Centenary Celebration: Eve Arden
By Jim Linz
Eve Arden (April 30, 1908-November 12, 1990) was a film and television star whose career spanned over 60 years. Although she appeared in over 60 movies, she is best re-membered for her role as a high school teacher in the 1950s television series Our Miss Brooks.
Born Eunice M. Quedens in Mill Valley, California, she left high school at age 16 to pursue a stage career. Her film debut was in the 1929 musical Song of Love. She is credited as Eunice Quedens. Her Broadway debut was in the 1934 Ziegfield Follies revue.
Arden’s role as a fast talking, wise-cracking supporting character in the 1937 film Stage Door was oft repeated in future roles, such as her Academy Award-nominated role in Mildred Pierce (1945), supporting Joan Crawford.
Eve Arden played high school teacher Connie Brooks in Our Miss Brooks from 1948 to 1957 on the radio, from 1952 to 1956 on television, and in the 1956 feature film. Her performance was so convincing that she was made an honorary member of the National Education Association. Click the link to sample her work: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AvYntWWSayg
Arden resumed her "career" in education in 1978, playing the role of harassed principal McGee in both Grease and Grease 2.
Eve Arden appeared in a number of other television programs, most notably The Mothers-in-Law, airing from 1967-69. Her other films credits include Dancing Lady (1933); Cocoanut Grove (1938); No, No Nanette (1940); Ziegfeld Girl (1941); and Sing for Your Supper (1941).
Arden was married to Ned Bergen from 1939 to 1947 and to actor Brooks West from 1952 to until his death in1984. She died of cancer in 1990.
This article originally appeared in Trans-Lux volume 26, number 1, Winter 2008.
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Created Thursday, November 27, 2008; Modified Thursday, November 27, 2008.
