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Jean Arthur

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Jean Arthur

Jean Arthur (October 17, 1900 (although sources also cite 1905 and 1908) - June 19, 1991) was an American actress. Born Gladys Georgianna Greene in Plattsburgh, New York, she became one of Hollywood's favorite screen comediennes.

Arthur debuted in the silent film Cameo Kirby in 1923, and made a few silent movies, although it was her distinctive nasal voice which eventually made her a star in the talkies. She was selected as one of the WAMPAS Baby Stars in 1929. In 1935 she starred opposite Edward G. Robinson in the gangster farce The Whole Town's Talking, and her popularity began to rise. It was her role opposite Gary Cooper in 1936 in Mr. Deeds Goes to Town that made her a star. She continued her fame by starring in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington in 1939, 1941's Talk of the Town, and again in 1943 in The More the Merrier, for which she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress. She also was considered for the role of Scarlett O'Hara in Gone With the Wind.

Her career began to falter in the late 1940s, and eventually, she retired from the screen, her last role being in the Western classic Shane in 1953.

After retiring, she taught drama at Vassar College. She also returned to acting, albeit briefly, in a short-lived comedy on CBS in the mid-1960s.

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