Kathy Pinna
Who is Steve Banerjee's Wife Irene and What Happened to Her?
If you are a fan of I Love You, Now Die, Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, and The Staircase, you will not want to miss Welcome to Chippendales on Hulu. The eight-part series, which airs every Tuesday on the streaming platform, explores the creation of Chippendales, the first male-stripper dance troupe in the U.S., and the rise and catastrophic fall of its founder, Somen "Steve" Banerjee.
As seen in Welcome to Chippendales on Hulu, Chippendales would not have reached the heights of success it did if it was not for Steve's wife Irene, Emmy-winning director and choreographer, Nick De Noia, model and actress Dorothy Stratten and Steve Banerjee's talented team of dancers.
Who Was Steve Banerjee's Wife Irene? As seen in Welcome to Chippendales Episode 2, Steve Banerjee met his wife Irene through his company, Chippendales. The real Irene Banerjee was also believed to be an accountant, just like the Irene audiences meet in the series. They married in the 1980s and Irene is believed to have stood by her husband until his death in 1994. Unfortunately, very little is known about the real Irene. Show creator Robert Siegel has based the series on real-life events and people, but for the character of Irene, some of the details were imagined to add more depth to her story.
Annaleigh Ashford, who portrays Irene in the series, told Newsweek all about preparing for the role without having much information to rely on. She shared: "Normally when you work on a piece that's representing a time in history, or real people who lived real lives, you can use them in your research. In this case, we didn't have much information and for me, specifically, I had nothing, so I really wanted to make sure I knew the time, and the era really well and I also wanted to make sure that I knew how women were treated in that era, and really, kind of zero in on the women and the women's experience during that moment in time. "
When Steve Banerjee was arrested in 1994 for attempted arson, racketeering and murder-for-hire, Irene Banerjee allegedly organized a group of character witnesses for him, with the hope it would reduce her husband's impending sentence of 26 years. Steve Banerjee had hired Ray Colon, a former Palm Springs police officer and lounge room entertainer, to murder Chippendales show producer and Steve Banerjee's rival Nick De Noia. Colon, in turn, hired a man named Gilberto Rivera Lopez to carry out the killing. De Noia was shot dead by a man posing as a messenger at his midtown Manhattan office on April 7, 1987. He was 46 years old.
In 1990 and 1991, Steve Banerjee plotted to kill Michael Fullington, a former Chippendales dancer and choreographer, and two other ex-Chippendales dancers, Read Scot and Steve White. They were then part of the rival dance troupe Adonis, who were touring in the U.K. The murder-for-hire plot was uncovered when a man, named "Strawberry" by the authorities, informed the FBI he had been hired by Steve Banerjee.
Steve Banerjee took his own life hours before he was scheduled to face sentencing on October 23, 1994. He was 47 years old.
Reflecting on Steve and Irene's relationship in Welcome to Chippendales, Ashford said: "When we first meet Steve and Irene, we always used to say that their love language is numbers. She is not a person that comes to the club to enjoy the men, she's just really tagging along and wants to get through the night so she can go home and put on her slippers, and then when they meet, everything sort of changes and she finds a shared interest, a shared goal, and this person who she eventually shares her life with, and her love with. "It was important for me that she not only supported his arc but that she had her own arc and that we get to watch this woman have her own journey alongside a man. "In the end, we want to see that she steps out and makes the right choice and is able to be on her own, away from this man, which is, I also think, interesting. That's kind of what happened in the progression of women's rights, watching women be able to stand alone."
What Happened to Steve Banerjee's Wife Irene? Following Steve Banerjee's death, his wife Irene inherited Chippendales and all aspects of the business. Unfortunately, very little is known about Irene before her death from breast cancer in February 2001. According to the U.S. Sun, before she died, Irene Banerjee sold the Chippendales brand for $2.5 million to a private owner. However, it is not known exactly when the company changed hands.
- The preceding article by Molli Mitchell appeared on the "Newsweek" website on 12/6/2022:
As seen in Welcome to Chippendales on Hulu, Chippendales would not have reached the heights of success it did if it was not for Steve's wife Irene, Emmy-winning director and choreographer, Nick De Noia, model and actress Dorothy Stratten and Steve Banerjee's talented team of dancers.
Who Was Steve Banerjee's Wife Irene? As seen in Welcome to Chippendales Episode 2, Steve Banerjee met his wife Irene through his company, Chippendales. The real Irene Banerjee was also believed to be an accountant, just like the Irene audiences meet in the series. They married in the 1980s and Irene is believed to have stood by her husband until his death in 1994. Unfortunately, very little is known about the real Irene. Show creator Robert Siegel has based the series on real-life events and people, but for the character of Irene, some of the details were imagined to add more depth to her story.
Annaleigh Ashford, who portrays Irene in the series, told Newsweek all about preparing for the role without having much information to rely on. She shared: "Normally when you work on a piece that's representing a time in history, or real people who lived real lives, you can use them in your research. In this case, we didn't have much information and for me, specifically, I had nothing, so I really wanted to make sure I knew the time, and the era really well and I also wanted to make sure that I knew how women were treated in that era, and really, kind of zero in on the women and the women's experience during that moment in time. "
When Steve Banerjee was arrested in 1994 for attempted arson, racketeering and murder-for-hire, Irene Banerjee allegedly organized a group of character witnesses for him, with the hope it would reduce her husband's impending sentence of 26 years. Steve Banerjee had hired Ray Colon, a former Palm Springs police officer and lounge room entertainer, to murder Chippendales show producer and Steve Banerjee's rival Nick De Noia. Colon, in turn, hired a man named Gilberto Rivera Lopez to carry out the killing. De Noia was shot dead by a man posing as a messenger at his midtown Manhattan office on April 7, 1987. He was 46 years old.
In 1990 and 1991, Steve Banerjee plotted to kill Michael Fullington, a former Chippendales dancer and choreographer, and two other ex-Chippendales dancers, Read Scot and Steve White. They were then part of the rival dance troupe Adonis, who were touring in the U.K. The murder-for-hire plot was uncovered when a man, named "Strawberry" by the authorities, informed the FBI he had been hired by Steve Banerjee.
Steve Banerjee took his own life hours before he was scheduled to face sentencing on October 23, 1994. He was 47 years old.
Reflecting on Steve and Irene's relationship in Welcome to Chippendales, Ashford said: "When we first meet Steve and Irene, we always used to say that their love language is numbers. She is not a person that comes to the club to enjoy the men, she's just really tagging along and wants to get through the night so she can go home and put on her slippers, and then when they meet, everything sort of changes and she finds a shared interest, a shared goal, and this person who she eventually shares her life with, and her love with. "It was important for me that she not only supported his arc but that she had her own arc and that we get to watch this woman have her own journey alongside a man. "In the end, we want to see that she steps out and makes the right choice and is able to be on her own, away from this man, which is, I also think, interesting. That's kind of what happened in the progression of women's rights, watching women be able to stand alone."
What Happened to Steve Banerjee's Wife Irene? Following Steve Banerjee's death, his wife Irene inherited Chippendales and all aspects of the business. Unfortunately, very little is known about Irene before her death from breast cancer in February 2001. According to the U.S. Sun, before she died, Irene Banerjee sold the Chippendales brand for $2.5 million to a private owner. However, it is not known exactly when the company changed hands.
- The preceding article by Molli Mitchell appeared on the "Newsweek" website on 12/6/2022:
