Jean Arthur
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Jean Arthur (born Gladys Georgianna Greene; October 17, 1900 – June 19, 1991) was an American actress celebrated as one of the defining screen personalities of Hollywood’s Golden Age. Known for her quick wit, expressive voice, and understated charm, she became one of the era’s most beloved comedic leading ladies, especially in the screwball comedy genre. Film historian James Harvey noted that “no one was more closely identified with the screwball comedy than Jean Arthur,” and her work remains central to the style’s legacy. Arthur rose to prominence in the mid‑1930s and became best known for her collaborations with director Frank Capra, starring in Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936), You Can’t Take It with You (1938), and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939). These films cemented her image as the relatable, spirited heroine of Depression‑era American cinema. She earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress for her performance in The More the Merrier (1943). Although she famously disliked the pressures of Hollywood and often retreated from public life, Arthur continued to work selectively after the 1940s. She delivered a memorable dramatic turn as Marian Starrett in George Stevens’ classic Western Shane (1953). She later returned to acting on television, appearing in a 1965 episode of Gunsmoke and starring in the 1966 sitcom The Jean Arthur Show. After leaving acting, Arthur taught drama at Vassar College and the North Carolina School of the Arts, where students remembered her as a passionate and generous instructor. She lived a largely private life in her later years and died in 1991 at the age of 90.
Known for
Credits
Shane (1953)
as Marian Starrett
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
as Clarissa Saunders
You Can't Take It with You (1938)
as Alice Sycamore
Only Angels Have Wings (1939)
as Bonnie Lee
Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936)
as Babe Bennett
Beyond Tara: The Extraordinary Life of Hattie McDaniel (2001)
as Self (archive footage)
A Foreign Affair (1948)
as Congresswoman Phoebe Frost
The Whole Town's Talking (1935)
as Wilhelmina 'Bill' Clark
The Talk of the Town (1942)
as Nora Shelley
The More the Merrier (1943)
as Constance Milligan
Warming Up (1928)
as Mary Post
Seven Chances (1925)
as Miss Smith the Country Club Receptionist (uncredited)
If You Could Only Cook (1935)
as Joan Hawthorne
The Plainsman (1936)
as Calamity Jane
Arizona (1940)
as Phoebe Titus
Easy Living (1937)
as Mary Smith
Double Daring (1926)
as Marie Wells
Thundering Romance (1924)
as Mary Watkins
History Is Made at Night (1937)
as Irene Vail
Hollywood: The Selznick Years (1961)
as Self - Actress 'Gone with the Wind' screen test (archive footage) (uncredited)
Going Hollywood: The '30s (1984)
as (archive footage)
Virtuous Husband (1931)
as Barbara Olwell
The Ex-Mrs. Bradford (1936)
as Paula Bradford
The Devil and Miss Jones (1941)
as Mary Jones
Becoming Cary Grant (2017)
as Self (archive footage)
Brotherly Love (1928)
as Mary
The Canary Murder Case (1929)
as Alice LaFosse
The Iron Horse (1925)
as Reporter (uncredited)
The Mysterious Dr. Fu Manchu (1929)
as Lia Eltham
Horse Shoes (1927)
as Miss Baker
Clara Bow: Discovering the "It" Girl (1999)
as Self (from The Saturday Night Kid [1929]) (archive footage)
Twisted Triggers (1926)
as Ruth Regan
Ex-Bad Boy (1931)
as Ethel Simmons
Thundering Through (1925)
as Ruth Burroughs
A Lady Takes a Chance (1943)
as Molly J. Truesdale
The Lawyer's Secret (1931)
as Beatrice Stevens
The Making of a Legend: Gone with the Wind (1988)
as Self (archive footage)
Young Eagles (1930)
as Mary Gordon
Bigger and Better Blondes (1927)
as Ramona
The Greene Murder Case (1929)
as Ada Greene
Ridin' Rivals (1926)
as Ruth Burroghs
Adventure in Manhattan (1936)
as Claire Peyton
Somebody Lied (1923)
Actor
Hello Lafayette (1927)
Actor
More Than a Secretary (1936)
as Carol Baldwin
The Masked Menace (1927)
as Faith Newton
The Return of Dr. Fu Manchu (1930)
as Lia Eltham
Gary Cooper: The Face of a Hero (1998)
as Self (archive footage)
The Drug Store Cowboy (1925)
as Jean
The Saturday Night Kid (1929)
as Janie Barry
Travelin' Fast (1924)
as Betty Conway
The College Boob (1926)
as Angela Boothby
Get That Venus (1933)
as Margaret Rendleby
Street of Chance (1930)
as Judith Marsden
The Fighting Cheat (1926)
as Ruth Wells
The Impatient Years (1944)
as Janie Anderson
George Stevens: A Filmmaker's Journey (1985)
as (archive footage)
The Past of Mary Holmes (1933)
as Joan Hoyt
Danger Lights (1931)
as Mary Ryan
Case Dismissed (1924)
as Jean
The Block Signal (1926)
as Grace Ryan
Screen Snapshots Series 17, No. 12 (1938)
as Jean Arthur
The Defense Rests (1934)
as Joan Hayes
Half Way to Heaven (1929)
as Greta Nelson
The Mad Racer (1926)
Actor
The Silver Horde (1930)
as Mildred Wayland
Paramount on Parade (1930)
as Dream Girl
Public Hero Number 1 (1935)
as Maria Theresa 'Terry' O'Reilly
Most Precious Thing in Life (1934)
as Ellen Holmes, aka Biddy, Babe
Frank Capra Jr. Remembers... You Can't Take It with You (2008)
as Self (archive footage)
Sins of the Fathers (1928)
as Mary Spengler
Diamond Jim (1935)
as Jane Matthews / Emma
Winners of the Wilderness (1927)
as Bit Role (uncredited)
Too Many Husbands (1940)
as Vicky Lowndes
Wine of Youth (1924)
as Flapper
A Man of Nerve (1925)
as Loria Gatlin
Biff Bang Buddy (1924)
as Bonnie Norton
The Cowboy Cop (1926)
as Virginia Selby
Screen Snapshots (Series 16, No. 1) (1936)
as Self
Whirlpool (1934)
as Sandy
The Fighting Smile (1925)
as Rose Craddock
The Public Menace (1935)
as Cassie Nicholls
Monks a la mode (1923)
as Madame Maxine
Born to Battle (1926)
as Eunice Morgan
Yesterday and Today (1953)
as (archive footage)
Party Wire (1935)
as Marge Oliver
Bringin' Home the Bacon (1924)
as Nancy Norton
Cameo Kirby (1923)
as Ann Playdell
The Broken Gate (1927)
as Ruth Hale
Screen Snapshots Series 19, No. 1 (1939)
as Self
Flying Luck (1927)
as The Girl
Stairs of Sand (1929)
as Ruth Hutt
The Roaring Rider (1926)
as Mary Watkins
The Gang Buster (1931)
as Sylvia Martine
The Powerful Eye (1924)
as Dud's Sweetheart
Tearin' Loose (1925)
as Sally Harris
Fast and Fearless (1924)
as Mary Brown
Spring Fever (1923)
Actor
Wallflowers (1928)
as Sandra
Husband Hunters (1927)
as Lettie Crane
Under Fire (1926)
as Margaret Cranston
The Poor Nut (1927)
as Margie Blake
Eight-Cylinder Bull (1926)
Actor
The Hurricane Horseman (1925)
as June Mathews
Lightning Bill (1926)
as Marie Denton