Eve Arden

Eve Arden

  • Birthday: 1908-04-30
  • Deathday: 1990-11-12
  • Place of birth: Mill Valley, California, USA
  • Also know as: Eunice Quedens

Biography

Eve was born just north of San Francisco in Mill Valley and was interested in show business from an early age. At 16, she made her stage debut after quitting school to joined a stock company. After appearing in minor roles in two films under her real name, Eunice Quedens, she found that the stage offered her the same minor roles. By the mid 30s, one of these minor roles would attract notice as a comedy sketch in the stage play "Ziegfeld Folies". By that time, she had changed her name to Eve Arden. In 1937, she attracted some attention with a small role in Oh, Doctor (1937) which led to her being cast in a minor role in the film Stage Door (1937). By the time the film was finished, her part had expanded into the wise-cracking, fast-talking friend to the lead. She would play virtually the character for most of her career. While her sophisticated wise-cracking would never make her the lead, she would be a busy actress in dozens of movies over the next dozen years. In At the Circus (1939), she was the acrobatic Peerless Pauline opposite Groucho Marx and the Russian sharp shooter in the comedy The Doughgirls (1944). For her role as Ida in Mildred Pierce (1945), she received an Academy Award nomination. Famous for her quick ripostes, this led to work in Radio during the 40s. In 1948, CBS Radio premiered "Our Miss Brooks", which would be the perfect show for her character. As her film career began to slow, CBS would take the popular radio show to television in 1952. The television series Our Miss Brooks (1952) would run through 1956 and led to he movie Our Miss Brooks (1956). When the show ended, she tried another television series, The Eve Arden Show (1957), but it was soon canceled. In the 60s, Eve raised a family and did a few guest roles, until her come-back television series The Mothers-In-Law (1967). This show, co-starring Kaye Ballard ran for two seasons. After that, she would make more unsold pilots, a couple of television movies and a few guest shots. She returned in occasional cameo appearances including the Principal McGee in Grease (1978), and Warden June in Pandemonium (1982), showing that she still had the wise-cracks and screen presence to bring back the fond memories of Miss Connie Brooks. Date of Death 12 November 1990 , Los Angeles, California  (cardiac arrest due to arteriosclerotic heart disease)

Filmography

Anatomy of a Murder

1959

As Maida Rutledge

Grease

1978

As Principal McGee

Mildred Pierce

1945

As Ida Corwin

Cover Girl

1944

As Cornelia 'Stonewall' Jackson

At the Circus

1939

As Peerless Pauline

Manpower

1941

As Dolly

We're Not Married!

1952

As Katie Woodruff

My Dream Is Yours

1949

As Vivian Martin

Comrade X

1940

As Jane Wilson

Grease 2

1982

As Principal McGee

Tea for Two

1950

As Pauline Hastings

The Arnelo Affair

1947

As Vivian Delwyn

One Touch of Venus

1948

As Molly Stewart

Night and Day

1946

As Gabrielle

Dancing Lady

1933

As Marcia (uncredited)

That Uncertain Feeling

1941

As Sally Aikens

Stage Door

1937

As Eve

Paid in Full

1950

As Tommy Thompson

Having Wonderful Time

1938

As Henrietta

Under the Rainbow

1981

As The Duchess

Bedtime Story

1941

As Virginia Cole

Sergeant Deadhead

1965

As Lieutenant Kinsey

The Unfaithful

1947

As Paula

Whistling in the Dark

1941

As 'Buzz' Baker

Whiplash

1948

As Chris Sherwood

Eternally Yours

1939

As Gloria

San Antonio Rose

1941

As Gabby Trent

Our Miss Brooks

1956

As Miss Constance 'Connie' Brooks

Three Husbands

1950

As Lucille McCabe

The Doughgirls

1944

As Sgt. Natalia Moskoroff

Letter of Introduction

1938

As Cora Phelps

My Reputation

1946

As Ginna Abbott

The Kid from Brooklyn

1946

As Ann Westly

Slightly Honorable

1939

As Miss Ater

The Lady Takes a Sailor

1949

As Susan Wayne

Goodbye, My Fancy

1951

As Miss 'Woody' Woods

The Voice of the Turtle

1947

As Olive Lashbrooke

Patrick the Great

1945

As Jean Matthews

Women in the Wind

1939

As Kit Campbell

She Couldn't Say No

1940

As Alice Hinsdale

Curtain Call at Cactus Creek

1950

As Lily Martin

In Name Only

1969

As Aunt Theda Reeson

Cocoanut Grove

1938

As Sophie De Lemma

Song of Scheherazade

1947

As Madame de Talavera

The Lady Wants Mink

1953

As Gladys Jones

Pan-Americana

1945

As Helen 'Hoppy' Hopkins

Obliging Young Lady

1942

As 'Space' OShea, aka Suwanee Rivers

A Child Is Born

1939

As Miss Pinty

Ziegfeld Girl

1941

As Patsy Dixon

She Knew All the Answers

1941

As Sally Long

Hit Parade of 1943

1943

As Belinda Wright

Oh, Doctor

1937

As Shirley Truman

Earl Carroll Vanities

1945

As Tex Donnelly

No, No, Nanette

1940

As Kitty

Let's Face It

1943

As Maggie Watson

Cinderella

1985

As Stepmother

Big Town Czar

1939

As Susan Warren

A Guide for the Married Woman

1978

As Employment Lady

The Grease Story

2017

As Principal McGee

Blow-Ups of 1946

1946

As Self

All My Darling Daughters

1972

As Miss Freeling, the Wedding Counselor

A Very Missing Person

1972

As Hildegarde Withers

The Costume Designer

1950

As Self (archive footage)

Sing for Your Supper

1941

As Barbara Stevens

Preminger: Anatomy of a Filmmaker

1991

As Maida Rutledge (archive footage) (uncredited)

The Forgotten Woman

1939

As Carrie Ashburn

Pandemonium

1982

As Warden June

Alice in Wonderland

1983

As Queen of Hearts

Last of the Duanes

1941

As Kate

Hollywood's Funniest All-Star Bloopers

1985

As Self (archive footage)

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