What do you think?
Rate this book
Jean Arthur: The Actress Nobody Knew
Examines the personal and professional life of the star of such films as "Mr. Deeds goes to town" and "You can't take it with you," exposing her insecurities, determination, and private battles
358 pages, Hardcover
First published February 1, 1997
21 people are currently reading
859 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 43 reviews
August 24, 2016
Jean Arthur is one of my favorite actresses. If I'm scanning through the TCM schedule and I see that she happens to be in a film I've never heard of and would otherwise have little or no interest in based on the summary, I'd still probably watch it just because of her presence. (Those of you who are into old movies realize that this isn't a very good strategy because stars were contracted to their studios back then and—unless they were uncommonly powerful in the industry—they generally had to appear in whatever movies they were assigned. At least today we can feel comfortable blaming Adam Sandler for his shitty career making shitty movies since he at least has some agency in picking and choosing and even producing his own movies.)
It's difficult to quantify Jean Arthur's onscreen presence. There's something ineffable that she brings to any role—no matter if she's playing a jaded newspaper reporter (Mr. Deeds Goes to Town), a priggish Republican congresswoman (A Foreign Affair), or a down-to-earth homesteader (Shane). There's always an essential jeanarthurness behind scenes animating these characters, making them distinct yet familial. I suppose this is a roundabout way of saying that she was more of a 'personality' than an actress—as was the case with most film actors of her generation. (Nobody hired Cary Grant so that he could lose himself in some kind of immersive performance. They were hiring him to be Cary Grant.)
But what exactly was Jean Arthur's patented something-or-other that she brought to her performances? Well, it would be hard to imagine Arthur without her voice—which was at once high and low, hard and soft, girlish and croaklike... Whenever I read descriptions of her voice (including in this book) I think, 'No... that's not quite it.' I think you just have to hear it to know what it is. Descriptions tend to dance around it without ever quite arriving.
Beyond her purely physiological qualities—her longish face, her neutered prettiness, and her seeming agelessness—there was always an unmistakable vulnerability that Arthur brought to even her most cynical characters. You got the sense that her worldliness and hard edges were merely a facade she created as a protective instinct. Underneath the layers of pretense, perfected by years of habit, you always expected to find a dreamy girl looking—yearning even—to be proven wrong about the baseness of humanity.
Other than for her unique screen presence, Arthur was also known for her legendary reclusiveness. She was sometimes called the 'American Garbo'—not certainly as an aesthetic comparison, but because of their shared desire to be left alone. This of course only makes John Oller's biography of the publicity-shunning actress all the more needful. It certainly isn't easy to find information about Arthur—and if you simply follow the course of her film career you run into a dead end in 1953 with Shane, her final film before retirement—even though she would live nearly another forty years.
Oller helps to fill in the blanks. Unfortunately, the long epilogue of Arthur's life (i.e., her post-film life and work) isn't a very happy story, at least from the vantage of the casual observer. Plagued by self-doubt and erratic behavior, characterized by a recurring cycle of moving toward and then fleeing from life, Arthur's mindset was all too relatable to me. She had so many passions and interests (which Oller details in the book), but her avoidant personality seemed intent upon sabotaging her efforts to pursue them in meaningful ways.
Her career highlight by her own estimation was her critically-acclaimed, highly successful lead character performance in Peter Pan on Broadway (when she was nearly fifty years old), but when the show started touring the country Arthur began suffering the psychosomatic illnesses that would precipitate her hasty exit from this and every other play she ever attempted during her career.
Peter Pan was, perhaps not very surprisingly, a very important character to Arthur. She was known among close friends (of whom there were not many) for her childlike mischief, and one could easily make the case that she was never quite comfortable with the empty customs and rituals of adulthood, preferring instead to find her own way by pure instinct. Unfortunately for Arthur, her 'own way' put her on a collision course with the way of the world. People could never seem to make heads or tails of Arthur's secretiveness, her wildly neurotic behavior, or her monomaniacal passions. (Again, this is completely relatable to me and made me like Arthur more, but only in the selfish way that you're inclined to like people more like yourself.)
Oller's book is a quick, enjoyable read which occasionally betrayed my trust with its grammatical errors ('teaming' for 'teeming'; 'peak' for 'peek'; and so on and so forth...). Sometimes I got the sense that Oller was relying too heavily on too few sources, but this may be more of a 'feeling' than an actuality. At any rate, it probably isn't Oller's fault even if it is true; the world is usually not well-populated with reliable sources about a recluse.
If you're an Arthur fan, I can't recommend this book enough. If you're not familiar with Arthur, I can't recommend her enough. My personal favorite is her 1937 screwball comedy Easy Living with Ray Milland and Edward Arnold. In it, a wealthy man throws his wife's expensive fur coat out the window and it lands on top of Jean Arthur who's riding an open-air bus on the street below. As they say, madcap hijinks then ensue...
It's difficult to quantify Jean Arthur's onscreen presence. There's something ineffable that she brings to any role—no matter if she's playing a jaded newspaper reporter (Mr. Deeds Goes to Town), a priggish Republican congresswoman (A Foreign Affair), or a down-to-earth homesteader (Shane). There's always an essential jeanarthurness behind scenes animating these characters, making them distinct yet familial. I suppose this is a roundabout way of saying that she was more of a 'personality' than an actress—as was the case with most film actors of her generation. (Nobody hired Cary Grant so that he could lose himself in some kind of immersive performance. They were hiring him to be Cary Grant.)
But what exactly was Jean Arthur's patented something-or-other that she brought to her performances? Well, it would be hard to imagine Arthur without her voice—which was at once high and low, hard and soft, girlish and croaklike... Whenever I read descriptions of her voice (including in this book) I think, 'No... that's not quite it.' I think you just have to hear it to know what it is. Descriptions tend to dance around it without ever quite arriving.
Beyond her purely physiological qualities—her longish face, her neutered prettiness, and her seeming agelessness—there was always an unmistakable vulnerability that Arthur brought to even her most cynical characters. You got the sense that her worldliness and hard edges were merely a facade she created as a protective instinct. Underneath the layers of pretense, perfected by years of habit, you always expected to find a dreamy girl looking—yearning even—to be proven wrong about the baseness of humanity.
Other than for her unique screen presence, Arthur was also known for her legendary reclusiveness. She was sometimes called the 'American Garbo'—not certainly as an aesthetic comparison, but because of their shared desire to be left alone. This of course only makes John Oller's biography of the publicity-shunning actress all the more needful. It certainly isn't easy to find information about Arthur—and if you simply follow the course of her film career you run into a dead end in 1953 with Shane, her final film before retirement—even though she would live nearly another forty years.
Oller helps to fill in the blanks. Unfortunately, the long epilogue of Arthur's life (i.e., her post-film life and work) isn't a very happy story, at least from the vantage of the casual observer. Plagued by self-doubt and erratic behavior, characterized by a recurring cycle of moving toward and then fleeing from life, Arthur's mindset was all too relatable to me. She had so many passions and interests (which Oller details in the book), but her avoidant personality seemed intent upon sabotaging her efforts to pursue them in meaningful ways.
Her career highlight by her own estimation was her critically-acclaimed, highly successful lead character performance in Peter Pan on Broadway (when she was nearly fifty years old), but when the show started touring the country Arthur began suffering the psychosomatic illnesses that would precipitate her hasty exit from this and every other play she ever attempted during her career.
Peter Pan was, perhaps not very surprisingly, a very important character to Arthur. She was known among close friends (of whom there were not many) for her childlike mischief, and one could easily make the case that she was never quite comfortable with the empty customs and rituals of adulthood, preferring instead to find her own way by pure instinct. Unfortunately for Arthur, her 'own way' put her on a collision course with the way of the world. People could never seem to make heads or tails of Arthur's secretiveness, her wildly neurotic behavior, or her monomaniacal passions. (Again, this is completely relatable to me and made me like Arthur more, but only in the selfish way that you're inclined to like people more like yourself.)
Oller's book is a quick, enjoyable read which occasionally betrayed my trust with its grammatical errors ('teaming' for 'teeming'; 'peak' for 'peek'; and so on and so forth...). Sometimes I got the sense that Oller was relying too heavily on too few sources, but this may be more of a 'feeling' than an actuality. At any rate, it probably isn't Oller's fault even if it is true; the world is usually not well-populated with reliable sources about a recluse.
If you're an Arthur fan, I can't recommend this book enough. If you're not familiar with Arthur, I can't recommend her enough. My personal favorite is her 1937 screwball comedy Easy Living with Ray Milland and Edward Arnold. In it, a wealthy man throws his wife's expensive fur coat out the window and it lands on top of Jean Arthur who's riding an open-air bus on the street below. As they say, madcap hijinks then ensue...
August 22, 2011
I had waited impatiently for almost 30 years for someone to tackle a biography of Jean Arthur, one of my favorite actresses and one of the brightest comediennes of the '30s and '40s. In my youthful naivete, seeing that nobody seemed interested in the project, I thought about taking on the job myself. Thank goodness I waited for John Oller to write his book instead! There's no way that anyone could have done a better job with this most reclusive and challenging of subjects. Even during her heyday, Ms. Arthur was an extremely private person--"America's Garbo," as she was called--and in the final decades of her life, snubbed all efforts from outsiders seeking autographs or interviews about her glorious past. It may seem faint praise to call Mr. Oller's book a definitive biography when it is the ONLY one to have ever been written, but I just don't see how anyone will ever gain more access to Jean Arthur information than he has presented here. Oller has taken the time to interview dozens of Arthur's friends and family members, as well as associates from her film and stage careers and from her various teaching posts. The book is remarkably evenhanded. Arthur was apparently a very complex person, with lots of insecurities and neuroses that made her somewhat of a problem to work with. (I'm trying to be kind here.) Oller clearly thinks the world of the actress, but at the same time doesn't shrink from telling us when a producer or neighbor had something rotten to say of her. And when Oller runs into an area where the evidence leads to no clear result (such as the case of Arthur's possible bisexuality), he gives us the facts as well as can be known and leaves it at that. The book is anything but sensationalistic.
This biography traces Arthur's roots all the way back to the 13th century (!) but at the same time does not get bogged down in needless verbiage. It moves swiftly along; indeed, I almost found myself wishing that Oller would devote more space to some of my favorite Arthur movies. One would think that the most interesting segment of this actress' story would be the great Hollywood years, but as it turned out, the latter portion of the book, dealing with Arthur's life after Hollywood, was even more interesting. Oller takes us on a trip through Arthur's stage career, her life as a student and teacher, and her reclusive final years in Carmel, CA. It's all fascinating material, especially for fans of the actress who were never privy to any of this stuff before. The author writes well; it's hard to believe that this biography is his first book. By reading closely and looking at the notes at the rear of this work, one deduces that Mr. Oller spent the better part of a decade on this project...and the results have paid off extremely well.
That said, I should also note that there ARE some small problems with the book; some minor mistakes that a close reading reveals. For example, there are some errors as regards dates. Oller writes that Arthur's play "The Freaking Out of Stephanie Blake" had a preview on Wednesday, 11/2/67. However, in reality, that date was a Thursday. He writes that Arthur's brother Robert was born in March 1892 and died in November 1955 at age 61. Shouldn't that be 63? He writes that at the time of Arthur's death in 1991, she hadn't appeared in a film "in more than forty years." But if "Shane" came out in 1953, wouldn't that be "a mere" 38 years? Mr. Oller tells us that Dee Hoty--the actress who took over briefly for Ms. Arthur in "First Monday in October"-- was "barely twenty" that year (1975), although the Internet Broadway Database gives her birth date as 8/16/52, making her over 23 at the time. He writes of an Oscar ceremony in February 1935 as being in the "spring"; shouldn't that be "winter"? He tells us that the movie "The Stripper," in which Arthur was reportedly going to make a comeback, was based on the William Inge play "Celebration." I have always thought the play in question to be called "A Loss of Roses." Does it go by another name? To end this nitpicking, Mr. Oller tells us that "Shane" was the "third highest-grossing film of 1953." But as reported in the book "Box Office Hits," "Shane" came in fourth at $9 million, behind "Peter Pan" ($24 million), "The Robe" ($17.5 million) and "From Here To Eternity" ($12.2 million).
I feel that these oversights need to be pointed out, as they tend to undermine an otherwise meticulously researched volume, but at the same time feel a bit churlish for seeming ungrateful for Mr. Oller's hard work. The fact of the matter is that he has done the world, and fans of Ms. Arthur in particular and old-timey movies in general, a terrific service, and I am very grateful to him. I have read his book twice already, and will continue to refer to it for many years.
This biography traces Arthur's roots all the way back to the 13th century (!) but at the same time does not get bogged down in needless verbiage. It moves swiftly along; indeed, I almost found myself wishing that Oller would devote more space to some of my favorite Arthur movies. One would think that the most interesting segment of this actress' story would be the great Hollywood years, but as it turned out, the latter portion of the book, dealing with Arthur's life after Hollywood, was even more interesting. Oller takes us on a trip through Arthur's stage career, her life as a student and teacher, and her reclusive final years in Carmel, CA. It's all fascinating material, especially for fans of the actress who were never privy to any of this stuff before. The author writes well; it's hard to believe that this biography is his first book. By reading closely and looking at the notes at the rear of this work, one deduces that Mr. Oller spent the better part of a decade on this project...and the results have paid off extremely well.
That said, I should also note that there ARE some small problems with the book; some minor mistakes that a close reading reveals. For example, there are some errors as regards dates. Oller writes that Arthur's play "The Freaking Out of Stephanie Blake" had a preview on Wednesday, 11/2/67. However, in reality, that date was a Thursday. He writes that Arthur's brother Robert was born in March 1892 and died in November 1955 at age 61. Shouldn't that be 63? He writes that at the time of Arthur's death in 1991, she hadn't appeared in a film "in more than forty years." But if "Shane" came out in 1953, wouldn't that be "a mere" 38 years? Mr. Oller tells us that Dee Hoty--the actress who took over briefly for Ms. Arthur in "First Monday in October"-- was "barely twenty" that year (1975), although the Internet Broadway Database gives her birth date as 8/16/52, making her over 23 at the time. He writes of an Oscar ceremony in February 1935 as being in the "spring"; shouldn't that be "winter"? He tells us that the movie "The Stripper," in which Arthur was reportedly going to make a comeback, was based on the William Inge play "Celebration." I have always thought the play in question to be called "A Loss of Roses." Does it go by another name? To end this nitpicking, Mr. Oller tells us that "Shane" was the "third highest-grossing film of 1953." But as reported in the book "Box Office Hits," "Shane" came in fourth at $9 million, behind "Peter Pan" ($24 million), "The Robe" ($17.5 million) and "From Here To Eternity" ($12.2 million).
I feel that these oversights need to be pointed out, as they tend to undermine an otherwise meticulously researched volume, but at the same time feel a bit churlish for seeming ungrateful for Mr. Oller's hard work. The fact of the matter is that he has done the world, and fans of Ms. Arthur in particular and old-timey movies in general, a terrific service, and I am very grateful to him. I have read his book twice already, and will continue to refer to it for many years.
February 28, 2017
This well researched & documented biography of Jean Arthur, one of the screens most elusive stars, was a wonderful read! It covered her early life, her career, her relationships & later life. Any true fan of the great Ms Arthur's must read this wonderful book, full of insight & information, into one of Cinema's greatest stars! Her flaws, insecurities & crippling anxieties are notorious in Hollywood-- and now we have some insight into who she was as a person! Must read
February 22, 2009
She had a unique voice, one that Frank Capra, her frequent director, once described as accurately as anyone has, as "a thousand tinkling bells." She could be street smart and innocent all at once. She was one of the best actresses working in the genres of the screwball and romantic comedies of the '30s and '40s: wonderful in films such as "The Whole Town's Talking" (1935), "Mr. Deeds Goes to Town" (1936), "Easy Living" (1937), "Mr Smith Goes to Washington" (1939), and one of my favorites, "The More the Merrier" (1943). She pretty much played the same character in all these films, a working girl finding excitement and romance in the hustle and bustle of the deco metropolis. There's a purity to her hard to duplicate. And yet, as this book's title suggests, virtually nothing was known about her. She cloaked her life in mystery; even more so than Garbo herself. This biography is the first attempt to find out who this reclusive woman was. I love Arthur's screen persona and her films. So let's just see who she was...
Into chapter one and liking this author's very readable style and presentation. No jargon, just good straight analysis, well ordered, all the words chosen for smooth comprehension. Already I've learned a lot about Jean Arthur and I'm only on page 7. So let's see... Liking this...
Chapter Two: This guy has done his homework, and he can write. It's obvious already that this is an excellent bio. Just upped it to four stars.
OK, so I've read it and am impressed by Oller's research. This was not an easy subject; I admire his persistence in tackling a star who eluded the grasp of so many others.
Arthur was an introverted, complex, virtually friendless character, but she "owned" herself, as much as one can who is eaten up with various personal issues. She was not a joiner; probably the most reclusive and mysterious of all movie stars; she didn't play the game, was uncompromising. She took on the most ruthless tycoon in Hollywood, Harry Cohn (head of Columbia Pictures) - defied him repeatedly and eventually won. She challenged him during the time when star contracts made them virtual chattel... She stayed out of the social game in town, didn't associate with other stars; refused publicity. Went home and read and listened to music and gardened and tended to her pets and associated with a very small circle of friends seemingly selected for *not* having any connection to the movies. She followed her own bliss, but by doing so also found dissatisfaction and sadness, and problems with alcohol.
Perhaps the most interesting parts of the book are about her later years; her problems with various stage productions and as a college acting teacher. It was in these venues that her eccentricities most perplexed her colleagues and charges.
Here's what one of the persons from her very small circle of friends said about her: "She's a seagull just flying with the breeze...she's strictly her own person, nobody else's. Ever."
This is a valuable addition to the movie star bio genre. And about time, since it seems the thousandth bio of Marilyn Monroe will doubtlessly outsell it, even though Arthur starred in far more classic films, and was more talented.
Oh well.
Into chapter one and liking this author's very readable style and presentation. No jargon, just good straight analysis, well ordered, all the words chosen for smooth comprehension. Already I've learned a lot about Jean Arthur and I'm only on page 7. So let's see... Liking this...
Chapter Two: This guy has done his homework, and he can write. It's obvious already that this is an excellent bio. Just upped it to four stars.
OK, so I've read it and am impressed by Oller's research. This was not an easy subject; I admire his persistence in tackling a star who eluded the grasp of so many others.
Arthur was an introverted, complex, virtually friendless character, but she "owned" herself, as much as one can who is eaten up with various personal issues. She was not a joiner; probably the most reclusive and mysterious of all movie stars; she didn't play the game, was uncompromising. She took on the most ruthless tycoon in Hollywood, Harry Cohn (head of Columbia Pictures) - defied him repeatedly and eventually won. She challenged him during the time when star contracts made them virtual chattel... She stayed out of the social game in town, didn't associate with other stars; refused publicity. Went home and read and listened to music and gardened and tended to her pets and associated with a very small circle of friends seemingly selected for *not* having any connection to the movies. She followed her own bliss, but by doing so also found dissatisfaction and sadness, and problems with alcohol.
Perhaps the most interesting parts of the book are about her later years; her problems with various stage productions and as a college acting teacher. It was in these venues that her eccentricities most perplexed her colleagues and charges.
Here's what one of the persons from her very small circle of friends said about her: "She's a seagull just flying with the breeze...she's strictly her own person, nobody else's. Ever."
This is a valuable addition to the movie star bio genre. And about time, since it seems the thousandth bio of Marilyn Monroe will doubtlessly outsell it, even though Arthur starred in far more classic films, and was more talented.
Oh well.
September 11, 2011
this book was good for the most part. however towards the end it got a little depressing. jean arthur was an amazing actress but lived a life of paranoia, fear and avoidance. her later life was aimless and unhappy it seemed. she was an alcoholic and a recluse. she spent so many years trying to hardest to stay away from the limelight and letting ANYONE into her life. this explains why there is so little known about her and this book is really the only book to shed light as to why. it was interesting but still throughout it had a twinge of sadness which seemed to also be how she went through life.
March 26, 2018
Jean Arthur was a great actress and appeared in some timeless films. She maintained her privacy in her personal life as much as possible, so the feat of completing a thorough biography about her is impressive. John Oller is a skilled writer whose words flow well and make for easy reading. The author assumes the reader knows who a lot of the big Hollywood figures are, so there isn't a lot of background information. He also erroneously called WAMPAS "W.A.M.P.U.S." but mistakes are few and do no hinder reading.
I knew very little about Arthur's (unsuccessful) stage career and was surprised to learn she played Peter Pan before her friend Mary Martin and was often considered to be the superior, more natural actress in the part. Luckily at the time of writing many of Arthur's contemporaries were available for interviews and their thoughts have been captured for posterity.
I knew very little about Arthur's (unsuccessful) stage career and was surprised to learn she played Peter Pan before her friend Mary Martin and was often considered to be the superior, more natural actress in the part. Luckily at the time of writing many of Arthur's contemporaries were available for interviews and their thoughts have been captured for posterity.
November 30, 2015
I've loved Jean Arthur in several movies and now feel a kinship to her after reading about her introvert life. This book tells her story spots and all and she remains a beauty through and through.
May 12, 2019
Some years ago I read the memoirs of both Cecil B. DeMille and Frank Capra and those two Hollywood
icons had little in common, but both had remarkably similar experiences working with Jean Arthur.
Both talked about her horrible insecurities and the times they had dealing with them. But the
performances she gave made the effort worth it.
Born Gladys Georgiana Greene in upstate New York in 1900, Jean Arthur chose her name from two
characters she loved, Joan of Arc and King Arthur. Her rise was slow and steady in Hollywood from
poverty row westerns to sound where it first it was thought that voice with the squeak in it wouldn't
cut it talkies. It was another Hollywood iconic director John Ford who used her as Edward G. Robinson's girlfriend in The Whole Town's Talking in 1935 in that comedy classic. Ford who really
didn't like temperament of any kind never used her again though. Neither did DeMille after making
The Plainsman with her and Gary Cooper.
But Capra did it 3 times with three of her best known films, Mr. Deeds Goes To Town, You Can't
Take It With You, and Mr. Smith Goes To Washington. As light comedienne and the hero's friend
and inspiration and spur she found her niche.
But with stardom came temperament. She refused fan magazine interviews and cheesecake photos
and that kind of fluff. She was a publicity man's nightmare.
Arthur did work on stage as well in items like Lysistrata, Born Yesterday, Saint Joan, and most
famously Peter Pan opposite Boris Karloff as Captain Hook. But if things did not go smoothly in her
view she was as likely to walk out of a play. Many a production closed with her temperament and
whim.
Not quite, but she could be as reclusive as Greta Garbo. But she was not as mysterious and alluring
as Garbo so the image did not quite ring true.
I found it interesting that a woman with as liberal views as Arthur had worked with such well known Hollywood Republicans as Gary Cooper, James Stewart, and Joel McCrea. Cooper and Stewart were her leads in those Capra films. She worked with Cary Grant twice in Only Angels Have Wings and The Talk Of The Town and disliked it because Grant stole too many of her scenes.
And she did A Lady Takes A Chance with John Wayne and it's a good film. She's quoted as saying
they might not have gotten along had she known his politics. She got her only Oscar nomination
in The More The Merrier opposite Joel McCrea and directed by George Stevens whom she liked as
director because he was as painstaking a worker as she was.
Her last film was with Stevens and it was the classic western Shane. She disliked it because she
disliked playing a mother character. She never made another film.
She did do stage work and some television. Had a short lived television series in the late 60s and
her last work was on tour in the 70s with Melvyn Douglas in First Monday In October. She died
in 1991 of a combination of ailments common with old age.
Jean Arthur was quite a character and this book by John Oller does her justice.
icons had little in common, but both had remarkably similar experiences working with Jean Arthur.
Both talked about her horrible insecurities and the times they had dealing with them. But the
performances she gave made the effort worth it.
Born Gladys Georgiana Greene in upstate New York in 1900, Jean Arthur chose her name from two
characters she loved, Joan of Arc and King Arthur. Her rise was slow and steady in Hollywood from
poverty row westerns to sound where it first it was thought that voice with the squeak in it wouldn't
cut it talkies. It was another Hollywood iconic director John Ford who used her as Edward G. Robinson's girlfriend in The Whole Town's Talking in 1935 in that comedy classic. Ford who really
didn't like temperament of any kind never used her again though. Neither did DeMille after making
The Plainsman with her and Gary Cooper.
But Capra did it 3 times with three of her best known films, Mr. Deeds Goes To Town, You Can't
Take It With You, and Mr. Smith Goes To Washington. As light comedienne and the hero's friend
and inspiration and spur she found her niche.
But with stardom came temperament. She refused fan magazine interviews and cheesecake photos
and that kind of fluff. She was a publicity man's nightmare.
Arthur did work on stage as well in items like Lysistrata, Born Yesterday, Saint Joan, and most
famously Peter Pan opposite Boris Karloff as Captain Hook. But if things did not go smoothly in her
view she was as likely to walk out of a play. Many a production closed with her temperament and
whim.
Not quite, but she could be as reclusive as Greta Garbo. But she was not as mysterious and alluring
as Garbo so the image did not quite ring true.
I found it interesting that a woman with as liberal views as Arthur had worked with such well known Hollywood Republicans as Gary Cooper, James Stewart, and Joel McCrea. Cooper and Stewart were her leads in those Capra films. She worked with Cary Grant twice in Only Angels Have Wings and The Talk Of The Town and disliked it because Grant stole too many of her scenes.
And she did A Lady Takes A Chance with John Wayne and it's a good film. She's quoted as saying
they might not have gotten along had she known his politics. She got her only Oscar nomination
in The More The Merrier opposite Joel McCrea and directed by George Stevens whom she liked as
director because he was as painstaking a worker as she was.
Her last film was with Stevens and it was the classic western Shane. She disliked it because she
disliked playing a mother character. She never made another film.
She did do stage work and some television. Had a short lived television series in the late 60s and
her last work was on tour in the 70s with Melvyn Douglas in First Monday In October. She died
in 1991 of a combination of ailments common with old age.
Jean Arthur was quite a character and this book by John Oller does her justice.
July 29, 2010
Engrossing read; a fascinating look at one of Classic Hollywood's most elusive stars, Jean Arthur.
A talented comedienne with a pleasant but very distinctive voice, she is often credited as the embodiment of a screwball comedy actress. Despite her charm, comic timing, charisma and talent, which shines so brightly in movies such as The More the Merrier, You Can't Take it With You, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, and The Devil and Miss Jones, Arthur seemed tormented by some combination of extreme self-doubt (maybe an inferiority complex) that made her difficult to work with (it's astonishing just how many times she bailed on theater productions in the middle of or just priot to a sold out run - the pattern each time is very specific; it's a testament to her talent and draw that investors were always willing to give her the benefit of the doubt in spite of really awful behavior).
The most interesting aspect of this book, for me, was how her insistence on privacy (and the sometimes extreme, almost ridiculous) steps she took to protect her image, resulted in a skewed perception of who she really was, thus feeding directly into all her deepest fears about herself. Her very behavior seemed to result in the very things she feared, which is sad.
Despite this informative book, in the end maybe we can only just be grateful for her entertaining and endearing performances.
A talented comedienne with a pleasant but very distinctive voice, she is often credited as the embodiment of a screwball comedy actress. Despite her charm, comic timing, charisma and talent, which shines so brightly in movies such as The More the Merrier, You Can't Take it With You, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, and The Devil and Miss Jones, Arthur seemed tormented by some combination of extreme self-doubt (maybe an inferiority complex) that made her difficult to work with (it's astonishing just how many times she bailed on theater productions in the middle of or just priot to a sold out run - the pattern each time is very specific; it's a testament to her talent and draw that investors were always willing to give her the benefit of the doubt in spite of really awful behavior).
The most interesting aspect of this book, for me, was how her insistence on privacy (and the sometimes extreme, almost ridiculous) steps she took to protect her image, resulted in a skewed perception of who she really was, thus feeding directly into all her deepest fears about herself. Her very behavior seemed to result in the very things she feared, which is sad.
Despite this informative book, in the end maybe we can only just be grateful for her entertaining and endearing performances.
January 5, 2015
Jean Arthur has been my favorite actress for years, so I was happy to find this biography of her life. As private as Arthur was, you cannot help realize that the author, John Oller, must have spent an enormous part of his life uncovering the mysteries of her life. Born Gladys Greene in 1900 and living to the age of 90, Oller had a LOT of ground to cover, and I am very thankful for the time he must have spent researching and writing this book. One of the things about her career that I find most amazing is that this woman was hopping and leaping about as Peter Pan in her 50s! Um, I stopped hopping and leaping about in my 20s - maybe earlier than that! I truly enjoyed reading about Jean Arthur. I added this to my Missouri bookshelf because she spent some time at Stephens College in Columbia, MO. I like to keep track of details like that.
April 30, 2009
Very good biography about one of my favorite actresses who I knew little about. It seems she was reclusive and somewhat peculiar person, especially in her later years. Oller did a fine job covering both her personal life and amazing career.
July 12, 2012
Very well-researched and well-written biography of one of my favorite actresses. She somehow could turn on the charm for the cameras, but remained insecure otherwise. Oller explores the enigma of Jean Arthur. Much remains hidden because she was a virtual recluse. But that doesn't keep Oller from trying, as he interviews practically anyone who ever knew her.
August 23, 2015
Such a sad, sad book. I would have liked more detail about Arthur's film work, behind-the-scenes information, but with such a reclusive woman as his subject, Oller has done a pretty decent job. Heartbreaking to read about her extreme shyness, difficulties in theatre and television work. I will watch her films with new eyes....
October 9, 2008
Interesting insight into Jean Arthur, an actress I adore! Reading about her life made me realize that it's the characters she played that I adored not the real person. Sometimes it's good not to know some things about people. Ignorance is bliss!!
May 1, 2021
holy shit
March 6, 2022
Sometimes it's best if you don't know all the details of your heroes. I've always admired Jean Arthur's work as an actor. Her personal life is mystifying, confounding, and, ultimately, disappointing and sad. She was a master at her art but her inner struggles distorted those successes. She desperately avoided publicity, shunned social gatherings, all seemingly done to cover an inferiority complex and a fear of failure. On many occasions, she abandoned film and theater contracts that resulted in lawsuits, and unemployment for legions of other actors and crew. The author does what he can to stress her need to be "her own person," however that need disregarded what her actions did to others. We're left with a person who always needed to express her individuality, even at the expense of others. We can at least admire her active mind, always eager to learn more, especially about philosophy and science and how it all relates to religion and the concept of "God." Again, the author did yeoman's work in describing this woman's life, although she rarely spoke of it or left precious little evidence behind. Most of the narrative is from secondary sources. All in all, a good read that left me rather sad.
September 2, 2024
I love her acting so much and was disappointed to read about her mainly sad life. When will I learn that just because I love someone’s creative work, it doesn’t mean I will love reading about their life. I guess I can’t know until it's too late and I’m already reading the book. Sigh.
Her life wasn’t a complete trainwreck (see Veronica Lake’s memoir for that) but it also wasn’t a contented life. Maybe it’s because I have two neurodiverse kids but I kept thinking as I was reading this that Jean was a high functioning autistic. Her lack of friends, extreme anxiety around others, not being able to “play the game” for her career…something was going on. She turned to alcohol to try and cope, I suppose.
Jean kept making wrong choices in both her career and private life, plus turning on and flaking out on people and that stressed me out. I could understand why people got angry with her. I could also see her side. As an introvert, the social aspect of being a Hollywood star back then sounds awful. The author doesn’t go into much detail about the sexual harassment of female stars. Cohen was notorious, the Harvey Weinstein of his era, and so were many other powerful men Jean had to deal with. I also wondered if her aversion to do any cheesecake photos or going on celebrity dates had to do with her years as a model in NYC before becoming famous? Was she assaulted by a photographer, maybe?
One thing separating Jean from others was her lying about her birthdate. It’s impressive she got away with saying she was 8 years younger than she really was. She looked great! That lying though, pretending you are a different generation, would wear a person down. It would be like no one really knows you, you are wearing a mask all the time.
I must commend the author on writing such a thorough biography of what was a difficult person to research. He really put in the man hours. He spoke to a huge range of people that knew her, to the point where I wondered how he was able to track some of them down. He includes a complete filmography at the back of the book which was a nice touch. He has copious well annotated notes and a detailed biography as well. He read a lot of books for research!
Reading this made me want to go watch her films again. Hopefully I won’t feel sad and will be able to enjoy them without thinking about her issues.
Her life wasn’t a complete trainwreck (see Veronica Lake’s memoir for that) but it also wasn’t a contented life. Maybe it’s because I have two neurodiverse kids but I kept thinking as I was reading this that Jean was a high functioning autistic. Her lack of friends, extreme anxiety around others, not being able to “play the game” for her career…something was going on. She turned to alcohol to try and cope, I suppose.
Jean kept making wrong choices in both her career and private life, plus turning on and flaking out on people and that stressed me out. I could understand why people got angry with her. I could also see her side. As an introvert, the social aspect of being a Hollywood star back then sounds awful. The author doesn’t go into much detail about the sexual harassment of female stars. Cohen was notorious, the Harvey Weinstein of his era, and so were many other powerful men Jean had to deal with. I also wondered if her aversion to do any cheesecake photos or going on celebrity dates had to do with her years as a model in NYC before becoming famous? Was she assaulted by a photographer, maybe?
One thing separating Jean from others was her lying about her birthdate. It’s impressive she got away with saying she was 8 years younger than she really was. She looked great! That lying though, pretending you are a different generation, would wear a person down. It would be like no one really knows you, you are wearing a mask all the time.
I must commend the author on writing such a thorough biography of what was a difficult person to research. He really put in the man hours. He spoke to a huge range of people that knew her, to the point where I wondered how he was able to track some of them down. He includes a complete filmography at the back of the book which was a nice touch. He has copious well annotated notes and a detailed biography as well. He read a lot of books for research!
Reading this made me want to go watch her films again. Hopefully I won’t feel sad and will be able to enjoy them without thinking about her issues.
September 29, 2016
Jean Arthur is the actress who everyone has seen in films like Mr. Deeds, Only Angels Have Wings, The Plainsman, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Easy Living, You can't take It with You, The Talk of the Town, The More the Merrier, and Shane. She also was a phenomenal stage actress with great roles in Lysistrata,Coquette, Born Yesterday, Peter Pan, Saint Joan, and First Monday In October. Ms. Arthur was known to be a private person who was selective in her choices. this extended to her personal life. Always the recluse and a loner, Ms. Arthur was a fantastic actress, patron of the arts and a lady of class.
July 8, 2015
Jean Arthur has long been one of my favorite actresses. This biography details just how strange of a character she was. Impossible to work with, she clearly had some kind of obsessive-compulsive disorder. I still can't figure out why she never wanted to work with Jimmy Stewart again after "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington."
She sounds like she would have a fascinating, if overly difficult, person to know.
She sounds like she would have a fascinating, if overly difficult, person to know.
February 20, 2016
I adore Jean Arthur, but not much is known about her and she's rarely discussed, so I loved that someone decided to write a biography of her. It's a very loving and carefully researched picture of her, and I enjoyed it a lot.
June 30, 2013
Jean Arthur is possibly my favorite actress of all time, and this book paints a pretty tragic picture of her as riddled with insecurities. Once I got past the shattering of my hero worship, it was a fascinating read.
June 20, 2016
Not much has been written about Jean Arthur, so I was really excited about this book. It didn't disappoint at all. I love Jean's movies and never tire of watching her early movies. I devoured this book. Highly recommended.
February 25, 2019
This book is well written and very informative. I'm so glad the author wrote this book so we can have an insight to understanding this talented and delightful actress. As a result I've watched several of her films I had not seen and enjoyed all of her performances.
April 29, 2009
Very interesting. I really knew very little before this book (as the title would suggest as being the likely case!).
March 23, 2012
Might have rated this higher, but the chapter on psycho-analysis seemed a bit too much of a guessing-game by the author.
August 14, 2012
Very fascinating read about an underrated actress.
October 24, 2018
She was a wonderful actress. I especially enjoyed her with Charles Coburn.
After reading this book, I so wish I'd gotten to see her version of Peter Pan.
After reading this book, I so wish I'd gotten to see her version of Peter Pan.
January 15, 2017
A difficult subject due to Jean Arthur being so private & mysterious but a fascinating book nonetheless. What a woman she was.
October 28, 2014
Intriguing & Fascinating! Portrait Of An Enigma!
January 23, 2025
Got this during my Arthur era and burned through the section on her film career very quickly. Unfortunately, Arthur left Hollywood very early and pretty much everything that happens after that point is sort of tragic. Lots of theater disappointments and clear signs that some combination of anxiety and low self-esteem repeatedly lead to self-sabotage.
Still, this is detailed and never uninteresting. There are a few things Oller gets wrong about her early work especially (a circus movie where he gets her character's specialty wrong), but I give him the benefit of the doubt since those films would have been very hard to get ahold of in the '90s. I'm less forgiving on some of his assessments of her work (a criminal dismissal of my beloved Arizona) and his psychoanalyzing her. The latter is partially a product of its time and isn't helped by the way we talk about women in the industry behave and are affected by exploitation.
Nevertheless, the access he gets to people in her life both professional and personal does a lot for the overall biography. He clearly did a lot of research and interviews as well as cultivating a personal relationship with Arthur. As fine as you can expect for such a reclusive star who deliberately destroyed many of the personal effects that might have helped mythologize her. Regardless, as Oller notes, her films speak for themselves and they're why she's managed to last.
Still, this is detailed and never uninteresting. There are a few things Oller gets wrong about her early work especially (a circus movie where he gets her character's specialty wrong), but I give him the benefit of the doubt since those films would have been very hard to get ahold of in the '90s. I'm less forgiving on some of his assessments of her work (a criminal dismissal of my beloved Arizona) and his psychoanalyzing her. The latter is partially a product of its time and isn't helped by the way we talk about women in the industry behave and are affected by exploitation.
Nevertheless, the access he gets to people in her life both professional and personal does a lot for the overall biography. He clearly did a lot of research and interviews as well as cultivating a personal relationship with Arthur. As fine as you can expect for such a reclusive star who deliberately destroyed many of the personal effects that might have helped mythologize her. Regardless, as Oller notes, her films speak for themselves and they're why she's managed to last.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 43 reviews