Jean Arthur (October 17, 1900 – June 19, 1991) 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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Known For
Shane
(1953)
Marian Starrett
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
(1939)
Clarissa Saunders
You Can't Take It with You
(1938)
Alice Sycamore
A Foreign Affair
(1948)
Congresswoman Phoebe Frost
Mr. Deeds Goes to Town
(1936)
Babe Bennett
Seven Chances
(1925)
Miss Smith the Country Club Receptionist (uncredited)
Only Angels Have Wings
(1939)
Bonnie Lee
The More the Merrier
(1943)
Constance Milligan
The Talk of the Town
(1942)
Miss Nora Shelley
The Devil and Miss Jones
(1941)
Mary Jones
Full Filmography
Acting
Cameo Kirby
(1923)
Ann Playdell
Spring Fever
(1923)
Somebody Lied
(1923)
The Iron Horse
(1924)
Reporter
Wine of Youth
(1924)
Flapper
The Powerful Eye
(1924)
Dud's Sweetheart
Bringin' Home the Bacon
(1924)
Nancy Norton
Case Dismissed
(1924)
Fast and Fearless
(1924)
Mary Brown
Biff Bang Buddy
(1924)
Bonnie Norton
Thundering Romance
(1924)
Mary Watkins
Travelin' Fast
(1924)
Betty Conway
Seven Chances
(1925)
Miss Smith the Country Club Receptionist (uncredited)
The Drug Store Cowboy
(1925)
Jean
The Fighting Smile
(1925)
Rose Craddock
Thundering Through
(1925)
Ruth Burroughs
The Hurricane Horseman
(1925)
June Mathews
Tearin' Loose
(1925)
Sally Harris
A Man of Nerve
(1925)
Loria Gatlin
The Block Signal
(1926)
Grace Ryan
The Cowboy Cop
(1926)
Virginia Selby
Born to Battle
(1926)
Eunice Morgan
The Fighting Cheat
(1926)
Ruth Wells
Eight-Cylinder Bull
(1926)
The Mad Racer
(1926)
Double Daring
(1926)
Marie Wells
Ridin' Rivals
(1926)
Ruth Burroghs
The College Boob
(1926)
Angela Boothby
The Roaring Rider
(1926)
Mary Watkins
Lightning Bill
(1926)
Marie Denton
Twisted Triggers
(1926)
Ruth Regan
Under Fire
(1926)
Margaret Cranston
Flying Luck
(1927)
The Girl
The Poor Nut
(1927)
Margie Blake
Winners Of The Wilderness
(1927)
Bit Role (uncredited)
Horse Shoes
(1927)
Miss Baker
The Masked Menace
(1927)
Faith
Hello Lafayette
(1927)
The Broken Gate
(1927)
Ruth Hale
Husband Hunters
(1927)
Lettie Crane
Bigger and Better Blondes
(1927)
Brotherly Love
(1928)
Mary
Warming Up
(1928)
Mary Post
Wallflowers
(1928)
Sandra
Sins of the Fathers
(1928)
Mary Spengler
The Canary Murder Case
(1929)
Alice LaFosse
The Greene Murder Case
(1929)
Ada Greene
The Mysterious Dr. Fu Manchu
(1929)
Lia Eltham
The Saturday Night Kid
(1929)
Janie Barry
Half Way to Heaven
(1929)
Greta Nelson
Stairs of Sand
(1929)
Ruth Hutt
The Silver Horde
(1930)
Mildred Wayland
Danger Lights
(1930)
Mary Ryan
The Return of Dr. Fu Manchu
(1930)
Lia Eltham
Street of Chance
(1930)
Judith Marsden
Young Eagles
(1930)
Mary Gordon
Paramount on Parade
(1930)
Dream Girl
Galas de la Paramount
(1930)
Self (from original version)
Ex-Bad Boy
(1931)
Ethel Simmons
The Lawyer's Secret
(1931)
Beatrice Stevens
The Gang Buster
(1931)
Sylvia Martine
Virtuous Husband
(1931)
Barbara Olwell
The Past of Mary Holmes
(1933)
Joan Hoyt
Get That Venus
(1933)
Margaret Rendleby
Whirlpool
(1934)
Sandra Rankin Morrison
The Defense Rests
(1934)
Joan Hayes
Most Precious Thing in Life
(1934)
Ellen Holmes, aka Biddy, Babe
Public Hero Number 1
(1935)
Maria Theresa 'Terry' O'Reilly
The Whole Town's Talking
(1935)
Wilhelmina 'Bill' Clark
If You Could Only Cook
(1935)
Joan Hawthorne
Party Wire
(1935)
Marge Oliver
The Public Menace
(1935)
Cassie Nicholls
Diamond Jim
(1935)
Jane Matthews / Emma
Mr. Deeds Goes to Town
(1936)
Babe Bennett
The Plainsman
(1936)
Calamity Jane
The Ex-Mrs. Bradford
(1936)
Paula Bradford
Adventure in Manhattan
(1936)
Claire Peyton
More Than a Secretary
(1936)
Carol Baldwin
Screen Snapshots (Series 16, No. 1)
(1936)
Self
History Is Made at Night
(1937)
Irene Vail
Easy Living
(1937)
Mary Smith
You Can't Take It with You
(1938)
Alice Sycamore
Screen Snapshots Series 17, No. 12
(1938)
Jean Arthur
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
(1939)
Clarissa Saunders
Only Angels Have Wings
(1939)
Bonnie Lee
Screen Snapshots Series 19, No. 1
(1939)
Arizona
(1940)
Phoebe Titus
Too Many Husbands
(1940)
Vicky Lowndes
The Devil and Miss Jones
(1941)
Mary Jones
The Talk of the Town
(1942)
Miss Nora Shelley
A Lady Takes a Chance
(1943)
Molly J. Truesdale
The More the Merrier
(1943)
Constance Milligan
The Impatient Years
(1944)
Janie Anderson
A Foreign Affair
(1948)
Congresswoman Phoebe Frost
Shane
(1953)
Marian Starrett
Yesterday and Today
(1953)
(archive footage)
Hollywood: The Selznick Years
(1961)
'Gone with the Wind' screen test (archive footage) (uncredited)
Going Hollywood: The '30s
(1984)
(archive footage)
George Stevens: A Filmmaker's Journey
(1985)
Self (archive footage)
The Making of a Legend: Gone with the Wind
(1988)
Self (archive footage)
Gary Cooper: The Face of a Hero
(1998)
Self (archive footage)
Clara Bow: Discovering the It Girl
(1999)
Self (from The Saturday Night Kid [1929]) (archive footage)
Frank Capra Jr. Remembers... You Can't Take It With You
(2008)
Self (archive footage)