Born April 30, 1908 in Mill Valley, California, Eunice Quedens took her stage name from two perfume bottles in her Ziegfeld Follies dressing room in 1934. She got โEveโ from Evening in Paris and โArdenโ from Elizabeth Arden.
In minor roles in two films prior to her Ziegfeld stint, she had another minor role on screen in 1937โs Oh, Doctor and started filming Stage Door in yet another minor role. However her wise-cracking character in that film was so engaging that the role was expanded and she became a star character performer pretty much playing the same role for the next fifty years.
It took several more films before she had another much talked part, that of acrobat Peerless Pauline in The Marx Brothers 1939 classic, At the Circus.
She had two memorable roles in 1944, as a Russian sharpshooter in Doughgirls and as Gene Kellyโs wisecracking assistant in Cover Girl. She was at her wisecracking best as Joan Crawfordโs friend in 1945โs Mildred Pierce, for which she received her only Oscar nomination.
Her part in Danny Kayeโs 1946 radio show led to her casting as the acerbic schoolteacher in Our Miss Brooks, which she played on radio from 1948 to 1957. She played the same part in a well-remembered TV version of the show that ran from 1952 to 1956, picking up Emmy nominations for four successive years from 1953 through 1956. An inferior film version was produced in 1956.
Having been in a childless marriage from 1939 to 1947, Arden married actor Brooks West in 1952 and raised four children with him, the first three of them adopted. She gave birth for the first time to her fourth child and second son at the age of 46.
In the wake of her long-running Our Miss Brooks success, Arden was unable to extend her popularity through 1957โs short-lived The Eve Arden Show. She did, however, have two of her best screen roles as James Stewartโs loyal secretary in 1959โs Anatomy of a Murder and as Dorothy McGuireโs bigoted sister in 1960โs The Dark at the Top of the Stairs.
In the 1960s she appeared on stage in the megahits Auntie Mame and Hello, Dolly! Before tackling another hit TV comedy series, The Mothers-in-Law with Kaye Ballard which lasted from 1967 to 1969.
Her role in 1974โs Mother of the Bride on ABCโs Afternoon Playbreak brought her a Daytime Emmy nomination for Best Actress in a Daytime Drama.
A new generation discovered her as the high school principal in the 1978 film version of Grease. The 1982 sequel, Grease 2 was her final film. She made her last appearance as a guest star in 1987โs Falcon Crest.
Eve Arden died in 1990 at 82.
ESSENTIAL FILMS
STAGE DOOR (1937), directed by Gregory La Cava
The comedy classic has moments of high drama and sadness, but its comic punch stays at the forefront throughout. Katharine Hepburn and Ginger Rogers volley for acting honors as the protagonists, but all the supporting players including Adolphe Menjou, Andrea Leeds, Lucille Ball and especially Eve Arden are used to maximum efect. Wearing her pet cat around her neck as if it were a fur collar, Arden makes you laugh before she even opens her mouth to utter one of her trademark quips. Itโs no wonder the part became the touchstone for an entire career.
COVER GIRL (1944), directed by Charles Vidor
Lovely Rita Hayworth and song-and-dance man Gene Kelly were the stars and Jerome Kernโs splendid score included the Oscar nominated โLong Ago and Far Awayโ, but for many the highlight of the film is Ardenโs performance as Kellyโs wisecracking no-nonsense assistant, Cornelia โStonewallโ Jackson, aptly named after the Civil War Confederate general. It was her first color film and she looks fabulous.
MILDRED PIERCE (1945), directed by Michael Curtiz
One of Ardenโs first roles was a bit part in Joan Crawfordโs Dancing Lady. Twelve years later she is the comic relief of the heavy going melodrama in Crawfordโs Oscar winner. Ardenโs part isnโt large, but she makes every minute count and her fellow actors acknowledged her contribution with her first and, sadly, only Oscar nomination.
Crawford and Arden were reunited for 1951โs Goodbye, My Fancy co-starring another long time film star who would an even bigger splash on TV: Robert Young.
ANATOMY OF A MURDER (1959), directed by Otto Preminger
With her great TV success, Our Miss Brooks, behind her, Arden moved back into supporting roles in major films. The then frank dialogue thrust this explicit murder mystery into the limelight, but the strength of the acting has kept audiences watching ever since. James Stewart had one of his best late career roles defending Ben Gazzara as the Army officer who kills wife Lee Remickโs alleged rapist. Arden has one of her best dramatic roles as his faithful secretary. Thatโs Brooks West, Ardenโs husband, as the District Attorney.
THE DARK AT THE TOP OF THE STAIRS (1960), directed by Delbert Mann
If Eve Arden were to have only one Oscar nomination, perhaps it should have been for her overbearing, bigoted matron in the screen adaptation of William Ingeโs played. The entire cast including Robert Preston, Dorothy McGuire, Angela Lansbury, Shirley Knight and Lee Kinsolving among them, are all perfectly cast, but Arden in the role created by Eileen Heckart on stage, is the filmโs most outstanding player. Itโs one of those โhate the character, but love the actorโ roles that come along rarely in an actorโs career and she nails it.
EVE ARDEN AND OSCAR
- Mildred Pierce (1945) โ Nominated โ Best Supporting Actress
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