"No one remains forever young and no one should want to." ~ Janet
Janet Gaynor was born Laura Augusta Gainor on October 6, 1906, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. When she was a child her family moved to California. After high school she enrolled in secretarial school and worked in a shoe store. Janet decided to try acting and began getting work as an extra. Her first starring role was in the 1926 drama The Johnstown Flood. Just three years later she won the very first Academy Award for Best Actress for her cumulative work in Seventh Heaven, Sunrise, and Street Angel. She married Jesse Peck, an attorney, in 1929 but they divorced after four years together. Janet and Charles Farrell became a popular screen team and costarred in many hit films including Sunny Side Up and High Society Blues. By 1934 Janet was the top female box-office star in the country. She was nicknamed "The World's Sweetheart". Janet received another Oscar nomination in 1938 for
her performance in A Star Is Born.
her performance in A Star Is Born.
Despite all of her success she was tired of making movies and decided to retire. In 1939 she married MGM fashion designer Gilbert Adrian, who had worked on films like The Women and The Wizard Of Oz. They had a son, Robin, and moved to Brazil. Janet spent a lot of time traveling and started a second career as an artist. Her paintings were exhibited in galleries all over the country. She acted occasionally but never resumed her career full-time. In 1959 Adrian died of a heart attack. A few years later Janet married her close friend producer Paul Gregory. She also had a romantic relationship with actress Mary Martin that lasted for many years. In 1982 Janet was seriously injured in a car accident. She never fully recovered and died on September 14, 1984 from pneumonia. Janet was cremated and her ashes were buried next to Adrian at Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Hollywood, California.
~ Original biography by Elizabeth Ann 2013
With her husband Adrian
A handwritten letter (from my collection)