Trivia of Eve Arden

Trivia of Eve Arden (30 April 1908 - 12 November 1990)

*She made her film debut under her real name Eunice Quedens in the backstage musical Song of Love (1929) and Dancing Lady (1933, which includes a Fred Astaire cameo).

*In 1934, she was cast in the Ziegfeld Follies revue, the first role where she was credited as Eve Arden. She adopted that name while looking over some cosmetics and spotting the names "Evening in Paris" and "Elizabeth Arden".

*She received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress for her role in Mildred Pierce (1945).After got her only nomination, she appeared to good effect in a number of films noir, some exceptionally high-profile, including Mildred Pierce, The Unfaithful (1947), The Arnelo Affair (1947), Whiplash (1948), and Anatomy of a Murder (1959).

*In the film Anatomy of a Murder (1959), her real-life husband, Brooks West who non-actor, plays the local prosecutor who goes up against defense attorney James Stewart.

*Her best known role is a High School English teacher Connie Brooks in Our Miss Brooks. Arden portrayed the character on radio from 1948 to 1957, in a television version of the program from 1952 to 1956, and in a 1956 feature film.Arden's portrayal of Miss Brooks was so popular that she was made an honorary member of the National Education Association, received a 1952 award from the Teachers College of Connecticut's Alumni Association "for humanizing the American teacher", and even received teaching job offers.

*She was good friend of comedian Lucille Ball.Lucille Ball and Eve Arden met when they costarred in the film Stage Door in 1937. According to numerous radio historians, Ball suggested Arden for Our Miss Brooks after Shirley Booth auditioned for but failed.

*Arden had a very brief guest appearance in a 1955 I Love Lucy episode titled "L.A. at Last", where she played herself. While awaiting their food at the Brown Derby, Lucy Ricardo (Lucille Ball) and Ethel Mertz (Vivian Vance) argue over whether a certain portrait on a nearby wall is Shelley Winters or Judy Holliday. Lucy urges Ethel to ask a lady occupying the next booth, who turns and replies, "Neither. That's Eve Arden." As Ethel realizes she just spoke to Arden herself, Arden passes Lucy and Ethel's table to leave the restaurant while the pair gawk.

*Her teacher role continues to 70-80's movies.She appeared as a school principal in the film musicals Grease (1978) and Grease 2 (1982) which became her last film.