Jeanne Arnold (actress)

Arnold was born on July 30, 1921, in Berkeley, California, the daughter of George Arnold and Agnes Kirkman Arnold, and was raised in San Francisco.^[2][3]

As a child she performed in school assemblies and theatrical activities. She attended a convent school and later studied acting at a Jesuit college before enrolling at the University of California, Berkeley, where she concentrated in speech and history and graduated in 1943.^[2]

Inspired by radio drama and 1930s films, particularly the performances of Spencer Tracy, Arnold moved to New York during World War II in hopes of entering professional theater and radio.^[2]

During World War II, Arnold worked with an Army Special Services troupe on a European tour.^[4] She later recalled auditioning for a USO entertainment unit while working as a tour guide at Rockefeller Center.^[2]

Following the war, she continued theatrical work in Germany and France before returning to California.^[2]

Arnold performed in theaters and nightclubs in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and San Francisco.^[5]

She first gained significant critical attention in New York for playing Lucy in a revival of The Threepenny Opera.^[5] She also appeared for two seasons at the New York cabaret venue Upstairs at the Downstairs.^[5]

Her Broadway and Off-Broadway credits included The Threepenny Opera, The Beggar's Opera, The Happy Time, and the musical Coco starring Katharine Hepburn.^[6]

Arnold also performed and recorded as a singer. Her best-known recording was the satirical song "Gristedes" from the album Take Five with Ronnie Graham.^[5]

In 1964 Arnold was cast in her first major television assignment, a regular featured role on the CBS sitcom The Cara Williams Show where she portrayed Mary Hamilmeyer, a secretary at Fenwick Industries.^[7][5]

She also became familiar to television audiences for her three-year portrayal of Ellen Mason on the soap opera Guiding Light during the late 1960s.^[8][6]

In 1974 she appeared in the educational children's television program Cozmics, portraying the eccentric science instructor Ms. Strator.^[9]

Arnold also appeared as a guest on the television talk program Girl Talk alongside Brenda Vaccaro and Virginia Graham.^[10]

Her film roles include an uncredited role as Rita in Dear Heart (which original title was "The Out-of-Towners"), Grace Munster in Munster, Go Home! (1966) and Gertrude in What's So Bad About Feeling Good? (1968).^[11][12][13]

Arnold became a prominent performer at Meadow Brook Theatre at Oakland University near Rochester, Michigan.^[14]

Her Meadow Brook performances included She Stoops to Conquer, Picnic, The Corn Is Green, Blithe Spirit, The Dining Room, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Deathtrap, and What I Did Last Summer.

Arnold frequently received favorable critical notices for her versatility and comic range.^[15]

She also performed one-woman musical and theatrical shows in Michigan, including Jeanne Arnold Sings!!! at Buckham Alley Theatre in Flint in 1992.^[16]

In 1978 Arnold married William C. Stevens, chairman of Henry H. Stevens Moving and Storage Company of Flint, Michigan, who she had 3 stepchildren.^[6][3]

In the 1990s she remained active in Flint civic and cultural events, serving as mistress of ceremonies for the Flint YWCA Women of Achievement Awards Dinner in 1995.^[17][18]

Arnold died of cancer in 1996 at the age of 75 in Flint, Michigan.^[3][19][20]