[9] She played a Soviet bureaucrat on Night Court guest starring in an Emmy nominated 1988 episode entitled "Russkie Business".
[10][11] In 1991, Medavoy founded Phoenix Enterprises with Pirie Jones and together with American Telecast produced product marketing television programs including the hair care series 'Beverly Hills Beauty'.
[12] She is a contributing writer for the Huffington Post[13] on topics including President Barack Obama[14] (for whom she held an election fundraising campaign)[15] Oprah Winfrey,[16] female body images in the media which she regards as unrealistic and harmful,[17] and her experiences with botox.
[18] In 1984, she married Harris L. Katleman, president and CEO of 20th Century Fox Television in a Jewish ceremony in Beverly Hills, California.
[29] She is a founding board member of Truth In Advertising Alliance, which works to fight anorexia and bulimia and pass legislation to outlaw excessive photo shopping models.
[35] Founded by Georgie Smith, ASOH founder Smith said of Medavoy and her charity, "ASOH began as a random act of kindness when I responded to a cry for a help from a young man who had aged out of foster care, and who had secured an apartment but had no means to obtain a solitary item that might make it feel like home.
[36] When Irena Medavoy learned these facts, rallied her friends to donate household items and urged us to build a nonprofit modeled after the original act of kindness.