Eve Arden
The wisecracking star of stage, screen, and radio who made Miss Brooks a beloved icon.
Eve Arden was born Eunice Mary Quedens in Mill Valley, California, of mostly German descent.[1]
Quick Facts
- Birth name
- Eunice Mary Quedens
- Born
- 30 April 1908
- Birthplace
- Mill Valley, California, U.S.
- Died
- 12 November 1990
- Place of death
- Beverly Hills, California, U.S.
- Resting place
- Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery
- Occupation
- Actress
- Years active
- 1929–1987
Facts from the source article.
Life and work
Her portrayal of a fast-talking, witty supporting character in "Stage Door" became a template for many of her future roles.[2] Up until she turned 16, she was a student at Mill Valley's Tamalpais High School.[3] Upon finishing her schooling, she became a member of Henry "Terry" Duffy's stock theater company.[3] Using her birth name, she first appeared on film in the 1929 backstage musical "Song of Love".[4]
A 1937 contract with RKO Radio Pictures marked the true start of Arden's movie career.[5] For her performance in the 1945 film "Mildred Pierce", Arden was nominated for an Academy Award in the Best Supporting Actress category.[6] From 1952 until his 1984 death, Arden was the spouse of actor Brooks West.[7]
What the cited sources add
A 2011 biography notes that Arden quit school in her teens to try her luck in theater and films.[8] The same source states that Arden was often given then-typical male character names in films, from Buzz to Stonewall, perhaps to downplay her glamorous image.[8] A 1990 obituary reports that Arden was discovered for Broadway by producer Lee Shubert, who signed her for the 1936 Ziegfeld Follies.[9] Another obituary notes that Arden passed up a planned college education to take an acting job at the Alcazar Theatre in San Francisco.[10]
The same source reports that Arden's character earned her a life-long image as a schoolmarm and wisecrack artist, with her put-downs delivered in an expressionless twang.[10]
References
- Wikipedia, "Eve Arden" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Census records from 1910 and 1920 (the earliest records found on Arden) as well as the Social Security Death Index (568-03-2856 ) support 1909 as her year of bi; Obituary (with 1908 year of birth proferred by Arden's daughter, Liza), upi.com, November 13, 1990. Accessed January 1, 2017.; After her death, some sources initially cited 1907, giving her age as 83, but this is groundless. Arden gave her own year of birth as 1912 for many years. Socia (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Eve Arden" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Krebs, Albin, "Eve Arden, Actress, Is Dead... TV's 'Our Miss Brooks'", The New York Times, November 13, 1990; "Eve Arden", Turner Classic Movies (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Eve Arden" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Three Phases of Eve (1985). St Martin's Press (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Eve Arden" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Ware Braukman 2005, p. 27 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Eve Arden" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Tucker 2011, p. 77 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Eve Arden" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "The Stars of To-morrow.", Sydney Morning Morning Herald (NSW: 1842-1954), September 10, 1946, p. 11 Supplement: The Sydney Morning Herald Magazine (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Eve Arden" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: U.S., World War II Draft Cards Young Men, 1940–1947 for Eunice Quedens Bergen, Ancestry.com; accessed December 12, 2021.; Martin Gottfried, Nobody's Fool (NY: Simon & Schuster, 1994), pp. 80–124;; "Danny Kaye", Masterworks Broadway (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- "Eve Arden profile (1908-1990)", Brian's Drive-in Theatre, February 15, 2011. facts only, no text reused. briansdriveintheater.com
- "Actress Eve Arden Of `Our Miss Brooks' Dies Of Heart Failure", seattletimes.com. November 12, 1990. Accessed April 10, 2026.. facts only, no text reused. archive.seattletimes.com
- Obituary (with 1908 year of birth proferred by Arden's daughter, Liza), upi.com, November 13, 1990. Accessed January 1, 2017.. facts only, no text reused. upi.com
Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Eve Arden (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.
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