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Eve Arden

Eve Arden

Birthday: 1908-04-30 | Place of Birth: Mill Valley, California, U.S.

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)

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Known For

Acting

Year
Title

Role

1985
Cinderella

as    Stepmother

1985
Faerie Tale Theatre: Cinderella

as    The Stepmother

1983
Alice in Wonderland

as    Queen of Hearts

1981
Under the Rainbow

as    The Duchess

1980
The Dream Merchants

as    Coralee

1978
A Guide for the Married Woman

as    Employment Lady

1975
The Strongest Man in the World

as    Harriet

1972
A Very Missing Person

as    Hildegarde Withers

1972
All My Darling Daughters

as    Miss Freeling, the Wedding Counselor

1969
In Name Only

as    Aunt Theda Reeson

1967
The Mothers-in-Law

as    Eve Hubbard

1960
The Dark at the Top of the Stairs

as    Lottie Lacey

1959
Anatomy of a Murder

as    Maida Rutledge

1956
Our Miss Brooks

as    Miss Constance 'Connie' Brooks

1952
Our Miss Brooks

as    Connie Brooks

1952
We're Not Married!

as    Katie Woodruff

1951
Goodbye, My Fancy

as    Miss 'Woody' Woods

1950
Three Husbands

as    Lucille McCabe

1950
Tea for Two

as    Pauline Hastings

1949
The Lady Takes a Sailor

as    Susan Wayne

1949
My Dream Is Yours

as    Vivian Martin

1948
Whiplash

as    Chris Sherwood

1948
One Touch of Venus

as    Molly Stewart