Maureen Arthur

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

Life and career 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; Branded; I Spy; Get Smart; The Monkees; The Flying Nun; Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.; Love, American Style; The New Dick Van Dyke Show; Night Gallery; Kolchak: The Night Stalker; Sanford and Son; Laverne & Shirley; Alice; Mork & Mindy; Murder, She Wrote; The Red Hand Gang as child-kidnapper Lola; and Matlock.

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. 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.

In a 2007 book, Glamour Girls of Sixties Hollywood, author Tom Lisanti wrote that in the late 1960s, this “light leading lady with the kewpie doll voice was the popular choice to play kooky gold diggers and dumb bimbos.”

Affiliations Arthur 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.

Filmography Year Title Role Notes 1958 Hot Rod Gang Marley 1967 How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying Hedy LaRue Thunder Alley Babe 1968 A Man Called Dagger Joy Also sang the title song The Wicked Dreams of Paula Schultz Killers Three Elvira Sweeney 1969 How to Commit Marriage Lois Grey The Love God? Evelyn Tremaine 1971 The Love Machine Ethel Evans 1976 Harry and Walter Go to New York Mrs. Hawthorne

Television Year Title Role Notes1965 Branded Season 2 Episode 3: "Mightier Than The Sword"1966 Get Smart The Contessa Season 2 Episode 8: "Hoo Done It"1967 The Monkees Ruby S1:E25, "Alias Micky Dolenz"1971 Night Gallery Angela Casey Segment "The Dear Departed"1973 Sanford and Son Marilyn O'Neill Season 3 Episode 2: "Lamont as Othello"1991 Empty Nest Nun Season 4 Episode 12: "My Nurse Is Back and There's Gonna Be Trouble..."