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64-438: Our Miss Brooks is an American sitcom starring Eve Arden as a sardonic high-school English teacher. It began as a radio show broadcast on CBS from 1948 to 1957. When the show was adapted to television (1952–56), it became one of the medium's earliest hits. In 1956, the sitcom was adapted for the big screen in the film of the same name . Our Miss Brooks was a hit on radio from the outset; within eight months of its launch as

128-660: A 'server crash' destroyed access to the 10 percent of the museum's archive of radio and television programming that had been digitized and made available to the public for free." In December 2012 Crain's Chicago Business reported that the MBC "now owes less than $ 3 million on a mortgage held by Pepper [Construction, the contractor for the State St. facility] and has arranged another three years for paying down that debt." (The Chicago Reader had previously reported, in November 2009,

192-540: A Drama Series . She also played the maternity ward nurse in Bewitched and the school principal in the film musicals Grease (1978) and Grease 2 (1982). Eve Arden was born Eunice Mary Quedens on April 30, 1908, in Mill Valley, California , to Charles Peter Quedens, the son of Charles Henry Augustus Quedens and Eunice Meta Dierks, and Lucille Frank, the daughter of Bernard Frank and Louisa Mertens. Lucille,

256-458: A Murder (1959) (which also featured her husband, Brooks West). In 1946, exhibitors voted her the sixth-most promising "star of tomorrow". Arden became familiar to a new generation of filmgoers when she played Principal McGee in Grease (1978) and Grease 2 (1982) . Arden was known for her deadpan comedic delivery. Arden's ability with witty scripts made her a natural talent for radio. She

320-404: 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. Desilu Productions , jointly owned by Desi Arnaz and Ball during their marriage,

384-403: A comedienne. She won a listeners' poll by Radio Mirror magazine as the top-ranking comedienne of 1948–1949, receiving her award at the end of an Our Miss Brooks broadcast that March. "I'm certainly going to try in the coming months to merit the honor you've bestowed upon me, because I understand that if I win this (award) two years in a row, I get to keep Mr. Boynton," she joked. She was also

448-422: A contract with RKO Radio Pictures and appeared in the films Oh Doctor and Stage Door . Her Stage Door portrayal of a fast-talking, witty supporting character gained Arden considerable notice and was a template for many of Arden's future roles. In 1938, she played a supporting part in the comedy Having Wonderful Time , starring Ginger Rogers and Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. This was followed by roles in

512-473: A hit with the critics: A winter 1949 poll of newspaper and magazine radio editors by Motion Picture Daily named her the year's best radio comedienne. 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

576-534: A milliner, divorced Charles over his gambling and went into business for herself. Although not Catholic, young Eunice was sent to a Dominican convent school in San Rafael, California . She then attended Tamalpais High School , a public high school in Mill Valley, until age 16. After leaving school, she joined the stock theater company of Henry "Terry" Duffy. She made her film debut under her real name in

640-519: A mortgage total of $ 4.79 million "that'll come due in 2011.") More than four and a half years later, in July 2017, Crain's revealed that the MBC's mortgage deadline had been pushed back from the end of 2015 to the end of 2017, and that as of August 2016 the museum "owed $ 2.5 million to Pepper Construction"; furthermore, "the museum posted $ 53,674 in ticket revenue" in 2015 along with "an operating deficit of $ 561,331, according to its tax filing for that year,

704-471: 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). Later in her career, Arden moved to television, playing a sardonic but engaging high school teacher in Our Miss Brooks , for which she won the first Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in

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768-567: A provision in its 2019 purchase of the third and fourth floors to buy the rest of the building," with a contract being signed in mid-April. According to Talkers.com, the museum "anticipates being able to re-open ... within the next 18 to 24 months." Susy Schultz stepped down as the museum's executive director in September 2021, at which point board member Jim Carlton, a marketing executive, became interim executive director. Two years later, in September 2023, Carlton exited and David Plier, already

832-543: A public high school to an exclusive private school in the fall of 1955. It also changed the title character's romantic focus; Gene Barry was cast as physical education teacher Gene Talbot, and Connie was now the pursued instead of the pursuer, although Mr. Boynton reappeared in several episodes before the season ended. Our Miss Brooks finished in Nielsen ratings that season at number 15 overall after previously ranking at number 23 in 1952–1953 and number 14 in 1953–1954. For

896-409: A regular series, the show landed several honors, including four for Eve Arden, who won polls in four individual publications of the time. Arden had actually been the third choice to play the title role. Harry Ackerman , at the time CBS's West Coast director of programming, wanted Shirley Booth for the part, but as he told historian Gerald Nachman many years later, he realized Booth was too focused on

960-449: A school board president, but was now written as the incoming new Madison principal—Arden agreed to give the newly revamped show a try. Produced by Larry Berns and written by director Al Lewis, Our Miss Brooks premiered on CBS on July 19, 1948. According to radio critic John Crosby , her lines were very "feline" in dialogue scenes with principal Conklin and would-be boyfriend Boynton, with sharp, witty comebacks. The interplay between

1024-469: A single standardized version, eliminating all guest cast and additional crew member information. In the 1980s, various independent television stations would air episodes during afternoons and late nights. Episodes from the series aired on MeTV . Currently, the show airs on their sister network Catchy Comedy . Tubi has several episodes in their library. Eve Arden Eve Arden (born Eunice Mary Quedens , April 30, 1908 – November 12, 1990)

1088-403: A soft reopening" on October 2, 2021, with a "grand reopening" taking place later that month. The MBC announced on its Facebook page in the early hours of April 30, 2023, that its final day of operation at 360 N. State St. would be that day from noon to 4 PM because its remaining exhibit space at that address "has been sold to a developer." The Chicago Tribune reported that "Fern Hill exercised

1152-534: A successor in place, but on March 19, 2018, Robert Feder reported that Julian Jackson, formerly the vice president of design at the Milwaukee Public Museum , had been named the MBC's new executive director. Nearly six months later, on September 17, 2018, Feder reported that the MBC's board of directors was close to finalizing a deal to sell the museum's third and fourth floors to Fern Hill, a real estate development and investment firm. "Sources said

1216-559: A television version of the program from 1952 to 1956, and in a 1956 feature film. Her character clashed with the school's principal, Osgood Conklin (played by Gale Gordon ) and nursed an unrequited crush on fellow teacher Philip Boynton (played originally by future film star Jeff Chandler ; and later on radio and TV by Robert Rockwell ). Except for Chandler, the entire radio cast of Arden, Gordon, Richard Crenna (Walter Denton), Robert Rockwell (Mr. Philip Boynton), Gloria McMillan (Harriet Conklin) and Jane Morgan (landlady Margaret Davis) played

1280-799: Is buried in the Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery , Westwood, Los Angeles, California. Arden published an autobiography, The Three Phases of Eve , in 1985. In addition to her Academy Award nomination, Arden has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame : Radio and Television (see List of stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for addresses). She was inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame in 1995. Museum of Broadcast Communications The Museum of Broadcast Communications

1344-508: Is voluntarily retiring from the MBC, claiming the decision is entirely his own, although in reality, there is far more behind it," including alleged financial mismanagement and controversy surrounding his personal life; additionally, DuMont would "remain at least until a successor has been found and begun in the MBC President role. This could take up to a year." DuMont's final two-year term as president ended on December 31, 2017, without

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1408-531: The Chicago Tribune reported that Bruce DuMont had obtained the aforementioned $ 6 million grant "after telling the state he intended to create 200 year-long construction jobs and 19 museum staff positions (15 full-time jobs and four part-time ones)", but he expected the museum to have only 11 part-time workers by the time of the reopening and said that 180–200 construction workers, employed for as much as ten months and as little as several days, helped finish

1472-700: The Chicago Tribune reported that the MBC was "negotiating with Cleveland’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame to bring two special exhibitions here beginning in June," and that after the March 31 closing of " Saturday Night Live : The Experience," which had been held over for three months, the museum's second floor was "expected to be closed for at least April and May" as the MBC reduced its exhibition and event space "from 25,000 square feet to 12,500." On March 18, 2019, Robert Feder reported that Julian Jackson had resigned as

1536-667: The Museum of Broadcast Communications , she was made an honorary member of the National Education Association and received a 1952 award from the Teachers College of Connecticut's Alumni Association "for humanizing the American teacher". Our Miss Brooks was considered groundbreaking for showing a woman who was neither a scatterbrained klutz nor a homebody, but rather a working woman who transcended

1600-517: The National Radio Hall of Fame gallery, located on the second floor of the museum, had been open to the public since December 1, 2011.) The pre-opening ceremony on June 12 included actors John Mahoney ( Frasier ) and Betty White ( The Golden Girls ) and newscaster Hugh Downs ( 20/20 ). According to a February 2011 press release centered on the MBC's partnership with Cleversafe to provide online access to its archives, roughly 70,000 registered users and 4.5 million unique visitors had accessed

1664-476: The backstage musical Song of Love (1929), as a wisecracking, homewrecking showgirl who becomes a rival to the film's star, singer Belle Baker . The film was one of Columbia Pictures ' earliest successes. In 1933, she relocated to New York City , where she had supporting parts in several Broadway stage productions. In 1934, she was cast in the Ziegfeld Follies revue, the first role where she

1728-440: The 1955–56 season, with the format change and Rockwell (as Boynton) replaced by Gene Barry, the ratings fell. To rectify their mistake, the producers brought back Rockwell as Boynton in midseason, but it did not help. The show was cancelled in the spring of 1956. However, in the theatrical film Our Miss Brooks released by Warner Bros. in the same year, Connie and Mr. Boynton were finally engaged to be married. The film disregarded

1792-570: The Chicago nonprofit Public Narrative and a former journalist for the Chicago Sun-Times , had been named the museum's new executive director, effective August 19. (David Plier, the CEO of Retail First Corp. and a weekend host on WGN 720 AM, replaced Larry Wert as the chairman of the MBC board at the end of June.) In its July 26 story on Schultz's hiring, the Chicago Tribune reported that

1856-685: The Dark (1941) and the romantic comedy Obliging Young Lady (1942). Her many memorable screen roles include a supporting role as Joan Crawford 's wise-cracking friend in Mildred Pierce (1945), for which she received an Academy Award nomination as Best Supporting Actress; as a catty cousin turned peacemaker in The Unfaithful (1947); and as James Stewart 's wistful but wry secretary in Otto Preminger 's mystery Anatomy of

1920-479: The MBC a capital grant of $ 6 million to help complete its construction. (In December 2009 the MBC held a construction fundraiser in Oak Park, Illinois, where DuMont was living at the time. The event's headliner was Bill Jackson , the creator and host of the children's program The BJ and Dirty Dragon Show , which aired on Chicago TV from 1968 to '74, originally as Cartoon Town . ) The new 62,000-square-foot MBC

1984-573: The MBC board in October 2016, less than two months after Bruce DuMont announced that he planned to retire as the museum's president. (Until Wert became the interim chairman of the board, the position had "been vacant since 1995 when the late Arthur C. Nielsen Jr. stepped down after 11 years," wrote Feder that October.) However, shortly after DuMont made his announcement in August 2016, the website Chicagoland Radio and Media reported, "Officially, DuMont

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2048-616: The MBC's 400,000 online videos between 2009 and early 2011, and more than "240,000 visitors from across the country are projected for the [museum's] first year of operation." However, museum attendance "dropped drastically, from 225,000 annual visitors when MBC was at the Cultural Center and free to 7,300 last year at the current entrance fee of $ 12," reported the Chicago Reader in May 2015. "Then in 2013, what DuMont describes as

2112-515: The MBC's executive director after one year, having told the board of directors that he'd "accepted a new position with Freeman Exhibit Solutions in Schiller Park." "Louder Than Words: Rock, Power & Politics," on loan from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, opened on May 24, 2019, for a three-month run on the MBC's second floor. On July 26 Robert Feder reported that Susy Schultz, president of

2176-477: The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's exhibit "Stay Tuned: Rock on TV" was scheduled to open in October, and "the museum next year plans to remodel its primary exhibition space on the second floor and remake its central exhibition on television history," according to MBC officials. The MBC temporarily closed its doors on March 15, 2020, because of the COVID-19 health crisis, and announced that it would "be accelerating

2240-480: The actual or assumed limits to women's working lives of the time. Connie Brooks was considered a realistic character in an unglamorized profession (she often joked, for example, about being underpaid, as many teachers are), and who showed women could be competent and self-sufficient outside their home lives without losing their femininity or their humanity. Our Miss Brooks remained Eve Arden's most identifiable and popular role, with numerous surviving recordings of both

2304-484: The agreement will net $ 6 million, to be used to continue operating the museum and paying down debt – especially a $ 3.7 million mortgage held by Pepper Construction Co.," Feder wrote. The deal closed on March 1, 2019, with executive director Julian Jackson telling Feder, "When we open the next phase of the permanent museum, we plan on providing a state-of-the-art experience to all of our guest [sic] , while delivering brand value to our sponsors and supporters." That same week

2368-491: The cast included Anne Whitfield as Conklin's daughter, Harriet. For its entire radio life, the show was sponsored by Colgate-Palmolive-Peet , promoting Palmolive soap, Lustre Creme shampoo, and Toni hair-care products. The radio series continued until 1957, a year after its television life ended. This content is now available for download at the Internet Archive . The show's full cast, minus Jeff Chandler, played

2432-406: The cast—blustery Conklin, nebbishy Denton, accommodating Harriet, absentminded Mrs. Davis, clueless Boynton, and scheming Miss Enright—also received positive reviews. Jeff Chandler played Boynton and stayed with the role for five years, even after becoming a movie star. He ultimately resigned because it was too exhausting to juggle a regular radio role with his film commitments. Others in

2496-584: The chairman of the MBC's board, took on the additional titles of president and CEO. Until October 2017, when " Saturday Night Live : The Experience" opened, the second floor of the MBC's 360 N. State St. address was the site of the National Radio Hall of Fame (NRHOF) gallery. (When the SNL exhibit closed in the spring of 2019 and the MBC sold the third and fourth floors of its building, the NRHOF gallery

2560-663: The crime film The Forgotten Woman (1939), and the Marx Brothers comedy At the Circus (1939), a role that required her to perform acrobatics. In 1940, she appeared in support of Clark Gable and Hedy Lamarr in Comrade X , followed by support in the drama Manpower (1941) opposite Marlene Dietrich , Edward G. Robinson and George Raft . She also had a supporting part in the Red Skelton comedy Whistling in

2624-467: The end of 2018 on the museum's second and fourth floors. "It's a grab for the gold ring," MBC president Bruce DuMont told the Chicago Tribune . "I think it's going to dramatically change the museum for the better. We're very excited about it. There's going to be more attention, more traffic, more buzz about the things we do here." (Premier Exhibitions filed for bankruptcy protection in June 2016.) On March 2, 2018, media blogger Robert Feder reported that

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2688-544: The fall of 1957, The Eve Arden Show , but it was canceled in spring of 1958 after 26 episodes. In 1966, she played Nurse Kelton in an episode of Bewitched . She later costarred with Kaye Ballard as her neighbor and in-law, Eve Hubbard, in the 1967–1969 NBC situation comedy The Mothers-in-Law , produced by Arnaz after the dissolution of Desilu Productions. In her later career, Arden made appearances on such television shows as Bewitched , Alice , Maude , Hart to Hart , and Falcon Crest . In 1985, she appeared as

2752-424: The format change of the final television season, concluded Miss Brooks' story at Madison High School. Both the radio and television shows drew as much attention from professional educators as from radio and television fans, viewers, and critics. In addition to the 1948–49 poll of Radio Mirror listeners and the 1949 poll of Motion Picture Daily critics, Arden's notices soon expanded beyond her media. According to

2816-525: The half-completed building slated to be sold in December 2008, which MBC founder and president Bruce DuMont blamed on a lack of $ 6 million in state funding that had reportedly been promised to the museum three years earlier. On November 7, 2009, DuMont announced that funding for the museum from the state of Illinois had finally been obtained and that construction would begin once again. Seven months later, Governor Pat Quinn stated that Illinois would give

2880-414: The most recent available." Four weeks later Crain's reported that Pepper Construction had granted the MBC another year to pay off its debt, extending the mortgage deadline to December 31, 2018. In September 2017 the MBC announced the debut of " Saturday Night Live : The Experience," a 12,000-square-foot exhibit acquired from Premier Exhibitions that was set to open the following month and run through

2944-409: The museum was "looking to sell two floors of its four-story building at 360 North State Street." "We simply are looking at options to improve the future educational and entertainment experience for our patrons," said MBC board chairman Larry Wert. "Any proceeds would put the institution on a solid financial foundation." Wert, Tribune Media 's president of broadcast media, was elected interim chairman of

3008-432: The museum, because of the reopening, and that the MBC could inspire people to seek out careers in broadcasting. "I think inspiration is a form of job creation," DuMont said, "because it changes one life". After being dormant for eight and a half years as a brick-and-mortar destination, the museum reopened in its new location at 360 N. State St. on June 13, 2012, exactly 25 years after it first opened its doors. (Technically,

3072-599: The new building. When asked to explain why the number, and duration, of jobs created was lower than what he'd promised to the state legislature, Dumont replied, in an email, "If the MBC can manage our operations with fewer people and do so efficiently, we will do so, just like the Chicago Tribune has done." DuMont told the Tribune that waiters, hotel employees, and other members of the service industry would find employment, presumably in restaurants and hotels surrounding

3136-405: The radio and television versions continuing to entertain listeners and viewers. (The surviving radio recordings include both its audition shows.) A quarter century after the show ended, Arden told radio historian John Dunning in an on-air interview just what the show and the role came to mean to her: I originally loved the theater. I still do. And I had always wanted to have a hit on Broadway that

3200-509: The release of its online curriculum for 'The Great Debates,' which examines the impact of the broadcast industry on the campaign for the presidency. It was scheduled to be released when the exhibit opens this summer, but that will be moved up to early April." In October 2021 the Chicago Tribune reported, "After closing in March 2020, MBC opened briefly that summer. Poor attendance forced the museum closed again, and they chose to focus on educational programs and an online lecture series prior to

3264-452: The same characters in the television version (with most of the scripts adapted from radio), which continued to revolve largely around Connie Brooks' daily relationships with Madison High students, colleagues, and principal. Philip Boynton was played by Robert Rockwell, who also succeeded Jeff Chandler on the radio series. The television show, sponsored by General Foods , shifted focus later in its run, moving Connie Brooks and Osgood Conklin from

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3328-474: The same roles on TV. 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. Her well-established wisecracking, deadpan character ultimately became her public persona as

3392-421: The underpaid downside of public school teaching at the time to have fun with the role. Lucille Ball was believed to have been the next choice, but she was committed to My Favorite Husband and did not audition. CBS then-chairman Bill Paley , who was friendly with Arden, persuaded her to audition for the part. With a slightly rewritten audition script—Osgood Conklin, for example, was originally written as

3456-646: The wicked stepmother in the Faerie Tale Theatre production of Cinderella . Arden was one of many actresses to take on the title roles in Hello, Dolly! and Auntie Mame in the 1960s; in 1967, she won the Sarah Siddons Award for her work in Chicago theater . In 1983, Arden was cast as the leading lady in what was to be her Broadway comeback, Moose Murders , but she withdrew and

3520-442: Was a regular on Danny Kaye 's short-lived but memorably zany comedy-variety show in 1946, which also featured swing bandleader Harry James and gravel-voiced character actor-comedian Lionel Stander . The additional exposure of Arden's comic talent on Kaye's show led to her best-known role, that of Madison High School English teacher Connie Brooks in Our Miss Brooks . Arden portrayed the character on radio from 1948 to 1957, in

3584-429: Was ahead. On October 16, 2019 (5 years ago)  ( 2019-10-16 ) , CBS Home Entertainment released the first season of 38 episodes on DVD (for Region 1) as a two-volume set (with 19 episodes in each volume). The episodes are not the original 26-minute broadcasts, but rather shortened syndicated versions of approximately 21 minutes each. In addition, the original opening and closing credits have been replaced by

3648-699: Was an American film, radio, stage and television actress. She performed in leading and supporting roles for nearly six decades. Beginning her film career in 1929 and on Broadway in the early 1930s, Arden's first major role was in the RKO Radio Pictures drama Stage Door (1937) opposite Katharine Hepburn , followed by roles in the comedies Having Wonderful Time (1938) and At the Circus (1939). She received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress for her role in Mildred Pierce (1945). Somewhat surprisingly for an actress of Arden's refinement and wit, she appeared to good effect in

3712-406: Was back under construction in 2010. It was set to include expanded areas for collection development, two exhibit galleries, and working radio and television studios. The State of Illinois set a deadline of May 2011 to finish basic interior work and landscaping, but because of cold weather, the museum was given a 30-day extension on its original April 30 deadline. Shortly before the museum reopened,

3776-477: Was created by me. You know, kind of like Judy Holliday and Born Yesterday . I griped about it a little, and someone said to me, "Do you realize that if you had a hit on Broadway, probably 100 or 200,000 people might have seen you in it, if you'd stayed in it long enough. And this way, you've been in Miss Brooks , everybody loves you, and you've been seen by millions." So, I figured I'd better shut up while I

3840-566: Was credited as Eve Arden. When she was told to adopt a stage name for the show, Arden looked at her cosmetics and "stole my first name from Evening in Paris, and the second from Elizabeth Arden ". Between 1934 and 1941, she appeared in Broadway productions of Parade , Very Warm for May , Two for the Show , and Let's Face It! . Arden's film career began in earnest in 1937 when she signed

3904-591: Was founded in 1982 but didn't open until June 1987 in the River City condominium complex, located at 800 S. Wells St. It remained there until June 1992, when it moved to the Chicago Cultural Center . The MBC then left the Cultural Center in December 2003, with plans to open in a new building of its own at 360 N. State St. in 2005. Subsequently, construction of the new MBC experienced various delays and setbacks, with construction stopping in 2006 and

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3968-512: Was married to actor Brooks West from 1952 until his death in 1984 from a brain hemorrhage at age 67. She adopted her first child with Bergen and a second child as a single mother after her divorce from him; she adopted her third child with West and gave birth to her youngest (with West) at age 46 in 1954. All four children survived their parents. On November 12, 1990, Arden died at home at age 82. According to her death certificate, she died of cardiac arrest and arteriosclerotic heart disease . She

4032-439: Was replaced with the much younger Holland Taylor after one preview performance, citing "artistic differences". The show went on to open and close on the same night, becoming known a legendary flop in Broadway history. Arden was married to Edward Grinnell "Ned" Bergen 1939–47 and reportedly had a long relationship with Danny Kaye through the 1940s (likely starting from their Broadway work on Let's Face It! in 1941). Arden

4096-516: Was the production company for the Our Miss Brooks television show, filmed during the same years as I Love Lucy . Ball and Arden met when they costarred in the film Stage Door in 1937. Ball, according to numerous radio historians, suggested Arden for Our Miss Brooks after Shirley Booth auditioned for but failed to land the role and Ball—committed at the time to My Favorite Husband —could not. Arden tried another series for CBS in

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