Jean Arthur (born Gladys Georgianna Greene; October 17, 1900 â€" June
19, 1991) was an American Broadway and film actress whose career began
in silent films in the 1920s and lasted until the early 1950s.Arthur
had 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".
Arthur was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress in 1944 for
her performance in The More the Merrier (1943).James Harvey wrote in
his history of the romantic comedy: "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." She has
been called "the quintessential comedic leading lady". Her last film
performance was non-comedic, playing the homesteader's wife in George
Stevens's Shane in 1953.Arthur was known as a reclusive woman. News
magazine Life observed in a 1940 article: "Next to Garbo, Jean Arthur
is Hollywood's reigning mystery woman." As well as recoiling from
interviews, she avoided photographers and refused to become a part of
any kind of publicity.
19, 1991) was an American Broadway and film actress whose career began
in silent films in the 1920s and lasted until the early 1950s.Arthur
had 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".
Arthur was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress in 1944 for
her performance in The More the Merrier (1943).James Harvey wrote in
his history of the romantic comedy: "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." She has
been called "the quintessential comedic leading lady". Her last film
performance was non-comedic, playing the homesteader's wife in George
Stevens's Shane in 1953.Arthur was known as a reclusive woman. News
magazine Life observed in a 1940 article: "Next to Garbo, Jean Arthur
is Hollywood's reigning mystery woman." As well as recoiling from
interviews, she avoided photographers and refused to become a part of
any kind of publicity.
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