When the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science hosted their very first awards presentation in 1929, no one knew that they would be setting the bar for future movie accolades. Nor did they know that winning an Academy Award would, in the coming years, soon represent the pinnacle of an actor’s work.
A colorized photo of a young Janet Gaynor. (hometowntohollywood.com)
At that 1929 awards presentation, a young and talented actress named Janet Gaynor humbly accepted the Oscar to become the very Best Actress winner at an Academy Awards celebration. Let’s take a look at the career of 1920s and 1930s actress Janet Gaynor, the first Best Actress Oscar winner.
Janet Gaynor Was a Reluctant Actress
Did you know that Janet Gaynor starred in the original "A Star Is Born"? Later, Judy Garland, Barbra Streisand, and Lady Gaga all reprised her role. (popsugar.com)
Janet Gaynor, whose real name was Laura Augusta Gainor, was born in Philadelphia in 1906. Her father worked as a theatrical painter, and he taught his young daughter to sing and dance as soon as she could walk and talk. By the time she was old enough for school, she was good enough to star in all the school plays. After her parents divorced, she moved with her mother to Chicago, then to San Francisco, and eventually to Los Angeles. The move to LA, in fact, was done so that Janet could find work in the burgeoning film industry in Hollywood. But Gaynor wasn’t sure she was good enough for the big screen. She enrolled in a secretarial school and took a job in a shoe store, but her mother and stepfather continued to encourage her to go to auditions.
From Silent Movie Extras to Starring Roles
A colorized photo of Janet Gaynor soaking up the sun. (imbd.com)
Janet Gaynor’s first acting job was as an extra in a silent short comedy film. She did well so she was hired to do more short films. Universal Studios offered her $50 a week to be a stock player for the studio. Soon after she was hired by Fox Films for a supporting role in the 1926 film, The Johnstown Flood. Studio executives were so pleased with her work that she was offered a five-year contract to do leading film roles.
A Star on the Rise
Janet Gaynor and Henry Garat embrace in a scene from the film 'Adorable'. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
Janet Gaynor, with her sweet, wholesome demeanor and appearance, was one of Hollywood’s leading ladies by 1927. She was cast in starring roles that required a type of depth and sensitivity that she could deliver in her performances. She appeared in 7th Heaven, Sunrise, Street Angel, and Lucky Star. Critics loved her work, as did the fans. What she didn’t realize at the time was that her fellow Hollywood actors also admired her work.
The First Academy Awards
A colorized photo of Janet Gaynor with the first Oscar given in the Best Actress category. (twitter)
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences decided to host an awards presentation. The event, which was held on May 16, 1929, at the Blossom Room of the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, was to be called the Academy Awards. The goal of the awards ceremony was to honor films that were released between August 1927, and August 1928. At that time, the Academy looked at a performer’s volume of work in a given time period rather than just one film. The three films that Janet Gaynor did during that time period earned her a nomination. To her pleasant surprise, she was selected as the very first Best Actress Oscar winner. Gaynor later explained, “I was thrilled, but being the first year, the Academy Awards had no background or tradition, and it naturally didn’t mean what it does now. Had I known then what it would come to mean in the next few years, I’m sure I’d have been overwhelmed. At the time, I think I was more thrilled over meeting Douglas Fairbanks.”
A Record Setter from the Start
Janet Gaynor was just 22 years old when she won her first Oscar. (tumblr)
When Janet Gaynor won that first Academy Award, she was just 22 years old. She held the record as the youngest Best Actress Oscar winner for more than 55 years. When Marlee Marlin, then 21, won the Best Actress Oscar in 1986 for Children of a Lesser God, she replaced Gaynor as the youngest Best Actress winner. Today, Gaynor is in third place. When actress Jennifer Lawrence won the Oscar for her role in Silver Linings Playbook in 2013, she was just nine days younger than Gaynor was when she won her award.
Transitioning to Talkies
A colorized promo pic for "A Star Is Born." (purpleclover.com)
When Hollywood transitioned away from silent films and produced more films with sound, not all actresses were able to transition with them. Janet Gaynor made the move look easy. In the 1930s, she starred in Sunny Side Up, Daddy Long Legs, State Fair, and Tess of the Storm Country. She starred opposite Henry Fonda in his film debut in The Farmer Takes a Wife. She earned her second Academy Award nomination for the 1937 A Star Is Born, but retired from acting two years later, in 1939. She had married and wanted to devote herself to her children.
A Tragic Death
Janet Gaynor in her golden years with her third husband. (ginalabiondo)
Janet Gaynor, her husband, and two friends were involved in a horrific car accident on September 5, 1982, when their vehicle was hit by a drunk driver. One of the friends was killed. Gaynor, her husband, and the other friend were all seriously injured. Gaynor received eleven broken ribs, a fractured pelvic bone, a broken collarbone, bruised kidneys and bladder, and a punctured lung. She underwent two surgeries and spent four months in the hospital. Her health was never the same. Two years later, she contracted pneumonia and died. Her physician said the car accident was a contributing factor in her death.
