She played the ditzy one on the show but she is actually the brains of the family. Irlene managed the business and financial affairs of her sisters and did very well by them.
25 years or so ago, I was in a fishing lodge on Lake Fork. I was cooking up a nice pot of jambalaya for my guest when another group pulled into the lodge to make a duck hunt the next morning. Those fellas started unloading some REALLY nice shotguns, Purdy's and the like. So, in my most over confident way back then, and with a few bourbons in me, I started a conversation about the guns and how I was friends with a older guy that just opened one of Louisiana's first sporting clays range.
Told the guy I was talking to that I would be visiting my buddies place because Louise Mandrell was going to be there shooting because she was one "fine ass woman" ................to which the guy looked up from his drink and said "I know, she's my wife". Thanks goodness I can cook a decent jambalaya. It saved the day; for me at least.
Louise and Irene. Though I was around 10 when they had their TV show. I was thinking it was Louise that got pretty big into shotgunning sports for a while.