Jean Arthur

Jean Arthur

Jean Arthur (October 17, 1900 – June 19, 1991) was an American actress.

Born Gladys Georgianna Greene in Plattsburgh, New York, she became one of Hollywood's favorite screen comediennes.

Career

The daughter of a commercial artist, Arthur became a model early in life, then went on to work in films. She debuted in the silent film Cameo Kirby in 1923. Whatever self-confidence she may have built up was dashed when she was removed from the starring role of “Temple of Venus” (1923) after a few days of shooting. It was the first of many disappointments for the young actress, but she persevered and, by 1928, was being given co-starring roles at Paramount Pictures. (1928 was also the year she married her first husband, Julian Ancker, which was annulled after only one day.) She was selected as one of the WAMPAS Baby Stars in 1929.

Arthur's curious voice, best described as being squeaky and frog-like, ensured her work in talkies, but she was seldom used to full advantage in the early 30s. Dissatisfied with the vapid ingenue, society debutante, and damsel-in-distress parts she was getting (though she was chillingly effective as a murderess in 1930's “The Greene Murder Case”), Arthur left films for Broadway in 1932 to appear in ‘Foreign Affairs’. In 1934, she signed with Columbia Pictures, where, at long last, her gift for combining fast-paced verbal comedy with truly moving pathos was fully utilised. In 1935 she starred opposite Edward G. Robinson in the gangster farce The Whole Town's Talking, and her popularity began to rise.

She was lucky enough to work with some of the most accomplished directors in Hollywood: Frank Capra (who called her his favourite actress and directed her in “Mr Deeds Goes to Town” in 1936, “You Can't Take It With You” in 1938 and “Mr Smith Goes to Washington” in 1939); John Ford (“The Whole Town's Talking” in 1935); and Howard Hawks (“Only Angels Have Wings” in 1937).

She was also one of the contenders for the role of Scarlett O’Hara in “Gone With the Wind” (1939).

Mercurial in her attitudes, terribly nervous both before and after filming a scene – she often threw up after her scene was finished – and so painfully shy that it was sometimes difficult for her to show up, she was equally fortunate that her co-workers were patient and understanding with her. She also looked better when photographed from the right side of her face, so, once she became a star, that was inevitably written into her contracts. Arthur could become hysterical when besieged by fans, and aloof and non-responsive to reporters.

In 1943, she received her only Oscar nomination for “The More the Merrier” (1943), the second of her two great 40s films directed by George Stevens (“The Talk of the Town” from 1942 was the first, Stevens even referring her to as the greatest comedienne the screen had ever seen).

Because she often came to blows with studio head Harry Cohn over her parts and her salary, she only earned $50,000 for “The Talk of the Town”, while her co-stars Cary Grant and Ronald Colman both earned exactly double that amount.

After her contract with Columbia ended in 1944 (a fact she celebrated by running through the streets, shouting “I’m free, I’m free”), she tried and failed to become her own producer. She signed to star in the 1946 Broadway play ‘Born Yesterday’ – only to succumb to a debilitating case of stage fright, forcing the producers to replace her at virtually the last moment with Judy Holliday.

After the forgettable comedy “The Impatient Years” in 1944, Arthur made only two more films: Billy Wilder's “A Foreign Affair” (1948), and George Stevens' classic “Shane” (1953; she was 52 years old during filming). She also played the lead in Leonard Bernstein's 1950 musical version of ‘Peter Pan’, playing the Eternal Boy when she was almost fifty. Her co-star was Boris Karloff as Captain Hook.

Retirement

In the early 60s, the extremely reclusive Arthur tentatively returned to show business with a few stage appearances and as an attorney on ill-advised 1966 TV sitcom, ‘The Jean Arthur Show’, which was mercifully cancelled mid-season after only 11 episodes.

The Broadway hit play ‘First Monday in October’, about the first female Supreme Court judge, was written especially with Arthur in mind, but once again, she succumbed to extreme stage fright and quit the production halfway through rehearsals.

Surprisingly, the ultra-introverted Arthur later decided to tackle the extroverted profession of teaching drama, first at Vassar College and then the North Carolina School of the Arts; one of her students at North Carolina remembered Arthur as odd and her lectures as somewhat whimsical and rambling.

Retiring for good in 1972, she retreated to her ocean home in Carmel, California, steadfastly refusing interviews until her resistance was broken down by the author of a book on her one-time director Frank Capra (she once famously said that she’d rather have her throat slit than do an interview).

She died from heart failure in 1991.

She has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6331 Hollywood Blvd.

Selected filmography

• Danger Lights (1930)
• Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936)
• The Ex-Mrs. Bradford (1936)
• The Plainsman (1936)
• History Is Made at Night (1937)
• Easy Living (1937)
• You Can't Take It with You (1938)
• Only Angels Have Wings (1939)
• Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
• The Devil and Miss Jones (1941)
• The Talk of the Town (1942)
• The More the Merrier (1943)
• A Foreign Affair (1948)
• Shane (1953)

External links

• Jean Arthur at IMDb
• Classic Movies (1939 - 1969): Jean Arthur
• Photos