Janet Gaynor

Janet Gaynor
Gaynor in 1934
Born	Laura Augusta Gainor (1906-10-06)October 6, 1906 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Died	September 14, 1984(1984-09-14) (aged 77) Palm Springs, California, U.S.
Resting place	Hollywood Forever Cemetery
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1924–1939; 1950s–1981
Known for	7th Heaven Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans Street Angel A Star Is Born State Fair
Spouses	Jesse Lydell Peck ​ ​ (m. 1929; div. 1933)​ Adrian ​ ​ (m. 1939; died 1959)​ Paul Gregory ​ (m. 1964)​
Children	1
Awards	Hollywood Walk of Fame

Janet Gaynor (born Laura Augusta Gainor; October 6, 1906 – September 14, 1984) was an American film, stage and television actress.

Gaynor began her career as an extra in shorts and silent films. After signing with Fox Film Corporation (later 20th Century-Fox) in 1926, she rose to fame and became one of the biggest box office draws of the era. In 1929, she became the first recipient of the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performances in three films: 7th Heaven (1927), Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (1927) and Street Angel (1928). This was the only occasion an actress won one Oscar for multiple film roles. Gaynor's career success continued into the sound film era, and she achieved notable success in the original version of A Star Is Born (1937), for which she received a second Best Actress Academy Award nomination.

After retiring from acting in 1939, Gaynor married film costume designer Adrian, with whom she had a son. She briefly returned to acting in films and television in the 1950s and later became an accomplished oil painter. In 1980, Gaynor made her Broadway debut in the stage adaptation of the 1971 film Harold and Maude, and appeared in the touring theatrical production of On Golden Pond in February 1982.

On the evening of September 5, 1982, Gaynor sustained multiple injuries when a drunken driver, a former policeman, struck the taxicab in which she and others were passengers. The previous year the same driver was charged with two felonies for using his car as a deadly weapon against a woman motorist, with whom he'd argued over a parking spot, at which time he was placed on informal probation; subsequently, the charges were dropped. In September 1984, Gaynor's injuries sustained in the collision were ruled officially to have caused Gaynor's death.