Eve Arden

Acting

Eve Arden

Born 1908-04-30 · Mill Valley, California, USA

Eve Arden (born Eunice Mary Quedens; April 30, 1908 – November 12, 1990) was an American film, radio, stage and television actress. 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.

Acting credits

Grease poster
7.4

Australian good girl Sandy and greaser Danny fell in love over the summer. But when they unexpectedly discover they're now in the same high school, will they be able to rekindle their romance despite their eccentric friends?

Grease

1978

Anatomy of a Murder poster
7.8

Semi-retired Michigan lawyer Paul Biegler takes the case of Army Lt. Manion, who murdered a local innkeeper after his wife claimed that he raped her. Over the course of an extensive trial, Biegler parries with District Attorney Lodwick and out-of-town prosecutor Claude Dancer to set his client free, but his case rests on the victim's mysterious business partner, who's hiding a dark secret.

Anatomy of a Murder

1959

Grease 2 poster
5.3

It's 1961, two years after the original Grease gang graduated, and there's a new crop of seniors and new members of the coolest cliques on campus, the Pink Ladies and T-Birds. Michael Carrington is the new kid in school - but he's been branded a brainiac. Can he fix up an old motorcycle, don a leather jacket, avoid a rumble with the leader of the T-Birds, and win the heart of Pink Lady Stephanie?

Grease 2

1982

We're Not Married! poster
5.9

A Justice of the Peace performed weddings a few days before his license was valid. A few years later five couples learn they have never been legally married.

We're Not Married!

1952

Ziegfeld Girl poster
6.6

Discovery by Flo Ziegfeld changes a girl's life but not necessarily for the better, as three beautiful women find out when they join the spectacle on Broadway: Susan, the singer who must leave behind her ageing vaudevillian father; vulnerable Sheila, the working girl pursued both by a millionaire and by her loyal boyfriend from Flatbush; and the mysterious European beauty Sandra, whose concert violinist husband cannot endure the thought of their escaping from poverty by promenading her glamor in skimpy costumes.

Ziegfeld Girl

1941

Mildred Pierce poster
7.6

A hard-working mother inches towards disaster as she divorces her husband and starts a successful restaurant business to support her spoiled daughter.

Mildred Pierce

1945

The Strongest Man in the World poster
6.2

Medfield College science major Dexter Riley and his classmates have been working on a new vitamin compound when a lab accident creates a supercharged mix that ends up in Dexter's cereal box, giving him superhuman strength. The powerful formula comes to the attention of the college dean and two rival cereal companies, touching off a hilarious chain of events.

The Strongest Man in the World

1975

Cover Girl poster
6.4

A nightclub dancer makes it big in modeling, leaving her dancer boyfriend behind.

Cover Girl

1944

Night and Day poster
6.0

When his first stage show fails, songwriter Cole Porter goes off to fight in WWI until, injured, he lands in a hospital. He impresses nurse Linda Lee with his creativity, but their budding romance must wait as Cole heads home. Back in New York, he mounts a series of popular shows, and when his work brings him back to Europe, he eventually marries Linda. But success doesn't spare him from marital complications or bad news about a beloved relative.

Night and Day

1946

Manpower poster
6.5

Hank McHenry and Johnny Marshall work as power company linesmen. Hank is injured in an accident and subsequently promoted to foreman of the gang. Tensions start to show in the road crew as rivalry between Hank and Johnny increases.

Manpower

1941

Women in the Wind poster
6.8

A famous aviator helps an amateur enter a cross-country air race for women.

Women in the Wind

1939

Hollywood's Funniest All-Star Bloopers poster
2.0

William Shatner, Liz Taylor and many more stars blow lines, lose their pants and more in this hilarious collection of movie and TV bloopers.

Hollywood's Funniest All-Star Bloopers

1985

One Touch of Venus poster
6.7

A window dresser's kiss brings a statue of the Roman goddess of love to life.

One Touch of Venus

1948

Cinderella poster
6.7

An oppressed young woman finds happiness when she secretly attends the royal ball.

Cinderella

1985

My Dream Is Yours poster
6.5

Conceited singer Garry Mitchell refuses to renew his radio contract, so agent Doug Blake decides to find a new personality to replace him. In New York, he finds Martha Gibson, a single mother with a great voice. He arranges for her to move to Hollywood, but then has a problem trying to sell her to the show's sponsor. Doug tries every trick he can think of to make Martha a star, and as the two work more closely, he falls in love with her. Complicating matters further, Martha meets and becomes attracted to Garry.

My Dream Is Yours

1949

Stage Door poster
7.1

A spirited heiress wishing to break into theatre on her own merit arrives at a boardinghouse where aspiring young actresses and showgirls are brought together through their cynicism and disappointments.

Stage Door

1937

At the Circus poster
6.4

Jeff Wilson, the owner of a small circus, owes his partner Carter $10,000. Before Jeff can pay, Carter's accomplices steal the money so he can take over the circus. Antonio Pirelli and Punchy, who work at the circus, together with lawyer Loophole try to find the thief and get the money back.

At the Circus

1939

That Uncertain Feeling poster
6.6

A happily married woman sees a psychoanalyst and develops doubts about her husband.

That Uncertain Feeling

1941

Comrade X poster
6.1

An American reporter smuggling news out of Soviet Moscow is blackmailed into helping a beautiful Communist leave the country.

Comrade X

1940

Oh, Doctor poster
7.0

A hypochondriac is afraid he will die before he gets an inheritance that will "cure" him.

Oh, Doctor

1937

Our Miss Brooks poster
6.6

The big-screen translation of the successful television show of the 1950's. Arden stars as Connie Brooks, wisecracking English teacher at Madison High School, still hoping to tie the knot with shy biology teacher Philip Boynton (Robert Rockwell).

Our Miss Brooks

1956

Under the Rainbow poster
5.1

In World War II era Los Angeles, the manager of the Culver Hotel leaves his nephew in charge for a weekend. The nephew changes the name to the Hotel Rainbow and overbooks with royalty, assassins, secret agents, Japanese tourists, and munchkins. Secret Service agent Bruce Thorpe and casting director Annie Clark find romance amidst the intrigue and confusion.

Under the Rainbow

1981

A Child is Born poster
7.1

A pregnant prison inmate shares her problems with the patients in a maternity ward.

A Child is Born

1939

Obliging Young Lady poster
6.0

A woman attempts to shelter a young girl from the publicity surrounding her socialite parents' divorce.

Obliging Young Lady

1942