Around 1897, Hubert moved his wife and three sons from Billings to Plattsburgh, so he could work as a photographer at the Woodward Studios on Clinton Street. Arthur was known as a reclusive woman. Arthur Rimbaud, in full Jean Nicolas Arthur Rimbaud, (born October 20, 1854, Charleville, France—died November 10, 1891, Marseille), French poet and adventurer who won renown in the Symbolist movement and markedly influenced modern poetry.. Childhood. As a result of being in dispute with studio boss Harry Cohn, her fee for The Talk of the Town (1942) was only $50,000, while her male co-stars Grant and Colman received upwards of $100,000 each. [4] Her last film performance was non-comedic, playing the homesteader's wife in George Stevens's Shane in 1953. Ron Harper played her son, attorney Paul Marshall. —Arthur commenting on her unsuccessful film career in 1928. I guess I became an actress because I didn't want to be myself. … Jean Arthur’s favorite exercise was horseback riding. 1900 US Census, Plattsburgh, New York; and 1910 US Census, Cumberland, Maine. The film's producer, David O. Selznick, had briefly romanced Arthur in the late 1920s when they both were with Paramount Pictures. New York: Oxford University Press, 2002. List of the best Jean Arthur movies, ranked best to worst with movie trailers when available. She was cast on Banks's insistence, and received a salary of $700. ISBN 0816023387. I learned to face audiences and to forget them. Biography. [28] She next won the female lead in The Man Who Reclaimed His Head, which opened on September 8, 1932, at the Broadhurst Theatre to mostly mixed notices for Arthur, and negative reviews for the play caused the production to be halted quickly. She has appeared in four films that have been selected for the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically or aesthetically" significant: A voracious reader, Arthur was a huge fan of the writings of psychologists. The date and place indicated above shall be deemed correct.) She was nominated for an Academy Award in 1944 for her role in The More the Merrier.. Arthur was born on October 17, 1900 in Plattsburgh, New York. On the stage I found myself to be in a different world. [citation needed], She did score a major triumph on Broadway in 1950, starring in Leonard Bernstein's adaptation of Peter Pan, playing the title character, when she was almost 50. Gladys dropped out of high school in her junior year due to a "change in family circumstances". Promoted as the studio's first sound film, it received wide media attention, and Arthur earned praise for her portrayal of a club owner's daughter. Aside from appearing in films for Action Pictures between 1924 and 1926, she worked in some independent westerns, including The Drug Store Cowboy (1925), and westerns for Poverty Row, as well as having an uncredited bit part in Buster Keaton's Seven Chances (1925). Deeds was critically acclaimed and propelled her to international stardom. Arthur was born Gladys Georgianna Greene in Plattsburgh, New York, to Protestant parents, Johanna Augusta Nelson (1871–1959) and Hubert Sidney Greene (1863–1944). Arthur began her acting career with minor roles in a series of silent films. Was a leading contender for the coveted role of Scarlett O'Hara in, As her star began to decline, she was replaced by, Turned down the role of the lady missionary in. [30], The Curtain Rises, which ran from October to December 1933, was Arthur's first Broadway play in which she was the center of attention. The individual counted. It was her distinctive, throaty voice – in addition to some stage training on Broadway in the early 1930s – that eventually helped make her a star in the talkies. [citation needed], As of 2019, the Adirondacks Welcome Center near Exit 18 on the northbound lanes of the Northway (I-87) in Queensbury, New York, featured a ground plaque of Jean Arthur, among other famous persons connected to the Adirondacks region, as part of the Adirondacks Walk of Fame, similar in style to the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Los Angeles. [citation needed], In 1967, Arthur was coaxed back to Broadway to appear as a midwestern spinster who falls in with a group of hippies in the play The Freaking Out of Stephanie Blake. Deeds Goes to Town (1936) with Arthur, and only rarely gave audiences a close look at her "evil" side, if and when the situation demanded it. [58] The Jean Arthur Atrium was her gift to the Monterey Institute of International Studies in Monterey, California. - from rapacious human vultures who are scheming to separate him from his wealth. With the rise of the talkies in the late 1920s, Arthur was among the many silent screen actors of Paramount Pictures initially unwilling to adapt to sound films. And I didn't see how I was ever going to acquire any other experience if I couldn't get any other kind of role. [44] Next, again without pause, she was re-teamed with Cooper, playing Calamity Jane in Cecil B. DeMille's The Plainsman (1936) on another loan, this time for Paramount Pictures. In 1966, the extremely reclusive Arthur took on the role of Patricia Marshall, an attorney, on her own television sitcom, The Jean Arthur Show, which was canceled mid-season by CBS after only 12 episodes. I was acting like a mechanical doll personality. It was, of course, her squeaky, frog-like voice, which silent-era cinema audiences had simply no way of perceiving, much less appreciating. Biography The daughter of a commercial artist, Jean Arthur became a model early in life, then went on to work in films. Despite lacking the required talent, Arthur liked acting, which she perceived as an "outlet". Jean Arthur (1900-91) kept her personal life private, disdained the Hollywood publicity machine, and was called “difficult” because of her perfectionism and remoteness from costars on the movie set. Monterey Institute of International Studies, List of actors with Academy Award nominations, List of actors with Hollywood Walk of Fame motion picture stars, "Read TCM's article on Public Hero No. Biographer John Oller of New York City faced a difficult task when writing a book about Hollywood actress Jean Arthur. News magazine Life observed in a 1940 article: "Next to Garbo, Jean Arthur is Hollywood's reigning mystery woman. Here are 10 things you should know about the wonderful Jean Arthur, born on October 17, 1900. Her Congregationalist paternal ancestors immigrated from England to Rhode Island in the second half of the 1600s. Subsequently, she was romanced by actor Monty Banks in Horse Shoes (1927), both a commercial and critical success. [29] Arthur returned to California for the holidays, and appeared in the RKO film The Past of Mary Holmes (1933), her first film in two years. A Very Private Movie Star. Arthur had feature roles in three Frank Capra films: Mr. "[36] Another critic wrote of her performance in If You Could Only Cook that "[she is] outstanding as she effortlessly slips from charming comedienne to beautiful romantic. [19] Arthur was given more publicity assignments, which she carried out, even though she immensely disliked posing for photographers and giving interviews. Bill Takacs, Other Works [citation needed]. [18] Upon realizing that the craze for sound films was not a phase, she met with sound coach Roy Pomeroy. [citation needed]. It has been argued that in this period, Arthur developed confidence in her acting craft for the first time. I finally decided there was only one thing to do: go back to New York and try to get into some plays there. On May 2, 2015, the city of Plattsburgh, New York, honored her with a plaque in front of the house where she was born (94 Oak Street). Allegedly took her stage name from two of her greatest heroes: Joan of Arc (Jeanne d'Arc) and King Arthur. Volume 3, 1991-1993, pages 29-31. 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". Two and a half years later, Johanna gave birth to Gladys Georgianna. In fact Jean Arthur was born Gladys Georgianna Greene on October 17, 1900 in Plattsburgh NY about 20 miles from the Canadian border. In it they mentioned the legendary make-up artist Max Factor and a bizarre contraption he designed to "capture and perfect" the essence of beauty. Arthur re-united with director Frank Capra and Stewart for Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939), with Arthur cast once again as a working woman, this time one who teaches the naive Mr. Smith the ways of Washington, D.C. Arthur continued to star in films such as Howard Hawks's Only Angels Have Wings (also 1939), with love interest Cary Grant, The Talk of the Town (1942), directed by George Stevens (with Cary Grant and Ronald Colman, working together for the only time, as Arthur's two leading men), and again for Stevens as a government clerk in The More the Merrier (1943), for which Arthur was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress (losing to Jennifer Jones for The Song of Bernadette). The extras on these films were often real cowboys, tough men who were used to roughing it and who had little use for those who were not. "[citation needed], Her students at Vassar included the young Meryl Streep. She was known for her roles in Mr. That's the worst of this business, everyone is such a good promisor.