Janet Blair

Janet Blair Headshot

Singer • Actress

Birth Date: April 23, 1921

Death Date: February 19, 2007 — 85 years old

Birth Place: Altoona, Pennsylvania

Vivacious, honey-haired former band singer who turned to films after band leader Hal Kemp's death. Blair signed with Columbia and made her debut in "Three Girls on the Town" (1941). She gave one of her best performances as the title character, a slightly vacuous, man-attracting beauty, opposite plain-jane sister Rosalind Russell in the lively "My Sister Eileen" (1942), a romantic comedy of two sisters who move from Ohio to New York City's Greenwich Village.

After a number of disappointing films and roles, Blair left film in 1948 and later had great success on stage in the touring production of "South Pacific" (1950-52). She also briefly replaced Nanette Fabray as Sid Caesar's "wife" on "Caesar's Hour" (1956-57). Blair made a handful of films in the 1950s and 60s, the best of which was the moody horror drama, "Burn, Witch, Burn/Night of the Eagle" (1962), in which she played a wife who resorts to witchcraft. She also co-starred with Henry Fonda on the short-lived TV series, "The Smith Family" (1971-72).

Credits

The Smith Family

Actor
Betty Smith
Series
1971

The Outer LimitsStream

Actor
Series
1963
92%

Boys' Night OutStream

Actor
Marge Drayton
Movie
1962

Burn, Witch, Burn!Stream

Actor
Tansy Taylor
Movie
1962

Climax!Stream

Actor
Series
1954

I Love TroubleStream

Actor
Norma Shannon
Movie
1947

Once Upon a TimeStream

Actor
Jeannie Thompson
Movie
1944

Blondie Goes to CollegeStream

Actor
Laura Wadsworth
Movie
1942