Editing Eve Arden (section)

==Career==
===Film===

She made her film debut under her real name in the [[backstage musical]] ''[[Song of Love (1929 film)|Song of Love]]'' (1929), as a wisecracking, homewrecking showgirl who becomes a rival to the film's star, singer [[Belle Baker]].{{Sfn|Ware|Braukman|2005|p=27}} The film was one of [[Columbia Pictures]]' earliest successes. In 1933, she relocated to [[New York City]], where she had supporting parts in several [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]] stage productions.{{Sfn|Ware|Braukman|2005|p=27}} In 1934, she was cast in the ''[[Ziegfeld Follies]]'' revue, the first role where she was credited as Eve Arden. When she was told to adopt a stage name for the show, Arden looked at her cosmetics and "stole my first name from Evening in Paris, and the second from [[Elizabeth Arden]]".<ref name=obit /> Between 1934 and 1941, she appeared in Broadway productions of ''[[Parade (musical)|Parade]]'', ''[[Very Warm for May]]'', ''[[Two for the Show (musical)|Two for the Show]]'', and ''[[Let's Face It!]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.playbill.com/person/eve-arden-vault-0000080930|work=Playbill|title=Eve Arden|publisher=Playbill, Inc.|access-date=December 29, 2016}}</ref>

Arden's film career began in earnest in 1937 when she signed a contract with [[RKO Pictures|RKO Radio Pictures]]{{Sfn|Tucker|2011|p=77}} and appeared in the films ''Oh Doctor'' and ''[[Stage Door]]''. Her ''Stage Door'' portrayal of a fast-talking, witty supporting character gained Arden considerable notice and was a template for many of Arden's future roles.<ref name="obit">{{cite news|title=Eve Arden, Actress, Is Dead... TV's 'Our Miss Brooks'|date=November 13, 1990|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/11/13/obituaries/eve-arden-actress-is-dead-at-83-starred-in-tv-s-our-miss-brooks.html|work=The New York Times|author=Krebs, Albin|access-date=June 13, 2011}}</ref><ref name="tcm">{{cite web|title=Eve Arden|publisher=Turner Classic Movies|url=https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/person/5233%7C49968/Eve-Arden|access-date=June 13, 2011}}</ref>

[[File:Eve Arden in Comrade X trailer.jpg|thumb|{{center|Arden in ''[[Comrade X]]'' (1940)}}]]
In 1938, she played a supporting part in the comedy ''[[Having Wonderful Time]]'', starring [[Ginger Rogers]] and [[Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.]]{{Sfn|Tucker|2011|p=47}} This was followed by roles in the crime film ''The Forgotten Woman'' (1939),{{Sfn|Tucker|2011|p=53}} and the [[Marx Brothers]] comedy ''[[At the Circus]]'' (1939), a role that required her to perform acrobatics.{{Sfn|Tucker|2011|p=55}}

In 1940, she appeared in support of [[Clark Gable]] and [[Hedy Lamarr]] in ''[[Comrade X]]'', followed by support in the drama ''[[Manpower (1941 film)|Manpower]]'' (1941) opposite [[Marlene Dietrich]], [[Edward G. Robinson]] and [[George Raft]].{{Sfn|Ware|Braukman|2005|p=27}} She also had a supporting part in the [[Red Skelton]] comedy ''[[Whistling in the Dark (1941 film)|Whistling in the Dark]]'' (1941){{Sfn|Tucker|2011|p=71}} and the romantic comedy ''[[Obliging Young Lady]]'' (1942).{{Sfn|Tucker|2011|p=69}}

Her many memorable screen roles include a supporting role as [[Joan Crawford]]'s wise-cracking friend in ''[[Mildred Pierce (film)|Mildred Pierce]]'' (1945), for which she received an [[Academy Awards|Academy Award]] nomination as Best Supporting Actress; as a catty cousin turned peacemaker in [[The Unfaithful (1947 film)|The Unfaithful]] (1947); and as [[James Stewart]]'s wistful but wry secretary in [[Otto Preminger]]'s mystery ''[[Anatomy of a Murder]]'' (1959) (which also featured her husband, Brooks West). In 1946, exhibitors voted her the sixth-most promising "star of tomorrow".<ref>{{cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article17994035|title=The Stars of To-morrow.|newspaper=Sydney Morning Morning Herald (NSW: 1842-1954)|location=NSW|date=September 10, 1946|access-date=April 24, 2012|page=11 Supplement: The Sydney Morning Herald Magazine|publisher=National Library of Australia}}</ref>

Arden became familiar to a new generation of filmgoers when she played Principal McGee in ''[[Grease (film)|Grease]]'' (1978) and ''[[Grease 2]] (1982)''. Arden was known for her [[deadpan]] comedic delivery.<ref name=LAtimes />

===Radio and television===
[[File:Groucho Marx-Eve Arden in At the Circus trailer.jpg|left|thumb|[[Groucho Marx]] and Eve Arden in a scene from ''[[At the Circus]]'' (1939)]]
Arden's ability with witty scripts made her a natural talent for radio. She was a regular on [[Danny Kaye]]'s short-lived but memorably zany [[The Danny Kaye Show (radio program)|comedy-variety show]] in 1946, which also featured swing bandleader [[Harry James]] and gravel-voiced character actor-comedian [[Lionel Stander]].<ref name="deli">{{Cite web|title=The Danny Kaye Show|url=http://www.digitaldeliftp.com/DigitalDeliToo/dd2jb-Danny-Kaye-Show.html|publisher=The Digital Deli Too|access-date=December 5, 2011|archive-date=January 6, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120106215433/http://digitaldeliftp.com/DigitalDeliToo/dd2jb-Danny-Kaye-Show.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>

The additional exposure of Arden's comic talent on Kaye's show led to her best-known role, that of Madison High School English teacher Connie Brooks in ''[[Our Miss Brooks]]''. Arden portrayed the character on radio from 1948 to 1957, in a television version of the program from 1952 to 1956, and in a 1956 feature film. Her character clashed with the school's principal, Osgood Conklin (played by [[Gale Gordon]]) and nursed an unrequited crush on fellow teacher Philip Boynton (played originally by future film star [[Jeff Chandler]]; and later on radio and TV by [[Robert Rockwell]]). Except for Chandler, the entire radio cast of Arden, Gordon, [[Richard Crenna]] (Walter Denton), Robert Rockwell (Mr. Philip Boynton), Gloria McMillan (Harriet Conklin) and Jane Morgan (landlady Margaret Davis) played the same roles on TV.<ref name="Brooks_Radio">{{cite book |last=Dunning |first=John |title=On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio |section=Our Miss Brooks (radio) |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EwtRbXNca0oC&dq=%22most+of+the+principal+actors+Arden+Gordon+Crenna+Morgan+and+McMillan+moved+successfully+with+their+roles+to+TV%22&pg=PA529 |date=1998 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=New York, NY |isbn=978-0-19-507678-3 |pages=527–529 |edition=Revised |access-date=2025-03-15 }}</ref><ref name="Brooks_TV">{{cite book |first1=Tim |last1=Brooks |first2=Earle |last2=Marsh |title=The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows – 1946–present |date=June 24, 2009 |page=1034 |section=Our Miss Brooks (TV) |isbn=978-0-345-49773-4 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w8KztFy6QYwC&dq=%22Our+Miss+Brooks+situation+comedy%22+%22heard+on+both+radio+and+TV%22+%22essentially+the+same+cast%22&pg=PA1034 |publisher=Ballantine Books |edition=9 |location=New York, NY |access-date=2025-03-15 }}</ref>

Arden's portrayal of Miss Brooks was so popular that she was made an honorary member of the [[National Education Association]], received a 1952 award from the [[Central Connecticut State University|Teachers College of Connecticut]]'s Alumni Association "for humanizing the American teacher", and even received teaching job offers.<ref name="LAtimes">{{Cite news|title=Eve Arden, 82; Portrayed TV's Beloved 'Our Miss Brooks'|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-11-13-mn-4578-story.html|author=Burt A. Folkart|work=Los Angeles Times|date=November 13, 1990|access-date=December 5, 2011}}</ref> Her well-established wisecracking, deadpan character ultimately became her public persona as a comedienne.<ref name=LAtimes />
[[File:Eve Arden.jpg|thumb|With the [[American Forces Network|Armed Forces Radio Service]], 1940s]]
She won a listeners' poll by ''Radio Mirror'' magazine as the top-ranking comedienne of 1948–1949, receiving her award at the end of an ''Our Miss Brooks'' broadcast that March. "I'm certainly going to try in the coming months to merit the honor you've bestowed upon me, because I understand that if I win this (award) two years in a row, I get to keep Mr. Boynton," she joked. She was also a hit with the critics: A winter 1949 poll of newspaper and magazine radio editors by ''[[Motion Picture Daily]]'' named her the year's best radio comedienne.<ref name="oregonian">{{Cite news|title=Eve Arden, 82, dies; best known as 'Our Miss Brooks'|url=http://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/eve-arden-dies-our-miss-brooks-grease-obituary|work=The Oregonian|date=November 13, 1990|publisher=Worthpoint|access-date=December 5, 2011}}</ref>

Arden had a very brief guest appearance in a 1955 ''[[I Love Lucy]]'' episode titled "L.A. at Last", where she played herself. While awaiting their food at the [[Brown Derby]], [[Lucy and Ricky Ricardo|Lucy Ricardo]] ([[Lucille Ball]]) and [[Ethel Mertz]] ([[Vivian Vance]]) argue over whether a certain portrait on a nearby wall is [[Shelley Winters]] or [[Judy Holliday]]. Lucy urges Ethel to ask a lady occupying the next booth, who turns and replies, "Neither. That's Eve Arden." As Ethel realizes she just spoke to Arden herself, Arden passes Lucy and Ethel's table to leave the restaurant while the pair gawk.<ref name="Brooks">{{cite book |last=Geary |first=George |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sh4RDQAAQBAJ&dq=%22eve+arden%22&pg=PT138 |title=L.A.'s Legendary Restaurants |section=The Brown Derby |year=2016 |publisher=Santa Monica Press |location=Solana Beach, CA |isbn=9781595808011 |page=138 |access-date=March 16, 2025}}</ref>

[[File:Eve Arden 1954 Emmy Award.png|left|thumb|Arden with her [[Primetime Emmy Award|Emmy Award]] for ''[[Our Miss Brooks]]'', February 11, 1954]]
[[Desilu Productions]], jointly owned by [[Desi Arnaz]] and Ball during their marriage, was the production company for the ''Our Miss Brooks'' television show, filmed during the same years as ''I Love Lucy''. Ball and Arden met when they costarred in the film ''[[Stage Door]]'' in 1937. Ball, according to numerous radio historians, suggested Arden for ''Our Miss Brooks'' after [[Shirley Booth]] auditioned for but failed to land the role and Ball—committed at the time to ''[[My Favorite Husband]]''—could not.<ref name="brooks">{{Cite web|title=Eve Arden as Connie Brooks|url=http://www.ourmissbrooks.com/connie-brooks-eve-arden-biography.html|publisher=Ourmissbrooks.com|access-date=December 5, 2011}}</ref>

Arden tried another series for [[CBS]] in the fall of 1957, ''[[The Eve Arden Show]]'', but it was canceled in spring of 1958 after 26 episodes. In 1966, she played a pediatric nurse in an episode of ''[[Bewitched]]'' and a scientist in an episode of ''[[The Man from U.N.C.L.E.]]''. She later costarred with [[Kaye Ballard]] as her neighbor and in-law, Eve Hubbard, in the 1967–1969 [[NBC]] situation comedy ''[[The Mothers-in-Law]]'', produced by Arnaz after the dissolution of Desilu Productions.<ref name="Brians">{{cite web|title=Eve Arden profile (1908-1990)|url=http://www.briansdriveintheater.com/evearden.html|date=February 15, 2011|publisher=Brian's Drive-in Theatre|access-date=June 13, 2011}}</ref> In her later career, Arden made appearances on such television shows as ''[[Maude (TV series)|Maude]]'', ''[[Alice (American TV series)|Alice]]'', ''[[Hart to Hart]]'', and ''[[Falcon Crest]]''. In 1985, she appeared as the wicked stepmother in the ''[[Faerie Tale Theatre]]'' production of ''[[List of Faerie Tale Theatre episodes#ep20|Cinderella]]''.<ref name="Cinderella">{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=rstaAAAAIBAJ&q=Eve+Arden+stepmother+wicked&pg=7094%2C3299599 |author=Kay Masters |title='Cinderella' offers some plot twists in a lively adaptation |page=27-B |newspaper=St. Petersburg Evening Independent (Florida) |date=1985-08-14 |access-date=2025-03-15 }}</ref>

===Stage===
Arden was one of many actresses to take on the title roles in ''[[Hello, Dolly! (musical)|Hello, Dolly!]]'' and ''[[Auntie Mame]]'' in the 1960s; in 1967, she won the [[Sarah Siddons Award]] for her work in [[Theater in Chicago|Chicago theater]].<ref name="siddons">{{cite web|title=The Sarah Siddons Society Awardees|url=http://sarahsiddonssociety.org|publisher=Sarah Siddons Society|year=2010|access-date=June 13, 2011}}</ref> In 1983, Arden was cast as the leading lady in what was to be her Broadway comeback, ''[[Moose Murders]]'', but she withdrew and was replaced with the much younger [[Holland Taylor]] after one preview performance, citing "artistic differences". The show went on to open and close on the same night, becoming known a legendary flop in Broadway history.<ref name="moose">{{cite news|title=A Broadway Flop Again Raises Its Antlers|author=Campbell Robertson|date=April 21, 2008|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/21/theater/21moos.html|access-date=June 13, 2011}}</ref>