Janet Gaynor (born Laura Augusta Gainor; October 6, 1906 – September 14, 1984) was an American actress. After graduating high school in San Francisco in 1923, she moved to Los Angeles, worked briefly in a shoe store, and began as an uncredited extra in shorts and features (starting around late 1924 at Hal Roach studios and elsewhere). She took the screen name Janet Gaynor on her stepfather’s advice.
In 1926 she earned a supporting role as Anna Burger in Fox’s The Johnstown Flood. Her performance led to a five-year contract with Fox Film Corporation. That same year she was named a WAMPAS Baby Star (alongside Joan Crawford, Dolores del Río, Mary Astor, and others) and appeared in other Fox films including The Shamrock Handicap, The Midnight Kiss, The Blue Eagle, and The Return of Peter Grimm.
By 1927 she was a leading lady at Fox, known for a sweet, wholesome, pure, and waifish screen image, often compared to a successor of Mary Pickford, while bringing depth and sensitivity to her roles.
In 1929 she received the first Academy Award for Best Actress for her cumulative work in 7th Heaven, Sunrise, and Street Angel (the only time the award covered multiple roles rather than a single performance). She was just 22.
Petite (around 5 feet / 1.52 m), with a girlish face, dimples, and auburn/red hair, she specialized in vulnerable, naïve, or resilient young women—sometimes playing “fallen” characters while projecting innocence. She was one of Fox’s top stars by the end of the decade and successfully began transitioning into sound films as the silent era ended.
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