Jean Arthur
Actor
Biography
Jean Arthur was an American actress and a major film star of the 1930s and 1940s. She remains arguably the epitome of the female screwball comedy actress. As James Harvey wrote in his recounting of the era, "No one was more closely identified with the screwball comedy than Jean Arthur. So much was she part of it, so much was her star personality defined by it, that the screwball style itself seems almost unimaginable without her." Arthur has been called "the quintessential comedic leading lady."
Arthur is best known for her feature roles in three Frank Capra films: Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936), You Can't Take It With You (1938), and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939), films that championed the everyday heroine. Her last performance was the memorable—and distinctly non–comedic—role as the rancher's wife in George Stevens' Shane (1953).
Arthur was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress in 1944 for her performance in The More the Merrier (1943).
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Filmography
Shane
as Marian Starrett 1953
You Can't Take It with You
as Alice Sycamore 1938
Mr. Deeds Goes to Town
as Babe Bennett 1936
Seven Chances
as Miss Smith the Country Club Receptionist (uncredited) 1925
Only Angels Have Wings
as Bonnie Lee 1939
A Foreign Affair
as Congresswoman Phoebe Frost 1948
The Talk of the Town
as Nora Shelley 1942
The More the Merrier
as Constance Milligan 1943
The Iron Horse
as Reporter (uncredited) 1925
Easy Living
as Mary Smith 1937
The Devil and Miss Jones
as Mary Jones 1941
The Whole Town's Talking
as Wilhelmina 'Bill' Clark 1935
History Is Made at Night
as Irene Vail 1937
The Plainsman
as Calamity Jane 1936
The Ex-Mrs. Bradford
as Paula Bradford 1936
Arizona
as Phoebe Titus 1940