Jean Arthur

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 Cant Take It With You 1938 and Mr Smith Goes to Washington 1939 films that championed the everyday heroine Her last performance was the memorableand distinctly noncomedicrole as the ranchers 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 Description above from the Wikipedia article Jean Arthur licensed under CCBYSA full list of contributors on Wikipedia