Eve Arden

Lore & Background

Beginning her film career in 1929 and on Broadway in the early 1930s, Arden's first major role was in the RKO Radio Pictures drama Stage Door (1937) opposite Katharine Hepburn, followed by roles in the comedies Having Wonderful Time (1938) and At the Circus (1939). She received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress for her role in Mildred Pierce (1945). Despite her starring in many comedic roles, Arden appeared in several films noir productions which includes high-profile titles such as Mildred Pierce, The Unfaithful (1947), The Arnelo Affair (1947), Whiplash (1948), and Anatomy of a Murder (1959). Later in her career, Arden moved to television, playing a sardonic but engaging high school teacher in Our Miss Brooks, for which she won the first Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series. She also played the maternity ward nurse in Bewitched and the school principal in the film musicals Grease (1978) and Grease 2 (1982).

Reader's Guide

Eve Arden was born Eunice Mary Quedens in Mill Valley, California, of mostly German descent. She attended a Dominican convent school in San Rafael, California, then Tamalpais High School until age 16. After leaving school, she joined the stock theater company of Henry 'Terry' Duffy. She made her film debut under her real name in Song of Love (1929). In 1933, she relocated to New York City, where she had supporting parts in several Broadway stage productions. In 1934, she was cast in the Ziegfeld Follies revue, the first role where she was credited as Eve Arden. Between 1934 and 1941, she appeared in Broadway productions of Parade, Very Warm for May, Two for the Show, and Let's Face It!. Arden's film career began in earnest in 1937 when she signed a contract with RKO Radio Pictures and appeared in the films Oh Doctor and Stage Door. Her many memorable screen roles include a supporting role as Joan Crawford's wise-cracking friend in Mildred Pierce (1945), for which she received an Academy Award nomination as Best Supporting Actress; as a catty cousin turned peacemaker in The Unfaithful (1947); and as James Stewart's wistful but wry secretary in Otto Preminger's mystery Anatomy of a Murder (1959). Arden became familiar to a new generation of filmgoers when she played Principal McGee in Grease (1978) and Grease 2 (1982). 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 comedy-variety show in 1946. 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. She won a listeners' poll by Radio Mirror magazine as the top-ranking comedienne of 1948–1949. 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. In her later career, Arden made appearances on such television shows as Maude, Alice, Hart to

Did You Know?

• Eve Arden won the first Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series for Our Miss Brooks, though the category was originally for comedy, not drama.
• She was made an honorary member of the National Education Association due to her portrayal of Miss Brooks.
• Arden's stage name was derived from 'Evening in Paris' perfume and Elizabeth Arden cosmetics.