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
Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936)
as Babe Bennett
The Talk of the Town (1942)
as Nora Shelley
The More the Merrier (1943)
as Constance Milligan
A Foreign Affair (1948)
as Congresswoman Phoebe Frost
Only Angels Have Wings (1939)
as Bonnie Lee
Seven Chances (1925)
as Miss Smith the Country Club Receptionist (uncredited)
The Plainsman (1936)
as Calamity Jane
Arizona (1940)
as Phoebe Titus
A Lady Takes a Chance (1943)
as Molly J. Truesdale
The Iron Horse (1925)
as Reporter (uncredited)
The Devil and Miss Jones (1941)
as Mary Jones
If You Could Only Cook (1935)
as Joan Hawthorne
Easy Living (1937)
as Mary Smith
Clara Bow: Discovering the "It" Girl (1999)
as Self (from The Saturday Night Kid [1929]) (archive footage)
The Ex-Mrs. Bradford (1936)
as Paula Bradford
Becoming Cary Grant (2017)
as Self (archive footage)
The Making of a Legend: Gone with the Wind (1988)
as Self (archive footage)
The Whole Town's Talking (1935)
as Wilhelmina 'Bill' Clark
Whirlpool (1934)
as Sandy
The Past of Mary Holmes (1933)
as Joan Hoyt
The Defense Rests (1934)
as Joan Hayes
History Is Made at Night (1937)
as Irene Vail
Bigger and Better Blondes (1927)
as Ramona
Double Daring (1926)
as Marie Wells
Paramount on Parade (1930)
as Dream Girl
Public Hero Number 1 (1935)
as Maria Theresa 'Terry' O'Reilly
The Mysterious Dr. Fu Manchu (1929)
as Lia Eltham
The Return of Dr. Fu Manchu (1930)
as Lia Eltham
Diamond Jim (1935)
as Jane Matthews / Emma
Warming Up (1928)
as Mary Post
Cameo Kirby (1923)
as Ann Playdell
Young Eagles (1930)
as Mary Gordon
Party Wire (1935)
as Marge Oliver
Going Hollywood: The '30s (1984)
as (archive footage)
The Greene Murder Case (1929)
as Ada Greene
Thundering Romance (1924)
as Mary Watkins
The Saturday Night Kid (1929)
as Janie Barry
Too Many Husbands (1940)
as Vicky Lowndes
Born to Battle (1926)
as Eunice Morgan
More Than a Secretary (1936)
as Carol Baldwin
Most Precious Thing in Life (1934)
as Ellen Holmes, aka Biddy, Babe
Gary Cooper: The Face of a Hero (1998)
as Self (archive footage)
Wine of Youth (1924)
as Flapper
The Canary Murder Case (1929)
as Alice LaFosse
Virtuous Husband (1931)
as Barbara Olwell
The Lawyer's Secret (1931)
as Beatrice Stevens
The Silver Horde (1930)
as Mildred Wayland
Ex-Bad Boy (1931)
as Ethel Simmons
The Drug Store Cowboy (1925)
as Jean
Travelin' Fast (1924)
as Betty Conway
Horse Shoes (1927)
as Miss Baker
Case Dismissed (1924)
as Jean
Twisted Triggers (1926)
as Ruth Regan
Get That Venus (1933)
as Margaret Rendleby
Brotherly Love (1928)
as Mary
Thundering Through (1925)
as Ruth Burroughs
Adventure in Manhattan (1936)
as Claire Peyton
Sins of the Fathers (1928)
as Mary Spengler
Street of Chance (1930)
as Judith Marsden
Hello Lafayette (1927)
Actor
The Block Signal (1926)
as Grace Ryan
Stairs of Sand (1929)
as Ruth Hutt
Danger Lights (1931)
as Mary Ryan
The Public Menace (1935)
as Cassie Nicholls
The Poor Nut (1927)
as Margie Blake
Screen Snapshots (Series 16, No. 1) (1936)
as Self
The Cowboy Cop (1926)
as Virginia Selby
Yesterday and Today (1953)
as (archive footage)
Under Fire (1926)
as Margaret Cranston
Husband Hunters (1927)
as Lettie Crane
The Broken Gate (1927)
as Ruth Hale
Half Way to Heaven (1929)
as Greta Nelson
Tearin' Loose (1925)
as Sally Harris
Monks a la mode (1923)
as Madame Maxine
Frank Capra Jr. Remembers... You Can't Take It with You (2008)
as Self (archive footage)
Bringin' Home the Bacon (1924)
as Nancy Norton
Eight-Cylinder Bull (1926)
Actor
Wallflowers (1928)
as Sandra
Flying Luck (1927)
as The Girl
The Fighting Cheat (1926)
as Ruth Wells
Fast and Fearless (1924)
as Mary Brown
Screen Snapshots Series 19, No. 1 (1939)
as Self
Winners Of The Wilderness (1927)
as Bit Role (uncredited)
The Hurricane Horseman (1925)
as June Mathews
Screen Snapshots Series 17, No. 12 (1938)
as Jean Arthur
The Masked Menace (1927)
as Faith Newton
The Roaring Rider (1926)
as Mary Watkins
A Man of Nerve (1925)
as Loria Gatlin
Ridin' Rivals (1926)
as Ruth Burroghs
Biff Bang Buddy (1924)
as Bonnie Norton
The College Boob (1926)
as Angela Boothby
Lightning Bill (1926)
as Marie Denton
Somebody Lied (1923)
Actor
The Gang Buster (1931)
as Sylvia Martine
The Impatient Years (1944)
as Janie Anderson
Spring Fever (1923)
Actor
The Fighting Smile (1925)
as Rose Craddock
The Mad Racer (1926)
Actor
The Powerful Eye (1924)
as Dud's Sweetheart