Maureen Arthur: Difference between revisions

| name = Maureen Arthur

| image = Publicity_Photo_of_Maureen_Arthur.jpg

| imagesize =

| caption = Publicity Photo of Maureen Arthur

| birthname = Maureen Louise Arthur

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1934|044|15}}

| birth_place = [[San Jose, California]], U.S.

'''Maureen Louise Arthur''' (born April 15, 1934 – June 15, 2022) iswas an American film, television, and stage actress.

Arthur appeared in numerous movies and television programs from the late 1950s through the early 1990s as well as on Broadway. On television, she appeared in ''[[Bourbon Street Beat]]'', ''[[The Red Skelton Hour]]'', ''[[Perry Mason (1957 TV series)|Perry Mason]]'', ''[[Branded (TV series)|Branded]]'', ''[[I Spy (1965 TV series)|I Spy]]'', ''[[Get Smart]]'', ''[[The Monkees (TV series)|The Monkees]]'', ''[[The Flying Nun]]'', ''[[Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.]]'', ''[[Love, American Style]]'', ''[[The New Dick Van Dyke Show]]'', ''[[Kolchak: The Night Stalker]]'', ''[[Sanford and Son]]'', ''[[Laverne & Shirley|Alice, Laverne & Shirley]]'', ''[[Mork & Mindy]]'', ''[[Murder, She Wrote]]'', ''[[The Red Hand Gang]]'' as child-kidnapper Lola, and ''[[Matlock (TV series)|Matlock]]''.<ref name="imdb">{{IMDb name|0037802}}</ref>

In 1967, in arguably her most prominent single movie role, she portrayed Hedy La Rue in the film version of the Broadway hit ''[[How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (film)|How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying]]''.<ref name="imdb"/> In 1969, she co-starred with [[Don Knotts]] in the screwball comedy ''[[The Love God?]]'', and with [[Bob Hope]], [[Jackie Gleason]] and [[Jane Wyman]] in the romantic comedy ''[[How to Commit Marriage]]''.

In the mid-1960s, she recorded a pop tune on the [[Carlton Records|Carlton]] record label titled "Don't Make the Angels Cry" and "What Does He Do with Her". Another single titled "Don't Leave Me" was unreleased, though an acetate recording exists. In New York, she studied singing and also studied drama with [[Wynn Handman]] of the [[Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre|Neighborhood Playhouse]]. She made frequent appearances on ''[[The Steve Allen Show]]'' and on ''[[The Ed Sullivan Show]]'' before moving on to play the Rivera Hotel in Las Vegas with the Latin Quarter Review. She traveled to Los Angeles to startstar in movies, beginning with ''[[Hot Rod Gang]]'', ''[[Thunder Alley (1967 film)|Thunder Alley]]'' and ''[[Killers Three]]''.<ref name="imdb"/>

While in Los Angeles, she auditioned for the national cast of ''[[How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (musical)|How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying]]'' and landed the part of Hedy La Rue. She toured across the U.S. for two years and was in the Broadway production for one year before returning to Los Angeles for another audition, this time for the movie. After several more movies, she headed back to Broadway for ''[[Something Different (play)|Something Different]]'', a play written and directed by [[Carl Reiner]], and starring [[Bob Dishy]] and [[Linda Lavin]].<ref name="ibdb">{{IBDB name|ID=99214}}</ref> When that play closed, she returned to Los Angeles to marry producer/creator Aaron Ruben. Her performance as Miss Adelaide in the [[Los Angeles Civic Light Opera]] revival of ''[[Guys and Dolls]]'' brought her a Drama Critics' Best Performance Award.

Arthur was married to musician [[George William Weidler]] from 1957 to 1970 when they divorced. She then was married to producer [[Aaron Ruben]] from October 30, 1971 until his death on January 30, 2010. Arthur died on June 15, 2022, in her home in [[Beverly Hills, California]], at the age of 88 from natural causes after a long bout with [[Alzheimer's disease]].<ref name="imdb:0">{{Cite web |last=Barnes |first=Mike |date=2022-06-20 |title=Maureen Arthur, Actress in 'How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying,' Dies at 88 |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/maureen-arthur-dead-how-to-succeed-in-business-without-really-trying-1235168909/ |access-date=2022-06-21 |website=The Hollywood Reporter |language=en-US}}</ref>

SheArthur performed at the Variety of Iowa Telethons yearly for over 25 years and was a member of the Iowa Chapter of Variety. Her longtime association with Variety earned her the title of "First Lady of Variety Clubs Telethons", and then she earned the official title of International Ambassador. She was a longtime president of Variety, the Children's Charity of Southern California, Tent 25.<ref>{{cite news |url=httphttps://articleswww.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-11-25/news/-we-60559_1_aaron60559-rubenstory.html |title=Child Advocacy Work Takes Heart |first=Linda |last=Feldman |newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date=25 November 1993}}</ref>

[[Category:Living2022 peopledeaths]]

[[Category:American femalewomen singers]]