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