Eve Arden

Actress Eve Arden, the wisecracking and thoroughly delightful English teacher of television's "Our Miss Brooks," died of heart failure today. She was 82. Arden, famous for her quick ripostes, died in Los Angeles at her Doheny Estates home at 2:30 a.m. with one of her daughters, Liza West, at her bedside, said her personal manager, Glenn Rose.

Among the cast of characters The once-unknown thespians who trained and studied acting at its former school gave the Pasadena Playhouse the nickname the "Star Factory." In more recent years, stars have again performed at the landmark theater. Here is a sampling: NOTABLE STUDENTS OF THE SCHOOL: Gene Hackman: The actor broke onto the scene with his performance in "Bonnie and Clyde." He's since been seen in dozens of films, including "The French Connection," "Hoosiers," "Mississippi Burning" and "Unforgiven."

Eve Arden, the sardonic comedian of many early films who later in her career became the beloved but still acid-tongued "Our Miss Brooks" on the immensely successful television series, died Monday. Her manager, Glenn Rose, said she died at her Beverly Hills home of heart failure but also had been battling cancer. Two of her four children were with her when she died. She was 82 and had last been seen in "Grease II" in 1981 and as the duchess in "Under the Rainbow" in 1982.

Eve Arden, the sardonic comedian of many early films who later in her career became the beloved but still acid-tongued "Our Miss Brooks" on the immensely successful television series, died Monday. Her manager, Glenn Rose, said she died at her Beverly Hills home of heart failure but also had been battling cancer. Two of her four children were with her when she died. She was 82 and had last been seen in "Grease II" in 1981 and as the duchess in "Under the Rainbow" in 1982.

Among the cast of characters The once-unknown thespians who trained and studied acting at its former school gave the Pasadena Playhouse the nickname the "Star Factory." In more recent years, stars have again performed at the landmark theater. Here is a sampling: NOTABLE STUDENTS OF THE SCHOOL: Gene Hackman: The actor broke onto the scene with his performance in "Bonnie and Clyde." He's since been seen in dozens of films, including "The French Connection," "Hoosiers," "Mississippi Burning" and "Unforgiven."

Growing up in a big, bubbly, close-knit family with six brothers and sisters, Robert Suchan's role models were his beautiful mother Janene ("like Barbara Eden meets Grace Kelly meets Carol Brady and June Cleaver"), whose picture he keeps in his wallet, and his Aunt Barbara ("Eve Arden meets Jo Anne Worley meets Mrs. Roper, with a touch of Bea Arthur"). In time they would provide the ruggedly handsome Irish Catholic Long Island native - he looks like a cross between Alec Baldwin and Vince Vaughn - inspiration and a livelihood.

A memorial service was held Friday for Lester A. (Les) White, a comedy writer whose career encompassed vaudeville, the Broadway stage, films, radio and television. White was 77 when he died Wednesday in Los Angeles of cancer. He began selling jokes out of college in 1934 and over the years worked closely with Bob Hope, Eddie Cantor, Jimmy Durante, Red Skelton and Eve Arden.

William M. Cowley III, 77, who helped write and create memorable early television shows. With his collaborator, Peggy Chantler-Dick, Cowley created and often wrote such 1950s series as "Dennis the Menace," "The Donna Reed Show," "My Favorite Husband" and "The Bob Cummings Show." Cowley created the "Hazel" series and supervised scripts throughout its four-year run. He also wrote an episode of "The Danny Thomas Show" that won a Cannes Film Festival award as the best television comedy of 1958.

Under Gregory La Cava's sparkling direction, the Edna Ferber-George S. Kaufman play, set in a Manhattan theatrical boardinghouse, was funny and poignant when it reached the screen in 1937. It boasted so many stars and stars-to-be as stage hopefuls that you always wished for a sequel. Katharine Hepburn (pictured, with Adolphe Menjou) and Ginger Rogers lead the parade, which includes Lucille Ball, Eve Arden and Ann Miller.

Film producers tend to hit pay dirt when transforming classic TV shows into feature films. "Maverick" and "The Flintstones" are now burning up at the box office. And producers are already pinning their hopes on the big-screen "Mission: Impossible" and "Green Acres." But mining the small screen for features is nothing new. The first was "Dragnet." No, not the 1987 Tom Hanks-Dan Aykroyd comedy.

Actress Eve Arden, the wisecracking and thoroughly delightful English teacher of television's "Our Miss Brooks," died of heart failure today. She was 82. Arden, famous for her quick ripostes, died in Los Angeles at her Doheny Estates home at 2:30 a.m. with one of her daughters, Liza West, at her bedside, said her personal manager, Glenn Rose.

PBS is about to launch a whopping $2.5-million promotional campaign for its upcoming 8-week, $1.75-million series, "Television," says PBS sources. MCI, the long-distance phone folks who are underwriting the media blitz and $1 million of the production costs, wanted "a very aggressive, feisty, flamboyant (selling) job," one source told us. An ensemble of old-time TV stars has been recruited to make appearances around the land in advance of the Jan. 25 premiere of the weekly docu series.

Adventurous American theater used to be guided by the spirit of progressive group action--and sometimes, group writing. A few adventurers are still doing it: Witness the San Francisco Mime Troupe, which just graced Santa Monica Festival '91. More group writing is going on in the same neighborhood, but it feels like an appropriation. The Cate Caplin-directed ensemble piece, "Choice Cuts," is someone's idea of a cute night out for Westside yuppies.