Tall, striking character comedienne, best known for her masterful delivery of snappy, sarcastic dialogue, particularly in 1945's "Mildred Pierce", which justly earned her an Oscar nomination as best supporting actress. Arden honed her sardonic powers on the stage and became typecast as the heroine's manless career-woman friend in more than 20 films in three years (most memorably the superb "Stage Door" 1937, with a cat forever draped fittingly over her shoulders). She then attempted to break the stereotype by returning to Broadway in the musical "Very Warm for May" (1939) and the revue, "Two
