Living', and 'Country Almanac'. Keene is also the author of 'Love and Dishes: The Soap Opera Cookbook' (Hearst, New York; 1996). A native New Yorker, Keene graduated from the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University in 1981 with a bachelor’s degree in television/radio communications. Her first foray into the world of entertainment was with Mort Wax and Associates. As a junior publicist, Keene helped generate press for Wax clients, which included the popular Broadway show 'Sophisticated Ladies'. Next stop for Keene was Gene Nicholas and Associates, which at the time handled the press for 'As The World Turns', 'Search For Tomorrow', 'Edge Of Night' and 'Texas'. After a couple of years of pitching soap actors to the press, Keene went to the other side when she became a soap magazine editor herself, first with Sterling’s Magazines (publishers of Soap opera Stars, Daytime TV, et al) and then with Soap Opera Weekly. In the fall of 1999 Keene left her staff position with Soap Opera Weekly to become a full-time, free-lance writer. Keene continues to write for Soap Opera Weekly (her hard-hitting piece on age discrimination amongst television writers included quotes from UPBEAT’s own Alan Carter), and is excited about being a part of the UPBEAT Entertainment News Online team. A self-described “makeup junkie,” Keene will keep UPBEAT Entertainment News Online readers informed about the latest trends when it comes to looking and feeling good; she’ll also invite celebrities to share their beauty secrets. Keene resides in Westchester County, New York with her husband, artist Don Keene, and their three daughters: Susan, 6; Julia, 4; and Jessica (born August 2000). In her spare time (yeah, right!) Keene collects dolls, vintage handbags, miniature shoes and books about Nicholas II, the last Czar of Russia.