Janet Gaynor

Janet Gaynor was born Laura Gainor on October 6, 1906, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. As a child she and her parents moved to San Francisco, and then to Los Angeles where she enrolled in a secretarial school. However, once in LA, she caught the acting bug and managed to land unbilled bit parts in some comedy shorts and features. Then in 1926 she turned in a heralded performance as Anna Burger in The Johnstown Flood. Hollywood sensed a star on their hands and cast her in several other leading roles that year, including The Midnight Kiss and The Return of Peter Grimm. She was also named a WAMPAS Baby Star that year.

The next year she turned in acclaimed performances in two classic films, Seventh Heaven (1927) and Sunrise (1927). Based on the strength of those two films plus Street Angel (1928), Janet received the very first Academy Award for best actress. This was the first and only time an actress won the Oscar for multiple roles (i.e. her entire body of work for the year). Until 1986, she was the youngest leading actress to be awarded an Oscar. Note that Emil Jannings won for The Way of All Flesh and The Last Command for the best actor category that same year, also the only time this has happened.

When "talkies" arrived, Janet made a successful transition and was to become one of the biggest stars at Fox. She was teamed with Charles Farrell in 11 films and went from "the World's Sweetheart" to one of "America's favorite love-birds". Then came A Star is Born (1937). For her outstanding performance she was nominated for another Oscar, but lost to Luise Rainer's performance in The Good Earth (1937). After appearing in The Young in Heart (1938), she settled down to raise a family and didn't appear in another film until 1957's Bernardine (1957). She died in 1984, the aftermath of a car accident two years earlier.

Janet Gaynor - What do you think - Allure?

Personal Quote - on receiving the very first Best Actress Oscar.

"Naturally, I was thrilled but being the first year, the Academy Awards had no background or tradition, and it naturally didn't mean what it does now. Had I known then what it would come to mean in the next few years, I'm sure I'd have been overwhelmed. At the time, I think I was more thrilled over meeting Douglas Fairbanks."