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
Only Angels Have Wings (1939)
as Bonnie Lee
A Foreign Affair (1948)
as Congresswoman Phoebe Frost
The Talk of the Town (1942)
as Nora Shelley
The Plainsman (1936)
as Calamity Jane
Easy Living (1937)
as Mary Smith
Virtuous Husband (1931)
as Barbara Olwell
Seven Chances (1925)
as Miss Smith the Country Club Receptionist (uncredited)
Double Daring (1926)
as Marie Wells
Arizona (1940)
as Phoebe Titus
Becoming Cary Grant (2017)
as Self (archive footage)
The Iron Horse (1925)
as Reporter (uncredited)
Warming Up (1928)
as Mary Post
History Is Made at Night (1937)
as Irene Vail
The More the Merrier (1943)
as Constance Milligan
The Devil and Miss Jones (1941)
as Mary Jones
Thundering Through (1925)
as Ruth Burroughs
Somebody Lied (1923)
Actor
The Whole Town's Talking (1935)
as Wilhelmina 'Bill' Clark
Hollywood: The Selznick Years (1961)
as Self - Actress 'Gone with the Wind' screen test (archive footage) (uncredited)
Paramount on Parade (1930)
as Dream Girl
Twisted Triggers (1926)
as Ruth Regan
A Lady Takes a Chance (1943)
as Molly J. Truesdale
If You Could Only Cook (1935)
as Joan Hawthorne
Clara Bow: Discovering the "It" Girl (1999)
as Self (from The Saturday Night Kid [1929]) (archive footage)
Horse Shoes (1927)
as Miss Baker
Case Dismissed (1924)
as Jean
The Making of a Legend: Gone with the Wind (1988)
as Self (archive footage)
Too Many Husbands (1940)
as Vicky Lowndes
Ex-Bad Boy (1931)
as Ethel Simmons
The Ex-Mrs. Bradford (1936)
as Paula Bradford
Travelin' Fast (1924)
as Betty Conway
The Canary Murder Case (1929)
as Alice LaFosse
George Stevens: A Filmmaker's Journey (1985)
as (archive footage)
Thundering Romance (1924)
as Mary Watkins
Brotherly Love (1928)
as Mary
The Return of Dr. Fu Manchu (1930)
as Lia Eltham
Going Hollywood: The '30s (1984)
as (archive footage)
Diamond Jim (1935)
as Jane Matthews / Emma
Wine of Youth (1924)
as Flapper
The Drug Store Cowboy (1925)
as Jean
The Impatient Years (1944)
as Janie Anderson
The Greene Murder Case (1929)
as Ada Greene
The Mysterious Dr. Fu Manchu (1929)
as Lia Eltham
The Saturday Night Kid (1929)
as Janie Barry
The Defense Rests (1934)
as Joan Hayes
Get That Venus (1933)
as Margaret Rendleby
Whirlpool (1934)
as Sandy
The Fighting Smile (1925)
as Rose Craddock
Young Eagles (1930)
as Mary Gordon
Public Hero Number 1 (1935)
as Maria Theresa 'Terry' O'Reilly
Fast and Fearless (1924)
as Mary Brown
Gary Cooper: The Face of a Hero (1998)
as Self (archive footage)
Hello Lafayette (1927)
Actor
Yesterday and Today (1953)
as (archive footage)
Adventure in Manhattan (1936)
as Claire Peyton
Screen Snapshots (Series 16, No. 1) (1936)
as Self
The College Boob (1926)
as Angela Boothby
Beyond Tara: The Extraordinary Life of Hattie McDaniel (2001)
as Self (archive footage)
Street of Chance (1930)
as Judith Marsden
Ridin' Rivals (1926)
as Ruth Burroghs
Cameo Kirby (1923)
as Ann Playdell
The Public Menace (1935)
as Cassie Nicholls
Party Wire (1935)
as Marge Oliver
The Mad Racer (1926)
Actor
Stairs of Sand (1929)
as Ruth Hutt
Winners of the Wilderness (1927)
as Bit Role (uncredited)
The Lawyer's Secret (1931)
as Beatrice Stevens
The Fighting Cheat (1926)
as Ruth Wells
The Masked Menace (1927)
as Faith Newton
Most Precious Thing in Life (1934)
as Ellen Holmes, aka Biddy, Babe
Sins of the Fathers (1928)
as Mary Spengler
Screen Snapshots Series 19, No. 1 (1939)
as Self
Tearin' Loose (1925)
as Sally Harris
Half Way to Heaven (1929)
as Greta Nelson
More Than a Secretary (1936)
as Carol Baldwin
The Roaring Rider (1926)
as Mary Watkins
Danger Lights (1931)
as Mary Ryan
The Past of Mary Holmes (1933)
as Joan Hoyt
The Cowboy Cop (1926)
as Virginia Selby
The Block Signal (1926)
as Grace Ryan
The Silver Horde (1930)
as Mildred Wayland
The Poor Nut (1927)
as Margie Blake
The Gang Buster (1931)
as Sylvia Martine
Wallflowers (1928)
as Sandra
The Broken Gate (1927)
as Ruth Hale
Born to Battle (1926)
as Eunice Morgan
Bigger and Better Blondes (1927)
as Ramona
Biff Bang Buddy (1924)
as Bonnie Norton
Frank Capra Jr. Remembers... You Can't Take It with You (2008)
as Self (archive footage)
Husband Hunters (1927)
as Lettie Crane
Spring Fever (1923)
Actor
Under Fire (1926)
as Margaret Cranston
Bringin' Home the Bacon (1924)
as Nancy Norton
A Man of Nerve (1925)
as Loria Gatlin
The Hurricane Horseman (1925)
as June Mathews
Screen Snapshots Series 17, No. 12 (1938)
as Jean Arthur
Lightning Bill (1926)
as Marie Denton
Flying Luck (1927)
as The Girl
Monks a la mode (1923)
as Madame Maxine
Eight-Cylinder Bull (1926)
Actor
The Powerful Eye (1924)
as Dud's Sweetheart