Janet Blair(1921-2007)
- Actress
- Soundtrack
When it came to bright and polished, they didn't get much spiffier than
singer/actress Janet Blair -- perhaps to her detriment in the long
haul. At Columbia, she was usually overlooked for the roles that might
have tested her dramatic mettle. Nevertheless, she pleased audiences as
a pert and perky co-star to a number of bigger stars, ranging from
George Raft and
Cary Grant to
Red Skelton and
The Dorsey Brothers.
Of Irish descent, she was born Martha Janet Lafferty in Altoona,
Pennsylvania, in 1921. Raised there in the public school system, she
sang in the church choir during her youth and adolescence. The
inspiration and talent were evident enough for her to pursue singing as
a career by the time she graduated. At age 18, she was a lead vocalist
with Hal Kemp's band at the Cocoanut Grove in
Los Angeles. While with Kemp's outfit, Janet met and, subsequently,
married the band's pianist, Lou Busch, a
respected musician, songwriter, and, later, ragtime recording artist.
A Columbia Pictures talent scout caught her behind the microphone and
spotted fine potential in the pretty-as-a-picture songstress. The death
of Kemp in a car accident in December of 1940 and the band's eventual
break-up signaled a life-changing course of events. She signed up with
Columbia, for up to $100 a week, and moved to Los Angeles while her
husband found work as a studio musician. Janet made an immediate
impression in her debut film as the feisty kid sister of
Joan Blondell and
Binnie Barnes in
Three Girls About Town (1941)
and also dallied about in the movies,
Two Yanks in Trinidad (1942)
and
Blondie Goes to College (1942),
until her big break in the movies arrived. Star
Rosalind Russell made a pitch for Janet
to play her co-lead in
My Sister Eileen (1942) as her
naive, starry-eyed younger sister (Eileen), who carried aspirations of
being a big-time actress. The film became an instant hit and Janet
abruptly moved up into the "love interest" ranks. Usually appearing in
a frothy musical or light comedy, she was seeded second, however, to
another redhead, Rita Hayworth, when it
came to Columbia's dispensing out musical leads. Janet, nevertheless,
continued promisingly paired up with
George Raft in the mob-oriented tunefest,
Broadway (1942); alongside
Don Ameche in the musical,
Something to Shout About (1943);
and opposite Cary Grant in the
comedy-fantasy,
Once Upon a Time (1944), one of
his lesser known films. She played second lead to Ms. Hayworth in
Tonight and Every Night (1945)
and was right in her element when asked to co-star with bandleaders
Jimmy Dorsey and
Tommy Dorsey in their biopic,
The Fabulous Dorseys (1947).
A rare dramatic role came her way in the
Glenn Ford starrer,
Gallant Journey (1946), but again
she was relegated to playing the stereotyped altruistic wife. In
retrospect, the importance of her roles, although performed quite
capably, were more supportive and decorative in nature and lacked real
bite. By the time the daring-do "B" swashbuckler
The Black Arrow (1948) rolled
out, Columbia had lost interest in its fair maiden and Janet had lost
interest in Hollywood.
A new decade brought about a new career direction. Putting together a
successful nightclub act, she was spotted by composer
Richard Rodgers and made a
sparkling name for herself within a short time. Rodgers & Hammerstein's
"South Pacific", starring
Mary Martin, was the hit of the
Broadway season and Janet dutifully took on the lead role of "Ensign
Nellie Forbush" when the show went on tour in 1950. She gave a yeoman
performance -- over 1,200 in all -- within a three-year period.
Following this success, she made her Broadway debut in the musical, "A
Girl Can Tell," in 1953. She went on for decades, appearing in such
tuneful vehicles as "Anything Goes," "Bells Are Ringing," "Annie Get
Your Gun," "Mame," and "Follies."
Her career, however, took second place after marrying second husband,
producer/director Nick Mayo in 1953, and
raising their two children, Amanda and Andrew. The couple met when he
stage-managed "South Pacific" and went on to co-own and operate Valley
Music Theatre in Woodland Hills, California, during the mid-1960s.
There, she played "Maria" in "The Sound of Music" and "Peter Pan"
opposite Vincent Price's "Dr.
Hook," among others. Her second marriage lasted until the late '60s.
TV's "Golden Age" proved to be a viable medium for her. A promising
series role came to her in 1956 when she replaced Emmy-winning
Nanette Fabray as
Sid Caesar's femme co-star on
Caesar's Hour (1954) but she
left the sketch-based comedy show after only one season because she
felt stifled and underused. She also returned to films on occasion,
appearing opposite her
The Fuller Brush Man (1948)
co-star, Red Skelton, in another of his
slapstick vehicles,
Public Pigeon No. 1 (1957);
as Tony Randall's wife in the
domestic comedy,
Boys' Night Out (1962), starring
Kim Novak; and in the excellent cult
British horror,
Night of the Eagle (1962) (aka
Burn, Witch, Burn) and she was fresh as a daisy, once again, in the
antiseptic Disney musical,
The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band (1968).
After her second divorce, Janet laid off touring in musicals and
settled in Hollywood to raise her two teenage children while looking
for TV work. She found a steady paycheck paired up with
Henry Fonda on the sitcom,
The Smith Family (1971),
playing another of her patented loyal wives. She also found scattered
work on such TV shows as
Marcus Welby, M.D. (1969),
Switch (1975),
Fantasy Island (1977), and
The Love Boat (1977). Her last
guest showing was on the
Murder, She Wrote (1984)
episode,
Who Killed J.B. Fletcher? (1991).
Janet died at age 85 in Santa Monica, California, after developing
pneumonia.
singer/actress Janet Blair -- perhaps to her detriment in the long
haul. At Columbia, she was usually overlooked for the roles that might
have tested her dramatic mettle. Nevertheless, she pleased audiences as
a pert and perky co-star to a number of bigger stars, ranging from
George Raft and
Cary Grant to
Red Skelton and
The Dorsey Brothers.
Of Irish descent, she was born Martha Janet Lafferty in Altoona,
Pennsylvania, in 1921. Raised there in the public school system, she
sang in the church choir during her youth and adolescence. The
inspiration and talent were evident enough for her to pursue singing as
a career by the time she graduated. At age 18, she was a lead vocalist
with Hal Kemp's band at the Cocoanut Grove in
Los Angeles. While with Kemp's outfit, Janet met and, subsequently,
married the band's pianist, Lou Busch, a
respected musician, songwriter, and, later, ragtime recording artist.
A Columbia Pictures talent scout caught her behind the microphone and
spotted fine potential in the pretty-as-a-picture songstress. The death
of Kemp in a car accident in December of 1940 and the band's eventual
break-up signaled a life-changing course of events. She signed up with
Columbia, for up to $100 a week, and moved to Los Angeles while her
husband found work as a studio musician. Janet made an immediate
impression in her debut film as the feisty kid sister of
Joan Blondell and
Binnie Barnes in
Three Girls About Town (1941)
and also dallied about in the movies,
Two Yanks in Trinidad (1942)
and
Blondie Goes to College (1942),
until her big break in the movies arrived. Star
Rosalind Russell made a pitch for Janet
to play her co-lead in
My Sister Eileen (1942) as her
naive, starry-eyed younger sister (Eileen), who carried aspirations of
being a big-time actress. The film became an instant hit and Janet
abruptly moved up into the "love interest" ranks. Usually appearing in
a frothy musical or light comedy, she was seeded second, however, to
another redhead, Rita Hayworth, when it
came to Columbia's dispensing out musical leads. Janet, nevertheless,
continued promisingly paired up with
George Raft in the mob-oriented tunefest,
Broadway (1942); alongside
Don Ameche in the musical,
Something to Shout About (1943);
and opposite Cary Grant in the
comedy-fantasy,
Once Upon a Time (1944), one of
his lesser known films. She played second lead to Ms. Hayworth in
Tonight and Every Night (1945)
and was right in her element when asked to co-star with bandleaders
Jimmy Dorsey and
Tommy Dorsey in their biopic,
The Fabulous Dorseys (1947).
A rare dramatic role came her way in the
Glenn Ford starrer,
Gallant Journey (1946), but again
she was relegated to playing the stereotyped altruistic wife. In
retrospect, the importance of her roles, although performed quite
capably, were more supportive and decorative in nature and lacked real
bite. By the time the daring-do "B" swashbuckler
The Black Arrow (1948) rolled
out, Columbia had lost interest in its fair maiden and Janet had lost
interest in Hollywood.
A new decade brought about a new career direction. Putting together a
successful nightclub act, she was spotted by composer
Richard Rodgers and made a
sparkling name for herself within a short time. Rodgers & Hammerstein's
"South Pacific", starring
Mary Martin, was the hit of the
Broadway season and Janet dutifully took on the lead role of "Ensign
Nellie Forbush" when the show went on tour in 1950. She gave a yeoman
performance -- over 1,200 in all -- within a three-year period.
Following this success, she made her Broadway debut in the musical, "A
Girl Can Tell," in 1953. She went on for decades, appearing in such
tuneful vehicles as "Anything Goes," "Bells Are Ringing," "Annie Get
Your Gun," "Mame," and "Follies."
Her career, however, took second place after marrying second husband,
producer/director Nick Mayo in 1953, and
raising their two children, Amanda and Andrew. The couple met when he
stage-managed "South Pacific" and went on to co-own and operate Valley
Music Theatre in Woodland Hills, California, during the mid-1960s.
There, she played "Maria" in "The Sound of Music" and "Peter Pan"
opposite Vincent Price's "Dr.
Hook," among others. Her second marriage lasted until the late '60s.
TV's "Golden Age" proved to be a viable medium for her. A promising
series role came to her in 1956 when she replaced Emmy-winning
Nanette Fabray as
Sid Caesar's femme co-star on
Caesar's Hour (1954) but she
left the sketch-based comedy show after only one season because she
felt stifled and underused. She also returned to films on occasion,
appearing opposite her
The Fuller Brush Man (1948)
co-star, Red Skelton, in another of his
slapstick vehicles,
Public Pigeon No. 1 (1957);
as Tony Randall's wife in the
domestic comedy,
Boys' Night Out (1962), starring
Kim Novak; and in the excellent cult
British horror,
Night of the Eagle (1962) (aka
Burn, Witch, Burn) and she was fresh as a daisy, once again, in the
antiseptic Disney musical,
The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band (1968).
After her second divorce, Janet laid off touring in musicals and
settled in Hollywood to raise her two teenage children while looking
for TV work. She found a steady paycheck paired up with
Henry Fonda on the sitcom,
The Smith Family (1971),
playing another of her patented loyal wives. She also found scattered
work on such TV shows as
Marcus Welby, M.D. (1969),
Switch (1975),
Fantasy Island (1977), and
The Love Boat (1977). Her last
guest showing was on the
Murder, She Wrote (1984)
episode,
Who Killed J.B. Fletcher? (1991).
Janet died at age 85 in Santa Monica, California, after developing
pneumonia.