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