Product Code Database
Janet Blair (born Martha Janet Lafferty; April 23, 1921 – February 19, 2007) was an American Big band singer who later became a popular film and television actress.
She was dropped by Columbia in 1947 and did not return to film for several years. "I gave up Hollywood and I gave up pictures" she explained. "All I got were princess parts. A girl gets tired of being a princess all of the time."
In 1962, she appeared in a rare dramatic role in the British horror film Night of the Eagle and played the wife of Tony Randall in the comedy Boys' Night Out with James Garner and Kim Novak. In 1968, Blair played Katie Bower, spouse to Buddy Ebsen Calvin Bower in Walt Disney Pictures' The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band.
Blair also starred in the Broadway theatre comedy A Girl Can Tell in 1953.
She appeared as a guest panelist on the June 9, 1957 episode of What's My Line?.
Blair costarred with Henry Fonda in The Smith Family, an ABC comedy-drama series. Her last performance on television was in a 1991 episode of Murder, She Wrote.
Blair was a Republican and campaigned for Thomas Dewey in the 1944 presidential election.
On February 19, 2007, Blair died at the age of 85 at St. John's Health Center in Santa Monica, California from complications of pneumonia. She was cremated.
Television
In 1955, Blair starred as Venus in a live production of One Touch of Venus on NBC.
Blair appeared on television in various variety-show guest appearances and served as Dinah Shore's summer replacement on the Dinah Shore Chevy Show in 1958. She was a cast member during the 1956–1957 season on Caesar's Hour, a comedy-variety series starring Sid Caesar.
Radio
On radio, Blair costarred with George Raft in "Broadway," a 1942 episode of Lux Radio Theatre on CBS.
Recording
Blair recorded an album of standards entitled Flame Out! for the Dico label, which included ballads such as "Don't Explain" and "Then You've Never Been Blue".
Personal life
Blair married musical arranger and conductor Lou Busch on July 12, 1943 in Lake Arrowhead, California. They had met four years earlier when Blair sang for Hal Kemp's band and Busch was Kemp's pianist and arranger. They divorced in March 1950. Two years later, Blair wed television producer Nick Mayo, with whom she later had two children, Andrew and Amanda. The couple remained together for 19 years until their divorce in 1971.
Filmography
US: Burn, Witch, Burn Final film role
Television
Radio
Discography
Further reading
External links
Categories: 1921 Births, 2007 Deaths, 20th-century American Actresses, 20th-century American Singers, 20th-century American Women Singers, Actresses From Pennsylvania, American Film Actresses, American Musical Theatre Actresses, American Television Actresses, California Republicans, Deaths From Pneumonia In California, Pennsylvania Republicans, People From Altoona, Pennsylvania, 21st-century American Women, Actors From Blair County, Pennsylvania
|
|
