Jean Arthur (1900-1991) was a popular 1930s comedic actress largely remembered today for spirited performances in Frank Capra’s classics, such as “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington” and “You Can’t Take it with You.”

Her career began in the silent era, appearing in more than 50 films during the 1920s, but by 1944 she had essentially retired from Hollywood, briefly returning for two more films, including “Shane” in 1953. Surprisingly, despite her often sparkling screen performances, Arthur suffered from insecurities and shyness, which led to bouts of severe stage fright throughout her career.

Although praised for her title role in a 1950 Broadway production of “Peter Pan,” her later attempts at theater and a TV show were rather short-lived.

Two decades after leaving Hollywood, Arthur’s interests turned to teaching.

“Jean arrived at Vassar in 1968,” recalled Evert Sprinchorn, former head of the drama department at the historic Poughkeepsie college. “The dean of the arts college met her on an ocean liner during a transatlantic crossing and the two stuck up a friendship. Jean was going through a difficult period and I believe the dean created the position for her.”

Sprinchorn said few Vasser staff had much interaction with Arthur, as she was very private.

“I found her to be intelligent, unassuming, detesting pomposity, and with a genuine artistic flair,” he said. “I never pumped her for tales about old Hollywood, regrettably, but very occasionally a little tidbit would slip from her lips.”

As an instructor, Sprinchorn said he believes “teaching wasn’t where her talents lay.” Nor was she initially recognized by many students. “To them, she was just someone their parents remembered in old movies.”

However, when Katherine Neville arrived at Vassar in 1971, she was familiar with her freshman drama instructor.

“I had seen ‘You Can’t Take it with You’ and my mother saw her on stage as ‘Peter Pan,’” said Neville from her home in northeast Pennsylvania. “So I was a little stunned when Jean Arthur turned out to be our teacher!”

Neville especially remembers one class.

“One of my fondness memories was reading a scene with her from Shakespeare’s ‘Twelfth Night’ where I was Oliva and she was Viola,” Neville recalled. “She was very interested in vocal expression and taught us to pay attention to inflections and play around with them until you’d find something that sounded right. She said ‘don’t settle on the first reading.’ ”

When directing a class performance, Arthur would offer personal advice.

“She would come up and talk to you directly rather than sit at the back and yell out suggestions,” Neville said. “She had such an expressive voice and took teaching very seriously, but didn’t interact socially with us. I don’t recall seeing her at any of the productions we put on. Nor would she discuss anything about her early career.”

“She didn’t volunteer much about her Hollywood days,” Sprinchorn said. “Once, she did bring up working with Cary Grant in ‘Only Angels have Wings’ and said he was ‘so silly.’ ”

During one college term, Arthur sat in on Sprinchorn’s Greek Tragedy course.

“She never said a lot, but I do vividly recall her asking why all the plays ended so sadly,” Sprinchorn said. “I said ‘because they’re tragedies!’ ”

He said Arthur largely kept to herself during her four years at Vassar, being quite shy, and “very, very puritanical.”

“You would never hear a swear word come out of her mouth,” Sprinchorn said. “We went to Yale to see a student-written play which contained some rather salacious scenes. There was nothing really outrageous, but Jean didn’t like it at all.”

During her first year, Arthur lived on campus in a small, two-room apartment.

“She furnished it herself and would visit local antique shops for pieces,” Sprinchorn said. “It was very attractive and she had a real talent for interior decorating.”

Later, Arthur rented an off-campus apartment where Sprinchorn was occasionally invited for dinner.

“We would read scenes together and sometimes have students over if more characters were required,” he said. “I think she was considering a return to the stage.”

That never materialized, however, due partly to her battle with stage fright.

Arthur’s introverted nature was also evident to Spinchorn when she described encountering another famous local.

“She told me she had seen Jimmy Cagney in town in Poughkeepsie,” he said. “Cagney had a farm about 30 miles away and loved spending time there. Jean never met him in Hollywood, so I asked what she said to him. She replied ‘Oh, I didn’t talk to him!’ ”

Despite her own inhibitions, Arthur wasn’t shy about her expressing distain for the pompous.

“Even though she was distant, Jean was very down to earth and hated people putting on airs,” Spinchorn said. “We were once at a reception after a play and a woman who obviously thought herself to be terribly important in the community came up to Jean and introduced herself. Quick as a flash Jean said ‘And I’m Martha Washington!’ to which the woman had no response. It was almost like a Marx Brothers scene.”

With greater interest in classic Hollywood today, Sprinchorn said he regrets not pressing Arthur more about her movie career.

“But she was there to do a job and we respected her privacy.”

Nick Thomas teaches at Auburn University at Montgomery, Ala., and has written features, columns, and interviews for over 500 magazines and newspapers.