Trivia and Quotes
Quotes
 (on doing interviews) Quite frankly, I`d rather have my throat slit. First I played ingénues and western heroines; then I played western heroines and ingénues. That diet of roles became as monotonous as a diet of spinach. The studio wouldn`t trust me with any other kind of role, because I had no experience in any other kind. And I didn`t see how I was ever going to acquire any other experience if I couldn`t get any other kind of role. It was a vicious circle.
I guess I became an actress because I didn`t want to be myself.
If people don`t like your work, all the still pictures in the world can`t help you and nothing written about you, even oceans of it, will make you popular
It`s a strenuous job every day of your life to live up to the way you look on the screen.
on her first marriage, which only lasted a day] Julian [Julian Anckner] looked a lot like Abraham Lincoln, and that`s probably why I fell in love with him. One day we were out driving and he suddenly said, "Hey, why don`t we get married?" So we lied about our ages and got married in a sheriff`s office. You should have heard our families` reactions - all sorts of screaming and shouting and carrying on about suicide. Well, neither Julian nor I had enough income to make it possible for us to live together, so our marriage lasted one day.
The fact that I did not marry George Bernard Shaw is the only real disappointment I`ve had.
[on her early acting days] My very "naturalness" was my undoing. I had to learn that to appear natural on the screen requires a vast amount of training, that is the test of an actor`s art. It would be more spectacular if I could say that out of the hurt and humiliation of that failure was born a determination to success, to prove I had the makings of an actress. But it wouldn`t be true. That urge came later.
[on Hollywood] I hated the place - not the work, but the lack of privacy, those terrible prying fan magazine writers and all the surrounding exploitation.
[on making Only Angels Have Wings (1939)] I loved sinking my head into Cary Grant`s chest.
Trivia
Hollywood Walk of Fame 6331 Hollywood Blvd.
Director Frank Capra`s favorite actress.
Remains: Cremated, Ashes scattered at sea off Point Lobos, CA
After retiring from films she taught Drama at Vassar.
As her star began to decline, she was replaced by Rita Hayworth as Columbia Pictures` top female star. Coincidentally, the two stars share the same birthday (October 17).
Ashes scattered off of Point Lobos, California, USA.
Department of Strange Coincidences: Jean Arthur`s former spouse, producer Frank Ross, next married the actress Joan Caulfield. On the very day following Caulfield`s death on 18 June 1991, Arthur died.
Director George Stevens famously called her "one of the greatest comediennes the screen has ever seen" while Frank Capra credited her as "my favorite actress".
Gary Cooper was her favorite leading man.
On the completion of her Columbia contract in 1944, she reportedly ran through the studio`s streets, shouting "I`m free, I`m free!".
Turned down the role of the lady missionary in Lost Horizon (1973), the unsuccessful musical remake of the 1937 classic of the same name.
Was a leading contender for the coveted role of Scarlett O`Hara in Gone with the Wind (1939).
Wore her natural brunette hair color throughout the silent film portion of her career, then began bleaching her hair blonde shortly after she started making talkies.
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