People active in the silent era and people who keep the silent era alive. Copyright © 1999-2024 by Carl Bennett and the Silent Era Company. All Rights Reserved.

Photograph by Max Munn Autrey; Silent Era image collection.

Janet Gaynor

Born 6 October 1906 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA, as Laura Augusta Gainor.
Died 14 September 1984 in Palm Springs, California, USA.

Married Jesse Lydell Peck, 11 September 1929; divorced, 7 April 1933.
Married costume designer Adrian (Adrian Adolph Greenburg), 14 August 1939; son, Robin Gaynor Adrian, born, 6 July 1940; until Adrian’s death, 13 September 1959.
Married Paul Gregory, 24 December 1964; until Janet’s death, 14 September 1984.

Janet Gaynor began her film career with small parts while still in her teens for Hal Roach Studios and for Universal Pictures Corporation. At 19, she landed her first significant role in The Johnstown Flood (1926) for Fox. Her performance was well received and she was soon teamed with two of Fox’s top leading men, Charles Farrell and George O’Brien for a series of A-list productions throughout the remainder of the 1920s. She appeared in John Ford’s films The Shamrock Handicap (1926) and The Blue Eagle (1926). Her work for the other two top Fox directors Frank Borzage and F.W. Murnau cemented her reputation as a star before she was 23. She won the first Best Actress Academy Award® for her performances in 7th Heaven (1927), Sunrise (1927) and Street Angel (1928).

In the golden era, Gaynor continued to be top box office and was nominated for another Academy Award for her performance in William A. Wellman’s A Star is Born (1937).

Gaynor continued to work in films and television until the 1982 taxicab accident that eventually took her life in 1984.

References: Website-IMDb.