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.

Early years

Janet Blair was born Martha Janet Lafferty on April 23, 1921, in

Altoona, Pennsylvania Altoona is a city in Blair County, Pennsylvania. It is the principal city of the Altoona Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA). The population was 43,963 at the time of the 2020 Census, making it the eighteenth most populous city in Pennsylvania. T ...

, the daughter of musically oriented parents, Mr. and Mrs. Fred B. Lafferty. Her father led the choir and sang solos in his church, and her mother played both piano and organ. She had a brother, Fred Jr., and a sister, Louise.

Film

Janet Blair in Tonight and Every Night trailer

Blair began her acting career on film in 1941, being placed under contract to

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the mu ...

. Before that, she was a featured singer in the Hal Kemp Orchestra. 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 Catherine Rosalind Russell (June 4, 1907November 28, 1976) was an American actress, comedienne, screenwriter, and singer,Obituary '' Variety'', December 1, 1976, p. 79. known for her role as fast-talking newspaper reporter Hildy Johnson in the H ...

's sister in ''

My Sister Eileen ''My Sister Eileen'' is a series of autobiographical short stories by Ruth McKenney, originally published in ''The New Yorker'', which eventually inspired many other works: her 1938 book ''My Sister Eileen'', a play, a musical, a radio play (an ...

'' (1942) and

Rita Hayworth Rita Hayworth (born Margarita Carmen Cansino; October 17, 1918May 14, 1987) was an American actress, dancer and producer. She achieved fame during the 1940s as one of the era's top stars, appearing in 61 films over 37 years. The press coined th ...

's best friend in ''

Tonight and Every Night ''Tonight and Every Night'' is a 1945 American musical film directed by Victor Saville and starring Rita Hayworth, Lee Bowman and Janet Blair. The film portrays wartime romance and tragedy in a London musical show, loosely modelled on the Windmi ...

'' (1945). In the 1947 film '' The Fabulous Dorseys'', Blair returned to her musical roots, portraying a singer. In the late 1940s, Blair had star billing in the crime drama '' I Love Trouble'' and the comedy ''

The Fuller Brush Man ''The Fuller Brush Man'' is a 1948 American comedy film starring Red Skelton as a door-to-door salesman for the Fuller Brush Company who becomes a murder suspect. Plot Success doesn't exactly stare the unfortunate street cleaner Red Jones (Red S ...

'' (both 1948), but was dropped by Columbia and did not return to pictures for several years. She made a rare dramatic appearance in the British horror film '' Night of the Eagle'' (1962). She played the wife of

Tony Randall Anthony Leonard Randall (born Aryeh Leonard Rosenberg; February 26, 1920 – May 17, 2004) was an American actor. He is best known for portraying the role of Felix Unger in a television adaptation of the 1965 play '' The Odd Couple'' by Neil Si ...

in the comedy '' Boys' Night Out'', a motion picture released in the same year, which starred

James Garner James Garner (born James Scott Bumgarner; April 7, 1928 – July 19, 2014) was an American actor. He played leading roles in more than 50 theatrical films, including ''The Great Escape (film), The Great Escape'' (1963) with Steve McQueen; Paddy ...

and

Kim Novak Marilyn Pauline "Kim" Novak (born February 13, 1933) is an American retired film and television actress and painter. Novak began her career in 1954 after signing with Columbia Pictures and quickly became one of Hollywood's top box office stars, ...

Stage

In 1950, Blair took the lead role of Nellie Forbush in the U.S touring production of the stage musical ''

South Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

'', making more than 1,200 performances in three years. " never missed a performance", she noted proudly. During the tour, she also married her second husband, producer-director Nick Mayo, and they became parents of Amanda and Andrew. Blair also starred in the

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

comedy ''A Girl Can Tell'' in 1953.

Clubs

Blair was a star musical performer in premier nightclubs and supper clubs such as 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 ''One Touch of Venus'' is a 1943 musical with music written by Kurt Weill, lyrics by Ogden Nash, and book by S. J. Perelman and Nash, based on the 1885 novella ''The Tinted Venus'' by Thomas Anstey Guthrie, and very loosely spoofing the Pygmal ...

'' on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

-TV.

Janet Blair Henry Fonda Smith Family 1970

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"—and hosted, with John Raitt and

Edie Adams Edie Adams (born Edith Elizabeth Enke; April 16, 1927 – October 15, 2008) was an American comedian, actress, singer and businesswoman. She earned the Tony Award and was nominated for an Emmy Award. Adams was well known for her impersonations ...

, the 1958 summer replacement for the ''

Dinah Shore Chevy Show ''The Dinah Shore Chevy Show'' is an American variety series hosted by Dinah Shore, and broadcast on NBC from October 1956 to May 1963. The series was sponsored by the Chevrolet Motor Division of General Motors and its theme song, sung by Shore, ...

'' for the vacationing star

Dinah Shore Dinah Shore (born Frances Rose Shore; February 29, 1916 – February 24, 1994) was an American singer, actress, and television personality, and the top-charting female vocalist of the 1940s. She rose to prominence as a recording artist during ...

. She was a cast member during the 1956–1957 TV season on ''

Caesar's Hour ''Caesar's Hour'' is a live, hour-long American sketch-comedy television program that aired on NBC from 1954 until 1957. The program starred, among others, Sid Caesar, Nanette Fabray, Carl Reiner, Howard Morris, Janet Blair, and Milt Kamen, and ...

'', a comedy-variety series starring

Sid Caesar Isaac Sidney Caesar (September 8, 1922 – February 12, 2014) was an American comic actor, comedian and writer. With a career spanning 60 years, he was best known for two pioneering 1950s live television series: ''Your Show of Shows'' (1950� ...

and partially written by

Woody Allen Heywood "Woody" Allen (born Allan Stewart Konigsberg; November 30, 1935) is an American film director, writer, actor, and comedian whose career spans more than six decades and multiple Academy Award-winning films. He began his career writing ...

. She appeared as a guest panelist on the June 9, 1957, episode of ''

What's My Line? ''What's My Line?'' is a panel game show that originally ran in the United States on the CBS Television Network from 1950 to 1967, originally in black and white and later in color, with subsequent U.S. revivals. The game uses celebrity panelis ...

''. On television in 1971, Blair co-starred with

Henry Fonda Henry Jaynes Fonda (May 16, 1905 – August 12, 1982) was an American actor. He had a career that spanned five decades on Broadway and in Hollywood. He cultivated an everyman screen image in several films considered to be classics. Born and ra ...

in '' The Smith Family'', a comedy-drama series on ABC featuring

Ron Howard Ronald William Howard (born March 1, 1954) is an American director, producer, screenwriter, and actor. He first came to prominence as a child actor, guest-starring in several television series, including an episode of '' The Twilight Zone''. ...

as their son. Her last performance on television was in a 1991 episode of ''

Murder, She Wrote ''Murder, She Wrote'' is an American crime drama television series, created by Peter S. Fischer, Richard Levinson and William Link, starring Angela Lansbury, and produced and distributed by Universal Television for the CBS network. The seri ...

'', starring

Angela Lansbury Dame Angela Brigid Lansbury (October 16, 1925 – October 11, 2022) was an Irish-British and American film, stage, and television actress. Her career spanned eight decades, much of it in the United States, and her work received a great deal ...

Radio

On radio, Blair co-starred with

George Raft George Raft (born George Ranft; September 26, 1901 – November 24, 1980) was an American film actor and dancer identified with portrayals of gangsters in crime melodramas of the 1930s and 1940s. A stylish leading man in dozens of movies, Raft is ...

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 was married twice, her first to musical arranger and conductor Louis Ferdinand Busch on July 12, 1943, at

Lake Arrowhead, California Lake Arrowhead is an unincorporated community and a census-designated place (CDP) in the San Bernardino Mountains of San Bernardino County, California, surrounded by the San Bernardino National Forest, and surrounding the eponymous Lake Arrowhe ...

. The two 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. Blair was a Republican and campaigned for

Thomas Dewey Thomas Edmund Dewey (March 24, 1902 – March 16, 1971) was an American lawyer, prosecutor, and politician who served as the 47th governor of New York from 1943 to 1954. He was the Republican candidate for president in 1944 and 1948: althou ...

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 Santa Monica (; Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 U.S. Census population was 93,076. Santa Monica is a popular resort town, owing to ...

, succumbing to complications from

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severit ...

. She was cremated.

Filmography

*'' Three Girls About Town'' (1941) - Charity Banner *'' Blondie Goes to College'' (1942) – Laura Wadsworth *''

Two Yanks in Trinidad ''Two Yanks in Trinidad'' is a 1942 American comedy spy film directed by Gregory Ratoff and starring Pat O'Brien, Brian Donlevy and Janet Blair. The film was in production when Pearl Harbor was attacked by the Japanese, leading to America's en ...

'' (1942) – Patricia Dare *''

'' (1942) – Billie Moore *''

'' (1942) – Eileen Sherwood *'' Something to Shout About'' (1943) – Jeanie Maxwell *'' Once Upon a Time'' (1944) – Jeannie Thompson *''

'' (1945) – Judy Kane * '' Tars and Spars'' (1946) – Christine Bradley *''

Gallant Journey ''Gallant Journey'' (aka ''The Great Highway'') is a 1946 American historical film written, produced and directed by William A. Wellman and starring Glenn Ford and Janet Blair. The film is a biopic of the early U.S. aviation pioneer John Joseph Mo ...

'' (1946) – Regina 'Ginny' Cleary *'' The Fabulous Dorseys'' (1947) – Jane Howard *'' I Love Trouble'' (1948) – Norma Shannon aka Gretchen Breeger *'' The Black Arrow'' (1948) – Joanna Sedley *''

'' (1948) – Ann Elliot *''

Public Pigeon No. 1 ''Public Pigeon No. 1'' is a 1957 comedy film directed by Norman Z. McLeod. It stars Red Skelton and Vivian Blaine. It is the theatrical feature-length remake of the ''Climax!'' television episode "Public Pigeon #1" that also starred Red Skelton ...

'' (1957) – Edith Enders *'' Night of the Eagle'' (US: ''Burn, Witch, Burn'', 1962) – Tansy Taylor *'' Boys' Night Out'' (1962) – Marge Drayton *''

The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band ''The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band'' is a 1968 American comedy musical western film from Walt Disney Productions. Distributed by Buena Vista Distribution, the film is based on a biography by Laura Bower Van Nuys, directed by Michael ...

'' (1968) – Katie Bower *'' Won Ton Ton, the Dog Who Saved Hollywood'' (1976) – President's Girl 3

Television

*'' The Ford Theatre Hour'' (1948) *'' The Chevrolet Tele-Theatre'' (1949) *''The Philco Television Playhouse'' (1949) *''

Armstrong Circle Theatre ''Armstrong Circle Theatre'' is an American anthology drama television series which ran from June 6, 1950, to June 25, 1957, on NBC, and from October 2, 1957, to August 28, 1963, on CBS. It alternated weekly with '' The U.S. Steel Hour''. It fi ...

'' (1954) – Marilyn Wilson *'' The Elgin Hour'' (1954) – Lacey Gaddis Clark *''

The United States Steel Hour ''The United States Steel Hour'' is an anthology series which brought hour long dramas to television from 1953 to 1963. The television series and the radio program that preceded it were both sponsored by the United States Steel Corporation (U. S ...

'' (1954) – Peg St. Claire *''

Goodyear Television Playhouse ''Goodyear Television Playhouse'' is an American anthology series that was telecast live on NBC from 1951 to 1957 during the first Golden Age of Television. Sponsored by Goodyear, Goodyear alternated sponsorship with Philco, and the ''Philco Te ...

'' (1955) *'' A Connecticut Yankee'' (1955, TV) – Sandy *''

Lux Video Theatre ''Lux Video Theatre'' is an American television anthology series that was produced from 1950 until 1957. The series presented both comedy and drama in original teleplays, as well as abridged adaptations of films and plays. Overview The ''Lux Vid ...

'' (1955) – Shelly Carnes *''

Climax! ''Climax!'' (later known as ''Climax Mystery Theater'') is an American television anthology series that aired on CBS from 1954 to 1958. The series was hosted by William Lundigan and later co-hosted by Mary Costa. It was one of the few CBS progra ...

'' (1955) – Joan Hale *'' Front Row Center'' (1955) – Kitty Foyle *''

'' (1955, TV) – Venus *''

Ford Television Theatre ''General Motors Theatre'' (also known as ''CBC Theatre, Encounter, Ford Television Theatre,'' and ''General Motors Presents'') was a Canadian television anthology drama series of television plays, which ran on CBC Television under various titl ...

'' (1956) – Mary Higgins *''

Screen Directors Playhouse ''Screen Directors Playhouse'' (sometimes written as ''Screen Directors' Playhouse'') is an American radio and television anthology series which brought leading Hollywood actors to the NBC microphones beginning in 1949. The radio program broadcas ...

'' (1956) – Della Morgan *''

'' (1956–1957) *''

Alcoa Theatre ''Alcoa Theatre'' is a half-hour American anthology series telecast on NBC at 9:30 pm on Monday nights from September 30, 1957 to May 23, 1960. The program also aired under the title ''Turn of Fate''. ''Alcoa Theatre'' was syndicated together ...

'' (1958) – Lily Adair *''Around the World with Nellie Bly'' (1960 TV movie) – Elizabeth Jane Cochran (Nellie Bly) *''

The Chevy Mystery Show ''The Chevy Mystery Show'', aka ''Sunday Mystery Hour'', is an American television anthology series featuring a different mystery each week. It was produced by the National Broadcasting Company (NBC) and Dinah Shore's production company . The p ...

'' (1960) – Lisa Townsend *'' Shirley Temple's Storybook'' (1960) – Aunt Polly *'' The Dinah Shore Chevy Show'' (1960–1961) – Herself *'' The Outer Limits'' (1963) – Lynn Arthur *''

Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre ''Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre'' is an American anthology series, sponsored by Chrysler Corporation, which ran on NBC from 1963 through 1967. The show was hosted by Bob Hope, but it had a variety of formats, including musical, dramatic ...

'' (1964) – Polly Emerson *'' Destry'' (1964) – Bessie Hawkins *'' Burke's Law'' (1963–1964) – Violet / Rina Jacobs *''

Ben Casey ''Ben Casey'' is an American medical drama series that aired on ABC from 1961 to 1966. The show was known for its opening titles, which consisted of a hand drawing the symbols "♂, ♀, ✳, †, ∞" on a chalkboard, as cast member Sam Jaff ...

'' (1966) *''

Marcus Welby, M.D. Marcus, Markus, Márkus or Mărcuș may refer to: * Marcus (name), a masculine given name * Marcus (praenomen), a Roman personal name Places * Marcus, a main belt asteroid, also known as (369088) Marcus 2008 GG44 * Mărcuş, a village in Dobârl ...

'' (1970–1973) – Mrs. Carter / Ann Ferris *'' The Smith Family'' (1971–1972) – Betty Smith *''

Switch In electrical engineering, a switch is an electrical component that can disconnect or connect the conducting path in an electrical circuit, interrupting the electric current or diverting it from one conductor to another. The most common type of ...

'' (1977) – Isabel Jensen Craig Harris *''

Fantasy Island ''Fantasy Island'' is an American fantasy drama television series created by Gene Levitt. It aired on ABC from 1977 to 1984. The series starred Ricardo Montalbán as the mysterious Mr. Roarke and Hervé Villechaize as his assistant, Tatto ...

'' (1980) – Jackie Flynn *''

The Love Boat ''The Love Boat'' is an American romantic comedy/drama television series that aired on ABC from 1977 to 1986; in addition, four three-hour specials aired in 1986, 1987, and 1990. The series was set on the luxury passenger cruise ship MS ''Pa ...

'' (1982) – Mrs. Joan Gerber *''

'' (1991) – Bertie (final appearance)

Radio

*'' Lux Radio Theatre'' (1946 – ''

'') *''This Is Hollywood'' (1946 – '' Along Came Jones'')

Discography

*''Flame Out'' (1959, Dico)

References

External links

* * *
''Daily Telegraph'' obituary

Photos of Janet Blair in Columbia Pictures 1940's films
by Ned Scott {{DEFAULTSORT:Blair, Janet 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

Early years

Film

Stage

Clubs

Television

Radio

Recording

Personal life

Filmography

Television

Radio

Discography

References

Further reading

External links