Janet Gaynor

Who was Janet Gaynor?

Janet Gaynor was an American actress and painter.

In 1929 Gaynor became the first winner of the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performances in three films: 7th Heaven, Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans and Street Angel. This was the only occasion on which an actress has won one Oscar for multiple film roles. This rule would be changed three years later by AMPAS. Her career as the primary actress of Fox Studios continued with the advent of sound film, and she achieved a notable success in the original version of A Star Is Born, for which she received another Academy Award nomination.

She chose to work only occasionally after her marriage to film costume designer Adrian in 1939. She was severely injured in a 1982 vehicle collision, which contributed to her death two years later.