Janet Gaynor

Janet Gaynor

Birth : 1906-10-06, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

Death : 1984-09-14

History

Janet Gaynor (October 6, 1906 – September 14, 1984) was an American actress and painter. One of the most popular actresses of the silent film era, in 1928 Gaynor became the first winner of the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performances in three films: Seventh Heaven (1927), Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (1927) and Street Angel (1928). This was the only occasion on which an actress has won for multiple roles. This rule would be changed three years later by AMPAS. Her career continued with the advent of sound film, and she achieved a notable success in the original version of A Star Is Born (1937). She worked only sporadically after the late 1930s. Severely injured in a 1982 vehicle collision, the incident contributed to her death two years later. Description above from the Wikipedia article Janet Gaynor, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia

Profile

Janet Gaynor

Movies

And the Oscar Goes To...
Self (archive footage)
The story of the gold-plated statuette that became the film industry's most coveted prize, AND THE OSCAR GOES TO... traces the history of the Academy itself, which began in 1927 when Louis B. Mayer, then head of MGM, led other prominent members of the industry in forming this professional honorary organization. Two years later the Academy began bestowing awards, which were nicknamed "Oscar," and quickly came to represent the pinnacle of cinematic achievement.
Classic Movie Bloopers: Uncensored
Self (archive footage)
Uncensored. Laugh along with Hollywood's brightest stars in this hilarious compilation of bloopers from some of the biggest movies in history . You'll see stars such as Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, Lucille Ball, Bob Hope, Ronald Reagan, Marlene Dietrich, Boris Karloff, Edward G. Robinson, Errol Flynn and more. They're not so perfect after all when these flubbed moments are caught on film!
Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?
Self (archive footage)
Period music, film clips and newsreel footage combined into a visual exploration of the American entertainment industry during the Great Depression.
Hollywood My Home Town
Ken Murray narrates his 16mm home movies shot over 35 years in Hollywood.
Hollywood: The Selznick Years
Self (uncredited)
Henry Fonda hosts this retrospective on the career and films of iconic filmmaker David O. Selznick, who epitomized the era of the auteur producer in the 30s and 40s.
Hedda Hopper's Hollywood
Self
A look at the past, present and future of Hollywood as seen through the eyes of the movie columnist.
Bernardine
Mrs. Ruth Wilson
A teenager pines for (and sings about) his dream girl.
Cavalcade of the Academy Awards
Self (archive footage)
This 1940 presentation features highlights of earlier (1928 onward) Oscar ceremonies including Shirley Temple and Walt Disney, plus acceptance speeches for films released in 1939 with recipients and presenters including Vivien Leigh, Judy Garland, Hattie McDaniel, Fay Bainter, Mickey Rooney, Thomas Mitchell, Sinclair Lewis, and more, with host Bob Hope.
Three Loves Has Nancy
Nancy Briggs
A small-town country homebody goes to New York to find her missing fiancé and gets romantically involved with two sophisticated men.
The Young in Heart
George-Anne Carleton
The Carletons make a living as card sharks and finding new suckers to mooch off of. When their latest scam backfires, they are asked to leave Monte Carlo. At the train station, they meet Miss Fortune, a very wealthy but lonely elderly lady. As a reward for saving her life after the train derails, Miss Fortune invites the Carletons to come live with her. The family hopes that by winning her affection, they can eventually be named sole beneficiaries in her will. But will a change of heart soften their mercenary feelings before that time comes?
A Star Is Born
Esther Blodgett / Vicki Lester
Esther Blodgett is just another starry-eyed farm kid trying to break into the movies. Waitressing at a Hollywood party, she catches the eye of her idol Norman Maine, is sent for a screen test, and before long attains stardom as newly minted Vicki Lester. She and Norman marry, though his career soon dwindles to nothing due to his chronic alcoholism.
Ladies In Love
Martha Karenye
Three young women in Budapest share living quarters while searching for romance.
Small Town Girl
Katherine 'Kay' Brannan
Kay is a girl living in a small rural town whose life is just too dull and repetitious to bear. One night, she meets young, handsome, and rich Bob Dakin, who asks her for directions while drunk and then proceeds to take her out on a night on the town. Kay likes the stranger, and when the drunken Bob decides that they should get married, Kay hesitates little before consenting. The morning after the affair, Bob, once sober, regrets his mistake. His strict and upright parents, however, insist that the young couple pretend marriage for 6 months before divorcing, in order to avoid bad publicity. Bob resents Kay for standing in the way of him and his fiancée, Priscilla, but Kay still hopes that he'd have a change of heart.
The Farmer Takes a Wife
Molly Larkins
A farmer tries to convince a girl to leave her life on a canal boat to live with him on his farm.
One More Spring
Elizabeth Cheney
Three people live together in the maintenance shed at Central Park as an alternative to living on the streets.
Servants' Entrance
Hedda Nilsson aka Helga Brand
Heiress Hedda Nillson certain that her family is about to lose all its money, takes a job as a maid. After the usual trials and tribulations, Hedda falls in love with humble chauffeur Eric Landstrom.
Change of Heart
Catherine Furness
Catherine and Mack and their close friends Chris and Madge graduate from a West Coast college and fly to New York City to find work.
Carolina
Joanna Tate
During Civil War Reconstruction, the Connelly family is romantically restored to their former glory when Will Connelly marries a Yankee farm girl, Joanna Tate, despite the objects of his temperamental father Bob Connelly.
Paddy the Next Best Thing
Paddy Adair
This one has Janet Gaynor as Walter Connolly's spunky Irish daughter, whose older sister (nicely played by Margaret Lindsay) is about to marry Baxter for his money and thus retire Connolly's debts, though she loves Harvey Stephens, who is in fact infinitely more appealing than Warner Baxter.
Adorable
Marie Christine "Mitzi"
Rebellious Princess Marie "Mitzi" Christine must try to marry the man she loves, instead of the stuffy old prince her parents want her to marry.
State Fair
Margy Frake
The children of Iowa farmers find love, with mixed results, at the state fair.
Tess of the Storm Country
Tess Howland
When Captain Howland decides that his daughter Tess is getting a bit to old to continue to go to sea with him, they move into a small cottage on the coast of Maine, but not for long. A local millionaire, Frederick Garfield, lays a false claim to the property and has them evicted. Later, when Tess saves a young man about her age from drowning, she is a bit dismayed to learn that he is Garfield's son. But when her father is jailed on a false-accusation charge of murder, the younger Garfield comes to their aid and proves he himself.
The First Year
Grace Livingston
Grace Livingston is leading a happy life in her small town, with her mother and father, being courted by two men, the steady but predictable Tommy Tucker and the more ambitious, flashy, and worldly Dick Loring, who seems closer to Grace in his desire for travel and adventure.
Delicious
Heather Gordon
A comic group of Europeans coming to the USA have romantic and immigration troubles.
Merely Mary Ann
Mary Ann
Orphan drudge Mary Ann finds love and hope in the arms of a promising but poor composer, John Lonsdale.
Daddy Long Legs
Judy Abbott
Wealthy Jervis Pendleton acts as benefactor for orphan Judy Abbott, anonymously sponsoring her in her boarding school. But as she grows up, he finds himself falling in love with her, and she with him, though she does not know that the man she has fallen for is her benefactor.
The Man Who Came Back
Angie Randolph
A spoiled carefree rich kid gets into too much trouble for his father who sends him out on his own to prove himself capable of making a respectable man of himself.
High Society Blues
Eleanor Divine
After selling his business in Iowa, Eli Granger and his family move to an exclusive Scarsdale area in New York, where by chance he occupies a house adjacent to Horace Divine, a wealthy businessman with whom he made his business transaction...
Sunny Side Up
Molly Carr
Molly and Bee, sweet young 'working girls,' live in a cheap room over a New York grocery store. Molly's idol, wealthy Jack Cromwell, lives in a Long Island mansion but is markedly less happy, since his fiancée Jane won't discourage her other admirers. Fleeing in his car, Jack ends up in an urban block party where he meets you-know-who.
Christina
Christina
This part-talkie (17 minutes of dialogue in its 83-minute running time) tells the tale of Christina, the daughter of Dutch toymaker Niklaas. Much to her dad's dismay, Christina falls in love with sideshow huckster Jan. Likewise disapproving of the romance is Jan's jealous employer Mme. Bosman, who frames the young man on an embezzlement charge.
Happy Days
Herself
Margie, singer on a showboat, decides to try her luck in New York inspite of being in love with the owners grandson. She is successful, but suddenly she hears that the showboat is in deep financial trouble, and she calls all the boats former stars to join in a big show to rescue it.
Lucky Star
Mary Tucker
Mary, a poor farm girl, meets Tim just as word comes that war has been declared. Tim enlists in the army and goes to the battlefields of Europe, where he is wounded and loses the use of his legs. Home again, Tim is visited by Mary, and they are powerfully attracted to each other; but his physical handicap prevents him from declaring his love for her. Deeper complications set in when Martin, Tim's former sergeant and a bully, takes a shine to Mary.
4 Devils
Marion
The circus provides the backdrop for this melodrama that chronicles the lives of four children raised within the big top. Film historian and collector William K. Everson stated that the only surviving print was lost by actress Mary Duncan who had borrowed it from Fox Studios. In the December 1974 issue of "Films in Review," he explained that Mary Duncan, one of the film's stars, wanted it to show to a group of friends in Florida. The star was aware that it was a dangerous nitrate print and assumed that Fox had others. She threw the only copy in the ocean, a mistake characterized by Everson as "a monumental blunder to rank with Balaclava, Sarajevo, and the Fall of Babylon as one of history's blackest moments."
Street Angel
Angela
A spirited young woman finds herself destitute and on the streets before joining a traveling carnival, where she meets a vagabond painter.
Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans
The Wife (Indre)
A married farmer falls under the spell of a slatternly woman from the city, who tries to convince him to drown his wife.
Two Girls Wanted
Marianna Wright
Marianna Miller, who together with her sister Sarah pounds the pavements, looking for a job. After a period of starvation and deprivation Marianna is hired as secretary to duplicitous businessman Philip Hancock.
7th Heaven
Diane
A dejected Parisian sewer worker feels his prayers have been answered when he falls in love with a street waif.
With Love and Hisses
Extra
Dimwitted Cuthbert Hope is enlisted in the army, and gets himself and his sergeant in constant trouble.
The Horse Trader
(uncredited)
The Stolen Ranch
Extra
Returning home from the Great War, "Breezy" Hart (Fred Humes) and his shell-shocked buddy Frank Wilcox (Ralph McCullough) discover the Wilcox property in the hands of evil Sam Hardy (William Norton Bailey). Frank, who is the rightful heir to the ranch, goes into hiding, while "Breezy" takes a job in the ranch kitchen. Learning of Frank's whereabouts, Hardy plots to have the young heir killed. Luckily, Breezy overhears the villain plotting with his henchmen and is able to rescue his friend. Hardy and his men are arrested, and Frank, now cured of his illness, is reunited with his girl, June Marston (Nita Cavalier). Breezy, meanwhile, is busy romancing his kitchen staff colleague, Mary Jane (Louise Lorraine).
45 Minutes from Hollywood
Hotel Guest (uncredited)
A young man visiting Hollywood on family business gets into trouble when he sees a bank robbery in progress, and thinks it is a movie scene.
Martin of the Mounted
(uncredited)
The Return of Peter Grimm
Catherine
"Old Peter Grimm makes his ward Katie promise to marry his nephew Frederik [ sic ] and then dies. Frederik proves to be a scapegrace and Peter's spirit returns to right matters and finally succeeds in doing so by communicating with Jimmie who is in a delirium." ( Moving Picture World, 20 Nov 1926, p164.) Peter thus thwarts selfishness and greed and rewards virtue.
The Midnight Kiss
Mildred Hastings
While vain Lenore Hastings busies herself with her romantic pursuits, Lenore's kid sister Mildred tries to keep the family of her boyfriend Thomas from going broke. Mildred works up a business arrangement, whereby she will sell Thomas' father's 250 pigs for a dollar each. Though Lenore is appalled by Mildred's "disgraceful" behavior, the younger girl quickly earns the respect of everyone in town
The Blue Eagle
Rose Kelly
Waterfront rivals George Darcy and Big Tim Ryan are both in love with Rose Kelly, and continue their feud when they join the Navy. After the war, they call a temporary truce to take on dope peddlers who are destroying their neighborhood.
Don't Shoot
Girl
Nancy Burton, niece of the sheriff, is in love with Deputy Tom Farrell, but she as an aversion to bloodshed. She overhears that he shot and killed an outlaw three years in the past. He swears to her that it never happened but she does not believe him. Later her uncle tells he that it was he who killed the outlaw, Trevis, in the line of duty. She also learns that the brother of Trevis, seeking revenge, is on his way to kill Farrell.
The Man in the Saddle
Doubtful (uncredited)
A party of campers return to Tom Stewart's ranch resort to report they have been held up by bandits. Lawrence, their guide, explains that it is a staged stunt for their benefit; Stewart confirms this and refunds the losses but writes to his old pal Jeff Morgan, a former gunfighter, telling him of his predicament. Morgan sends his son, Jeff, Jr., a superb rider and dead shot but otherwise an awkward lout; at the insistence of Pauline, Stewart places Jeff in charge of a camping party. Laura Mayhew, a city girl in league with Lawrence, sends up a flare signal at night, and while Jeff chases some bears into the woods, Lawrence and his men hold up the camp.
The Galloping Cowboy
Extra (uncredited)
Bill Crane is a fun-loving cowboy who likes to play pranks with an Australian bull-whip, much to the dismay of his ranch-owning uncle, Pete Perry. Bill and his cousin, Jack Perry, compete for the affections of Mary Pinkleby. Jack, unknown to Bill, is also an outlaw gang-leader, known as Poncho. The latter frames Bill as being the gang leader, and now Bill has to elude the sheriff and also prove his own innocence.
The Shamrock Handicap
Lady Sheila O'Hara
Because he refuses to collect rent payments from his impoverished tenants, kindly Irish nobleman Sir Miles Gaffney is in danger of losing his estate. He is forced to sell off part of his racing stable to a wealthy American, who takes along Gaffney's jockey Neil Ross as part of the bargain. When Neil is crippled in a racing accident, Sir Miles and his daughter Sheila sail to America with their prize horse "Dark Rosaleen" in tow. The first film having an Irish motif that John Ford directed, a six reel delight set in Eire's County Kildare and in the United States, with a steeplechase background, mixing charged elements of comedy and sentimental drama.
Fade Away Foster
(uncredited)
Ridin' for Love
Girl
Robert Kane, owner of the Bar-L Ranch, has received word from his attorney that he will have to marry Ann Scott before the 15th of the month, whom he has never met, or else lose the title to the Vista Water Company, which Ann has inherited under the condition that she be married. There is dirty-work afoot, instigated by a lawyer.
The Gunless Bad Man
Gertrude Dowell
The Johnstown Flood
Anna Burger
A dramatic recreation of the Johnstown Flood of 1889.
A Punch in the Nose
Bathing Beauty (uncredited)
Flaming Flappers
One of the Co-Eds (uncredited)
Mother - The hand that rocks the family - and rocks it often! A family comedy.
The Crook Buster
(uncredited)
A 1925 silent Western
Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ
Slave Girl (uncredited)
Erstwhile childhood friends, Judah Ben-Hur and Messala meet again as adults, this time with Roman officer Messala as conqueror and Judah as a wealthy, though conquered, Israelite. A slip of a brick during a Roman parade causes Judah to be sent off as a galley slave, his property confiscated and his mother and sister imprisoned. Years later, as a result of his determination to stay alive and his willingness to aid his Roman master, Judah returns to his homeland an exalted and wealthy Roman athlete. Unable to find his mother and sister, and believing them dead, he can think of nothing else than revenge against Messala.
The Plastic Age
Co-ed (uncredited)
Hugh Carver is an athletic star and a freshman at Prescott College. He falls in love with Cynthia Day, a popular girl who loves to party, and finds that it's impossible to please her and still keep up with his studies and athletic training. Soon the two face some difficult decisions.
The Burning Trail
(uncredited)
A professional boxer known as "Smiling Bill Flannigan" accidentally kills an opponent in the ring. He gives up the sport and heads west. He gets a job on a ranch as a cook, and before he knows it he finds himself involved in a war between ranchers and sheepherders.
The Haunted Honeymoon
(uncredited)
The Haunted Honeymoon is a 1925 American silent comedy film directed by Fred Guiol and Ted Wilde, starring Glenn Tryon and Blanche Mehaffey with Janet Gaynor in one of her first films. One of the first comedies to parody horror films, it was produced by Hal Roach and released by Pathé Exchange.
Young Ideas
(uncredited)
Universal star Laura LaPlante stars in this lighthearted comedy based on Sophie Kerr's magazine story, Relative Values. Octavia Lowden (LaPlante) has virtually become a drudge in order to support her sponging relatives -- flapper sister Eloise (Lucille Ricksen), hypochondriac Aunt Minnie (Lydia Yeamans Titus), and storytelling Uncle Eph (James O. Barrows). Only Octavia's frail grandmother (Jennie Lee) really needs help. When Octavia's sweetheart, photographer Pritchett Spence (T. Roy Barnes), discovers the toll these bloodsuckers are exacting, he plots with the family doctor to rescue her.
Cupid's Rustler
(uncredited)
Story of a cowboy who falls for a notorious dance-hall girl. The girl is brought back home to the farm, where a crooked ranch foreman who knew the girl before, tries to seduce her. Gilbert, alas, is reformed and remains faithful to her benefactor.
All Wet
Extra (uncredited)
Charley Chase has car trouble.