Name
Jean Arthur
Known For
Acting
Birthday
1900-10-17
Deathday
1991-06-19 (91 years old)
Place of Birth
Plattsburgh, New York, USA
Biography
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
7.8
After the death of a United States Senator, the idealistic Jefferson Smith is appointed as...
7.114
In occupied Berlin, an army captain is torn between an ex-Nazi café singer and the US con...
7.481
Alice, the only relatively normal member of the eccentric Sycamore family, falls in love w...
7.538
Longfellow Deeds lives in a small town, leading a small town kind of life. When a relative...
7.29
A traveling performer arrives at a remote South American port town where the head of an ai...
7.506
Struggling stockbroker Jimmie Shannon learns that, if he gets married by 7 p.m. on his 27t...
6.886
Ordinary man-in-the-street Arthur Ferguson Jones leads a very straightforward life. He's n...
7.341
Hilarity ensues when a falsely accused fugitive from justice hides at the house of his chi...
6.5
Wild Bill Hickok, Calamity Jane, and Buffalo Bill go up against Indians and a gunrunner....
- 1939 Mr. Smith Goes to Washington as Clarissa Saunders
- 1953 Shane as Marian Starrett
- 1942 The Talk of the Town as Nora Shelley
- 2008 Frank Capra Jr. Remembers... You Can't Take It with You as Self (archive footage)
- 1937 History Is Made at Night as Irene Vail
- 1936 Mr. Deeds Goes to Town as Babe Bennett
- 1935 Public Hero Number 1 as Maria Theresa 'Terry' O'Reilly
- 1938 You Can't Take It with You as Alice Sycamore
- 1940 Arizona as Phoebe Titus
- 1941 The Devil and Miss Jones as Mary Jones
- 1939 Only Angels Have Wings as Bonnie Lee
- 1936 The Plainsman as Calamity Jane
- 1948 A Foreign Affair as Congresswoman Phoebe Frost
- 1953 Yesterday and Today as (archive footage)
- 1943 A Lady Takes a Chance as Molly J. Truesdale
- 1937 Easy Living as Mary Smith
- 1935 The Whole Town's Talking as Wilhelmina 'Bill' Clark
- 1929 The Canary Murder Case as Alice LaFosse
- 1943 The More the Merrier as Constance Milligan
- 1925 The Iron Horse as Reporter (uncredited)
- 1936 The Ex-Mrs. Bradford as Paula Bradford
- 1929 The Greene Murder Case as Ada Greene
- 1936 Adventure in Manhattan as Claire Peyton
- 1940 Too Many Husbands as Vicky Lowndes
- 1934 Most Precious Thing in Life as Ellen Holmes, aka Biddy, Babe
- 1935 If You Could Only Cook as Joan Hawthorne
- 1935 Party Wire as Marge Oliver
- 1929 The Mysterious Dr. Fu Manchu as Lia Eltham
- 1930 The Silver Horde as Mildred Wayland
- 1938 Screen Snapshots Series 17, No. 12 as Jean Arthur
- 1929 The Saturday Night Kid as Janie Barry
- 1944 The Impatient Years as Janie Anderson
- 1931 Danger Lights as Mary Ryan
- 1930 Street of Chance as Judith Marsden
- 1935 The Public Menace as Cassie Nicholls
- 1924 Wine of Youth as Flapper
- 1936 More Than a Secretary as Carol Baldwin
- 1930 The Return of Dr. Fu Manchu as Lia Eltham
- 1999 Clara Bow: Discovering the "It" Girl as Self (from The Saturday Night Kid [1929]) (archive footage)
- 1931 The Lawyer's Secret as Beatrice Stevens
- 1926 The Block Signal as Grace Ryan
- 1934 The Defense Rests as Joan Hayes
- 1934 Whirlpool as Sandy
- 1984 Going Hollywood: The '30s as (archive footage)
- 1927 Flying Luck as The Girl
- 1923 Cameo Kirby as Ann Playdell
- 1935 Diamond Jim as Jane Matthews / Emma
- 1925 Seven Chances as Miss Smith the Country Club Receptionist (uncredited)
- 1931 Ex-Bad Boy as Ethel Simmons
- 1930 Young Eagles as Mary Gordon
- 1928 Brotherly Love as Mary
- 1927 The Poor Nut as Margie Blake
- 1929 Half Way to Heaven as Greta Nelson
- 1998 Gary Cooper: The Face of a Hero as Self (archive footage)
- 1927 Winners of the Wilderness as Bit Role (uncredited)
- 1930 Paramount on Parade as Dream Girl
- 1928 Warming Up as Mary Post
- 1933 The Past of Mary Holmes as Joan Hoyt
- 1988 The Making of a Legend: Gone with the Wind as Self (archive footage)
- 1925 The Drug Store Cowboy as Jean
- 1936 Screen Snapshots (Series 16, No. 1) as Self
- 1931 The Gang Buster as Sylvia Martine
- 1927 Horse Shoes as Miss Baker
- 1926 The Cowboy Cop as Virginia Selby
- 1939 Screen Snapshots Series 19, No. 1 as Self
- 1926 Ridin' Rivals as Ruth Burroghs
- 1928 Wallflowers as Sandra
- 1923 Somebody Lied
- 1925 Tearin' Loose as Sally Harris
- 1926 Eight-Cylinder Bull
- 1927 The Broken Gate as Ruth Hale
- 1924 Bringin' Home the Bacon as Nancy Norton
- 1926 Born to Battle as Eunice Morgan
- 1924 Fast and Fearless as Mary Brown
- 1925 The Fighting Smile as Rose Craddock
- 1926 Lightning Bill as Marie Denton
- 1924 Travelin' Fast as Betty Conway
- 1926 The Fighting Cheat as Ruth Wells
- 1927 Husband Hunters as Lettie Crane
- 1927 Hello Lafayette
- 1924 The Powerful Eye as Dud's Sweetheart
- 1926 Double Daring as Marie Wells
- 1926 Twisted Triggers as Ruth Regan
- 1924 Case Dismissed as Jean
- 1925 Thundering Through as Ruth Burroughs
- 1926 The Roaring Rider as Mary Watkins
- 1927 The Masked Menace as Faith Newton
- 1929 Stairs of Sand as Ruth Hutt
- 1924 Thundering Romance as Mary Watkins
- 1924 Biff Bang Buddy as Bonnie Norton
- 1926 Under Fire as Margaret Cranston
- 1926 The Mad Racer
- 1923 Spring Fever
- 1927 Bigger and Better Blondes as Ramona
- 1925 The Hurricane Horseman as June Mathews
- 1925 A Man of Nerve as Loria Gatlin
- 1926 The College Boob as Angela Boothby
- 1928 Sins of the Fathers as Mary Spengler
- 1931 Virtuous Husband as Barbara Olwell
- 1933 Get That Venus as Margaret Rendleby
- 1923 Monks a la mode as Madame Maxine
- 2017 Becoming Cary Grant as Self (archive footage)
- 2001 Beyond Tara: The Extraordinary Life of Hattie McDaniel as Self (archive footage)
- 1961 Hollywood: The Selznick Years as Self - Actress 'Gone with the Wind' screen test (archive footage) (uncredited)
- 1985 George Stevens: A Filmmaker's Journey as (archive footage)
- 1955 Gunsmoke ( 1 episode ) as Julie Blane
- 1966 The Jean Arthur Show ( 12 episodes )
