Janet Gaynor

She died in 1984 and was interred in the Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Hollywood, California. Trivia: While Hamilton was a teacher back in Cleveland, one of her students was young Jim Backus. Soon after, she left film for almost twenty years, returning one last time in 1957 in Bernardine. She died in Salisbury, Connecticut from a heart attack. In 1937, she was again nominated for an Academy Award, this time for her role in A Star Is Born. Hamilton was married briefly in the 30s and had one son, whom she raised on her own. Gaynor was one of only a handful of leading ladies who made a successful transition to sound movies over the next decade. She continued acting regularly until her final role in 1979.

The award was given on the basis of the actor's total work over the year, and not just for one particular performance. During the 1960s and 1970s she appeared in television, and had a substantial role in the made for television film The Night Strangler (1973). It was the only time in Oscar history that this prestigious award was given for multiple roles. For example, Hamilton starred in a now-forgotten noir flick of 1948 from one of the "poverty row" studios, entitled Bungalow 13, which co-starred Richard Cromwell. Her performances in Seventh Heaven (the first of twelve movies she would make with Charles Farrell) and both Sunrise and Street Angel (in 1927, also with Charles Farrell) earned her the first Academy Award for Best Actress in 1928. She appeared regularly in supporting roles in films until the early 1950s, and sporadically thereafter. Within one year, Gaynor was one of Hollywood's leading ladies. Hamilton had to recuperate in a hospital and at home for six weeks time after the accident before returning to the set to complete her work on the now-classic film.

Her outstanding performance won her the attention of producers, who cast her in a series of films. During the shoot, Hamilton suffered severe burns when the trap-door elevator she was riding on the soundstage malfunctioned during her "fiery disappearance" from Munchkin Land. Finally, in 1926, she was cast in the lead role in a silent film called The Johnstown Flood, the same year she was selected as one of the WAMPAS Baby Stars. Hamilton's effective and frightening portrayal eventually secured her the role over the originally cast, but more glamourous, Gale Sondergaard. For two years, she supported herself with odd jobs in Los Angeles while taking minor roles in films. In 1939, she played in the role of the Wicked Witch opposite Judy Garland 's Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz and created not only her most famous role, but one of the screen's most memorable villains. Upon graduating from high school, Gaynor decided to pursue a career in acting. She appeared in such films as These Three (1936), Saratoga and Nothing Sacred (both 1937) and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1938).

Born Laura Gainor in Philadelphia, her family moved west to San Francisco when she was a child. Born in Cleveland, Ohio, Hamilton was a school teacher who turned to acting, making her screen debut in 1933 in Zoo in Budapest. Janet Gaynor (October 6, 1906 - September 14, 1984) was an actress who in 1928 was the first winner of the Academy Award for Best Actress. Margaret Hamilton (December 9, 1902 - May 16, 1985) was an American film actress. 1957 Bernardine. 1938 The Young in Heart.

1938 Three Loves Has Nancy. 1937 A Star Is Born. 1936 Small Town Girl/One Horse Town. 1936 Ladies in Love.

1935 One More Spring. 1935 The Farmer Takes a Wife. 1934 Servant's Entrance. 1934 La Ciudad de Carton.

1934 Change of Heart. 1934 Carolina. 1933 State Fair. 1933 Paddy the Next Best Thing.

1933 Adorable. 1932 Tess of the Storm Country. 1932 The First Year. 1931 Merely Mary Ann.

1931 The Man Who Came Back. 1931 Delicious. 1931 Daddy Long Legs. 1930 High Society Blues.

1929 Sunny Side Up. 1929 Lucky Star. 1929 Happy Days. 1929 Christina.

1928 Street Angel. 1928 Four Devils. 1927 Two Girls Wanted. 1927 Sunrise (Academy Award for Best Actress).

1927 Seventh Heaven (Academy Award for Best Actress). 1926 The Shamrock Handicap. 1926 The Return of Peter Grimm. 1926 The Midnight Kiss.

1926 The Johnstown Flood. 1926 The Blue Eagle.