Janet Blair

Janet Blair

Blair and Henry Fonda from the television program The Smith Family
Born Martha Janet Lafferty
(1921-04-23)April 23, 1921
Altoona, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Died February 19, 2007(2007-02-19) (aged 85)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Cause of death Complications from pneumonia
Resting place Woodlawn Memorial Cemetery, Santa Monica
Occupation Actress, singer
Years active 1941–1991
Spouse(s) Lou Busch (m. 1943–50)
Nick Mayo (m. 1953–71)
Children 2

Janet Blair (April 23, 1921 – February 19, 2007) was a big band singer who went on to become a popular American film and television actress.

Early years

Born Martha Janet Lafferty[1] in Altoona, Pennsylvania (she took her acting surname from Blair County, Pennsylvania), Blair was the daughter of musically oriented parents,[2] Mr. and Mrs. Fred B. Lafferty.[3] Her father led the choir and sang solos in his church, and her mother played both piano and organ.[2] She had a brother, Fred Jr., and a sister, Louise.[4]

Film

Blair began her acting career on film in 1941, being placed under contract to Columbia Pictures. Before that, she was a featured singer in the Hal Kemp Orchestra.[5] During World War II she appeared as the pin-up girl in the March 1944 issue of Yank Magazine. She made a string of successful pictures, although she is today best remembered for playing Rosalind Russell's sister in My Sister Eileen (1942)[6] and Rita Hayworth's best friend in Tonight and Every Night (1945). In the 1947 film The Fabulous Dorseys, Blair returned to her musical roots, portraying a singer.[7] In the late 1940s, Blair had star billing in the crime drama I Love Trouble as well as in The Fuller Brush Man, a comedy with Red Skelton, but was dropped by Columbia and did not return to pictures for several years.

She made a rare dramatic appearance in the 1962 British horror film Night of the Eagle. She played the wife of Tony Randall in another film that year, the comedy Boys' Night Out, which starred James Garner and Kim Novak.

Stage

In 1950, Blair took the lead role of Nellie Forbush in the U.S touring production of the stage musical South Pacific, making more than 1,200 performances in three years.[8] "[I] never missed a performance", she noted proudly. During the tour, she also got married to second husband, producer-director Nick Mayo, and they became parents of Amanda and Andrew.

Blair also starred in the Broadway comedy You Never Can Tell in 1953.[8]

Clubs

Blair was a star musical performer in premiere nightclubs and supper clubs like the Empire Room at the Waldorf Astoria in New York.

Television

In 1955, Blair starred as Venus in a live production of One Touch of Venus on NBC-TV.[9]

Blair appeared on television in various variety show guest appearances—saying, "I think I appeared on the Milton Berle Show more than any other guest"[10]—and hosted, with John Raitt and Edie Adams, the 1958 summer replacement for the Dinah Shore Chevy Show for the vacationing star Dinah Shore.[11] She was a cast member during the 1956-57 TV season on Caesar's Hour, a comedy-variety series starring Sid Caesar.[12]

She appeared as a guest panelist on the June 9, 1957, episode of What's My Line?[13]

On television in 1971, Janet co-starred with Henry Fonda in The Smith Family,[1] a comedy-drama series on ABC. Her last performance on television was in a 1991 episode of Murder, She Wrote, starring Angela Lansbury.

Radio

On radio, Blair co-starred with George Raft in "Broadway," a 1942 episode of Lux Radio Theatre on CBS.[14]

Recording

Blair recorded an album of standards entitled Flame Out! for the Dico label[15] which included ballads like "Don't Explain" and "Then You've Never Been Blue."

Personal life

Blair was married twice. Her first marriage was to musical arranger and conductor[3] Louis Ferdinand Busch on July 12, 1943, at Lake Arrowhead, California. The two had met four years earlier when Blair sang for Hal Kemp's band and Busch was Kemp's pianist and arranger.[16] They divorced in March 1950.[17] She married television producer Nick Mayo in 1952 with whom she had two children: Andrew and Amanda.[18] They divorced in 1971.[19]

Death

On February 19, 2007, Blair died of complications from pneumonia, aged 85, at St. John's Health Center in Santa Monica, California.[20] She was survived by a daughter and a son.[8]

Filmography

in Tonight and Every Night (1945)

Television

Radio

Discography

References

  1. 1 2 "Actress Janet Blair, native of Altoona, dies at age 85". The Daily News. February 21, 2007. p. 2. Retrieved September 8, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. 1 2 "Road Wasn't Difficult For Janet Blair". Waco Tribune. December 7, 1952. p. 54. Retrieved April 19, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. 1 2 "Janet Blair Is Given Surprise Welcome Home". Altoona Tribune. January 7, 1947. p. 1. Retrieved April 19, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ↑ Coleman, William A. (October 14, 1956). "Caesar's third "wife"". The Corpus Christi Caller-Times. p. 139. Retrieved September 8, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ↑ Ewald, William (September 25, 1956). "Janet Blair Irked at Fabray Comparison". The Times. p. 11. Retrieved September 7, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ↑ "Roz Russell, Janet Blair Stars of 'My Sister Eileen' at State". Kingsport Times. January 10, 1943. p. 8. Retrieved September 7, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ↑ Zylstra, Freida (May 18, 1947). "Janet Blair". Chicago Tribune. p. 11. Retrieved 10 September 2015.
  8. 1 2 3 Simonson, Robert (February 21, 2007). "Janet Blair, Stage, Film and Television Actress, Is Dead at 85". Playbill. Retrieved 8 September 2015.
  9. ↑ Hischak, Thomas (2008). The Oxford Companion to the American Musical: Theatre, Film, and Television. Oxford University Press. p. 556. ISBN 9780195335330. Retrieved 8 September 2015.
  10. ↑ Hopper, Hedda (September 3, 1950). "Adrift in South Pacific". The Salt Lake Tribune. p. 26. Retrieved September 7, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ↑ Bundy, June (June 30, 1958). "Chevy Show Potential Record Album Seller" (PDF). Billboard. p. 5. Retrieved 9 September 2015.
  12. ↑ Kleiner, Dick (July 4, 1957). "Janet Blair Won't Look Back On Her Year Of Disappointment". Pampa Daily News. p. 13. Retrieved September 7, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ↑ What's My Line? - Johnnie Ray; Ozzie Nelson (panel); Janet Blair (panel) (Jun 9, 1957)
  14. ↑ "Drama Heads WHP Bill". Harrisburg Telegraph. November 19, 1942. p. 20. Retrieved April 19, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ↑ "Names on Profit Sharing Basis New Label's Aim" (PDF). Billboard. May 25, 1959. p. 18. Retrieved 9 September 2015.
  16. ↑ "'My Sister Eileen' Wedded to Early Sweetheart". The Salt Lake Tribune. July 13, 1943. p. 14. Retrieved September 8, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. ↑ "Movie Divorce Crop Is Large". The Spokesman-Review. January 2, 1951. p. 2. Retrieved April 22, 2013.
  18. ↑ "Children Watch As Parents Are Wed". Kentucky New Era. October 19, 1963. p. 12. Retrieved April 22, 2013.
  19. ↑ Pearson, Howard. "Laudable Ambition". The Deseret News. p. B8. Retrieved April 22, 2013.
  20. ↑ "Stage, Screen and TV Star Janet Blair Dies at 86 Read more about Stage, Screen and TV Star Janet Blair Dies at 86". broadwayworld.com. February 21, 2007. Retrieved April 22, 2013.
  21. ↑ "Rehearsal". Harrisburg Telegraph. November 11, 1946. p. 19. Retrieved September 15, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
  22. ↑ "'Hollywood' Star". Harrisburg Telegraph. December 21, 1946. p. 17. Retrieved September 7, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.

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