Jane Arden (comics)

Jane Arden was an internationally syndicated daily newspaper comic strip which ran from 1927 to 1968. The title character was the original "spunky girl reporter," actively seeking to infiltrate and expose criminal activity rather than just report on its consequences and served as a prototype for later characters such as Superman supporting character Lois Lane and fellow comic strip heroine, Brenda Starr. Jane Arden was only moderately successful in the United States, but it was highly popular in Canada and Australia. The strip was widely reprinted in comic books and was also adapted into both a film and a radio series.

Jane Arden was created by writer Monte Barrett and artist Frank Ellis for the Register and Tribune Syndicate. Barrett wrote the strip until his death in 1949, and his stories were used until 1952 when Walt Graham assumed the scripting duties. Ellis was one of five artists to draw Jane Arden over its 41-year run.

The work of Ellis' replacement, Russell E. Ross, is perhaps most identified with the character, as he drew the strip for 20 years. Ross introduced Tubby, an office boy sidekick transported from his previous Slim and Tubby strip. It was during Ross' stint that the strip first included Jane Arden paper dolls and accompanying outfits.

Jane Arden

Jane Arden may refer to:

Jane Arden (director)

Jane Arden (29 October 1927 – 20 December 1982) was a Welsh film director, actress, screenwriter, playwright, songwriter, and poet.

Early life, education and early career

She was born Norah Patricia Morris was born at 47 Twmpath Road, Pontypool, Gwent.

She studied acting at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, England, and began her career in the late 1940s on television and in the cinema.

Arden appeared in a television production of Romeo and Juliet in the late 1940s, and then starred in two British crime films: Black Memory (1947) directed by Oswald Mitchell – which provided South African-born actor Sid James with his first screen credit (billed as Sydney James) – and Richard M. Grey's A Gunman Has Escaped (1948). There are copies of both films in the BFI National Archive but the copy of A Gunman Has Escaped is incomplete.

Writing and theatre

In the 1950s, after her first spell in the United States in United States and following marriage (to the director Philip Saville) and children, Arden concentrated on writing for the stage and for television.

Jane Arden (actress)

Jane Arden (fl. since 1980s) is an English actress.

Born in Great Britain, she spent her childhood in Hong Kong and returned to the UK to train for the theatre. After performing her first Shakespearean role as Jessica in The Merchant of Venice, she became a founding member of the British Actors Theatre Company, playing Bianca in The Taming of the Shrew, Celia in As You Like It, and Hoyden in John Vanbrugh's The Relapse. She became an Associate Director for AFTLS - a company that tours Shakespeare plays to universities in the U.S.A. She played Lady Macbeth, Portia, Celia, Ariel and Juliet for the company. Other Shakespearean roles have been Hermia, Perdita, Maria, Lady Capulet. She has played in theatres throughout the UK in roles which have included several Alan Ayckbourn plays.

Arden's musical credits: West End productions Someone Like You, Leonardo the Musical: A Portrait of Love, The King and I, and George and Ira Gershwin's Lady Be Good.

She played Cecile in Les Liaisons Dangereuses in the Wed End opposite Daniel J. Travanti and then went on to tour the play in Europe and South Africa. For the Royal Shakespeare Company Jane played Chorus in Hecuba and appeared in the title role on several occasions when Vanessa Redgrave was indisposed - in the West End and in Washington DC.