Janet Gaynor

Janet Gaynor

1906-10-06 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA 67 Credits

Biography

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 wi...

Known For

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Complete Filmography

And the Oscar Goes To...

And the Oscar Goes To...

2014

as Self (archive footage)

7.0
Acting

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 ...

Classic Movie Bloopers: Uncensored

Classic Movie Bloopers: Uncensored

2013

as Self (archive footage)

5.5
Acting

Uncensored. Laugh along with Hollywood's brightest stars in this hilarious compilation of bloopers from some of the biggest movies in history . You'll...

Hooray for Hollywood

Hooray for Hollywood

1976

as Self (archive footage)

Acting

A celebration of Hollywood in the 1930s, featuring a compilation of clips from features and newsreels of the era.

Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?

Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?

1975

as Self (archive footage)

5.7
Acting

Period music, film clips and newsreel footage combined into a visual exploration of the American entertainment industry during the Great Depression.

Hollywood: The Selznick Years

Hollywood: The Selznick Years

1961

as Self (uncredited)

3.3
Acting

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 t...

Hedda Hopper's Hollywood

Hedda Hopper's Hollywood

1960

as Self

6.0
Acting

A look at the past, present and future of Hollywood as seen through the eyes of the movie columnist.

Bernardine

Bernardine

1957

as Mrs. Ruth Wilson

7.0
Acting

A teenager pines for (and sings about) his dream girl.

Cavalcade of the Academy Awards

Cavalcade of the Academy Awards

1940

as Self (archive footage)

6.5
Acting

This 1940 presentation features highlights of earlier (1928 onward) Oscar ceremonies including Shirley Temple and Walt Disney, plus acceptance speeche...

Three Loves Has Nancy

Three Loves Has Nancy

1938

as Nancy Briggs

4.2
Acting

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

The Young in Heart

1938

as George-Anne Carleton

6.4
Acting

A family of confidence tricksters sets their sights on a very rich, very lonely old lady named Miss Fortune.

A Star Is Born

A Star Is Born

1937

as Esther Blodgett / Vicki Lester

7.1
Acting

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 ido...

Ladies in Love

Ladies in Love

1936

as Martha Karenye

5.8
Acting

Three young women in Budapest share living quarters while searching for romance.

Small Town Girl

Small Town Girl

1936

as Katherine 'Kay' Brannan

5.9
Acting

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 Dak...

The Farmer Takes a Wife

The Farmer Takes a Wife

1935

as Molly Larkins

6.1
Acting

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

One More Spring

1935

as Elizabeth Cheney

5.8
Acting

Three people live together in the maintenance shed at Central Park as an alternative to living on the streets.

Servants' Entrance

Servants' Entrance

1934

as Hedda Nilsson aka Helga Brand

Acting

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 fa...

Change of Heart

Change of Heart

1934

as Catherine Furness

6.2
Acting

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

Carolina

1934

as Joanna Tate

6.0
Acting

During Civil War Reconstruction, the Connelly family is romantically restored to their former glory when Will Connelly marries a Yankee farm girl, Joa...

Paddy the Next Best Thing

Paddy the Next Best Thing

1933

as Paddy Adair

1.0
Acting

In Ireland, Major Adair’s older daughter Eileen is about to marry Lawrence Blake for his money in order to pay off her father’s debts, even though she...

Adorable

Adorable

1933

as Marie Christine "Mitzi"

3.2
Acting

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

State Fair

1933

as Margy Frake

6.2
Acting

The children of Iowa farmers find love, with mixed results, at the state fair.

Tess of the Storm Country

Tess of the Storm Country

1932

as Tess Howland

6.0
Acting

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 c...

The First Year

The First Year

1932

as Grace Livingston

Acting

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 Tuc...

Delicious

Delicious

1931

as Heather Gordon

6.2
Acting

A comic group of Europeans coming to the USA have romantic and immigration troubles.

Merely Mary Ann

Merely Mary Ann

1931

as Mary Ann

Acting

Orphan drudge Mary Ann finds love and hope in the arms of a promising but poor composer, John Lonsdale.

Daddy Long Legs

Daddy Long Legs

1931

as Judy Abbott

4.0
Acting

Wealthy Jervis Pendleton acts as benefactor for orphan Judy Abbott, anonymously sponsoring her in her boarding school. But as she grows up, he finds h...

The Man Who Came Back

The Man Who Came Back

1931

as Angie Randolph

3.5
Acting

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 ma...

High Society Blues

High Society Blues

1930

as Eleanor Divine

Acting

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 ad...

Sunny Side Up

Sunny Side Up

1929

as Molly Carr

7.3
Acting

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 I...

Christina

Christina

1929

as Christina

Acting

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 h...

Happy Days

Happy Days

1929

as Janet Gaynor

6.0
Acting

In Fox's contribution to the all-star revue cycle of early talkies, showboat singer Margie, hearing that the show is in arrears, goes to New York to g...

Lucky Star

Lucky Star

1929

as Mary Tucker

7.6
Acting

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...

4 Devils

4 Devils

1928

as Marion

7.0
Acting

Four orphans, raised by an aging clown, becomes a high wire act in a circus. Lost film.

Street Angel

Street Angel

1928

as Angela

7.0
Acting

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

Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans

1927

as The Wife (Indre)

7.8
Acting

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

Two Girls Wanted

1927

as Marianna Wright

Acting

Marianna Miller, who together with her sister Sarah pounds the pavements, looking for a job. After a period of starvation and deprivation Marianna is ...

7th Heaven

7th Heaven

1927

as Diane

7.3
Acting

In 1910s Paris, a sewer worker disillusioned with Christianity feels his prayers have been answered when he chances upon a street waif and they fall i...

With Love and Hisses

With Love and Hisses

1927

as Extra

6.1
Acting

Dimwitted Cuthbert Hope is enlisted in the army, and gets himself and his sergeant in constant trouble.

The Horse Trader

1927

as (uncredited)

Acting
45 Minutes from Hollywood

45 Minutes from Hollywood

1926

as Hotel Guest (uncredited)

5.2
Acting

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.

The Stolen Ranch

The Stolen Ranch

1926

as Extra

5.8
Acting

Returning home from the Great War, "Breezy" Hart (Fred Humes) and his shell-shocked buddy Frank Wilcox (Ralph McCullough) discover the Wilcox property...

Martin of the Mounted

Martin of the Mounted

1926

as (uncredited)

Acting

Martin, the heroine's father is falsely believed to be in league with fur thieves, but the real villain, not content with robbing the old man of his f...

The Return of Peter Grimm

The Return of Peter Grimm

1926

as Catherine

Acting

"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 spiri...

The Midnight Kiss

The Midnight Kiss

1926

as Mildred Hastings

Acting

While vain Lenore Hastings busies herself with her romantic pursuits, Lenore's kid sister Mildred tries to keep the family of her boyfriend Thomas fro...

The Blue Eagle

The Blue Eagle

1926

as Rose Kelly

5.1
Acting

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...

Don't Shoot

Don't Shoot

1926

as Girl

Acting

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 ...

The Man in the Saddle

The Man in the Saddle

1926

as Doubtful (uncredited)

Acting

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 stag...

The Galloping Cowboy

The Galloping Cowboy

1926

as Extra (uncredited)

Acting

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. Bil...

The Shamrock Handicap

The Shamrock Handicap

1926

as Lady Sheila O'Hara

5.1
Acting

Because he refuses to collect rent payments from his impoverished tenants, kindly Irish nobleman Sir Miles Gaffney is in danger of losing his estate. ...

Fade Away Foster

1926

as (uncredited)

Acting

Ridin' for Love

1926

as Girl

Acting

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 ...

The Gunless Bad Man

1926

as Gertrude Dowell

Acting

A band of desperadoes employed as cow punchers take advantage of an ordinance prohibiting the carrying of firearms to hold up the owner and escape wit...

Oh! What a Nurse!

Oh! What a Nurse!

1926

as (uncredited)

Acting

Oh! What a Nurse! is a 1926 American comedy film directed by Charles Reisner and written by Darryl F. Zanuck. The film stars Sydney Chaplin, Patsy Rut...

The Johnstown Flood

The Johnstown Flood

1926

as Anna Burger

6.8
Acting

A dramatic recreation of the Johnstown Flood of 1889.

The Beautiful Cheat

The Beautiful Cheat

1926

as Extra

Acting

A motion picture producer has press agent Jimmy Austin take Mary Callahan, a pretty shopgirl, to Europe. After an extensive publicity campaign, Mary r...

A Punch in the Nose

A Punch in the Nose

1926

as Bathing Beauty (uncredited)

Acting

A troupe of actors stranded in a small town take job as recreation directors in a sanitarium and hilarity ensues.

Flaming Flappers

Flaming Flappers

1925

as One of the Co-Eds (uncredited)

Acting

Glen and his friends are attending a co-ed school and are managing to have a very enjoyable time of it - in fact so much so - that Glen becomes engage...

The Crook Buster

The Crook Buster

1925

as (uncredited)

Acting

A 1925 silent Western

Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ

Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ

1925

as Slave Girl (uncredited)

7.3
Acting

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,...

The Plastic Age

The Plastic Age

1925

as Co-ed (uncredited)

5.9
Acting

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 th...

The Teaser

The Teaser

1925

as (uncredited)

1.0
Acting

Ann Barton, the daughter of a once-wealthy family, is forced to clerk at the cigar counter of a village hotel, where she meets James McDonald, a breez...

The Burning Trail

The Burning Trail

1925

as (uncredited)

Acting

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...

Dangerous Innocence

Dangerous Innocence

1925

as (uncredited)

Acting

Ann, a 19-year-old girl who looks much younger, meets a dashing army major on a boat sailing from Liverpool to Bombay, India, and falls in love with h...

The Haunted Honeymoon

The Haunted Honeymoon

1925

as (uncredited)

Acting

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...

Young Ideas

Young Ideas

1924

as (uncredited)

Acting

Universal star Laura LaPlante stars in this lighthearted comedy based on Sophie Kerr's magazine story, Relative Values. Octavia Lowden (LaPlante) has ...

Cupid's Rustler

Cupid's Rustler

1924

as (uncredited)

Acting

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 gir...

All Wet

All Wet

1924

as Extra (uncredited)

5.2
Acting

Charley Chase has car trouble.