Known For
Acting
Born
Oct 17, 1900
Died
Jun 19, 1991
Place of Birth
Plattsburgh, New York, USA
Credits
106 titles
Jean Arthur
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
Filmography
Becoming Cary Grant
Self (archive footage)
Frank Capra Jr. Remembers... You Can't Take It with You
Self (archive footage)
Beyond Tara: The Extraordinary Life of Hattie McDaniel
Self (archive footage)
Clara Bow: Discovering the "It" Girl
Self (from The Saturday Night Kid [1929]) (archive footage)
Gary Cooper: The Face of a Hero
Self (archive footage)
The Making of a Legend: Gone with the Wind
Self (archive footage)
Going Hollywood: The '30s
(archive footage)
The Jean Arthur Show
Hollywood: The Selznick Years
Self - Actress 'Gone with the Wind' screen test (archive footage) (uncredited)
Gunsmoke
Julie Blane
Yesterday and Today
(archive footage)
Shane
Marian Starrett
A Foreign Affair
Congresswoman Phoebe Frost
The Impatient Years
Janie Anderson
A Lady Takes a Chance
Molly J. Truesdale
The More the Merrier
Constance Milligan
The Talk of the Town
Nora Shelley
The Devil and Miss Jones
Mary Jones
Arizona
Phoebe Titus
Too Many Husbands
Vicky Lowndes
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
Clarissa Saunders
Screen Snapshots Series 19, No. 1
Self
Only Angels Have Wings
Bonnie Lee
You Can't Take It with You
Alice Sycamore
Screen Snapshots Series 17, No. 12
Jean Arthur
Easy Living
Mary Smith
History Is Made at Night
Irene Vail
More Than a Secretary
Carol Baldwin
The Plainsman
Calamity Jane
Adventure in Manhattan
Claire Peyton
Screen Snapshots (Series 16, No. 1)
Self
The Ex-Mrs. Bradford
Paula Bradford
Mr. Deeds Goes to Town
Babe Bennett
If You Could Only Cook
Joan Hawthorne
The Public Menace
Cassie Nicholls
Diamond Jim
Jane Matthews / Emma
Public Hero Number 1
Maria Theresa 'Terry' O'Reilly
Party Wire
Marge Oliver
The Whole Town's Talking
Wilhelmina 'Bill' Clark
The Defense Rests
Joan Hayes
Most Precious Thing in Life
Ellen Holmes, aka Biddy, Babe
Whirlpool
Sandy
Get That Venus
Margaret Rendleby
The Past of Mary Holmes
Joan Hoyt
Ex-Bad Boy
Ethel Simmons
The Lawyer's Secret
Beatrice Stevens
Virtuous Husband
Barbara Olwell
The Gang Buster
Sylvia Martine
Danger Lights
Mary Ryan
The Silver Horde
Mildred Wayland