JANET BLAIR BIOGRAPHY & FILMOGRAPHY:

Janet Blair was born on April 23rd, 1921 in Altoona, Pennsylvania with the birth name Martha Jane Lafferty.  From a young age she sang in the church choir and after graduating high school, at the age of eighteen, Blair became the lead vocalist with Hal Kemp's band in Los Angeles, California at the Cocoanut Grove.

She was soon spotted by a talent scout for Columbia Pictures and was signed to a contract.  Soon she was appearing in such films as, "Three Girls About Town" (1941) co-starring Joan Blondell and Binnie Barnes, "Two Yanks in Trinidad" (1942) co-starring with Pat O'Brien and Brian Donlevy, "Blondie Goes to College" (1942) starring Penny Singleton as Blondie and Arthur Lake as her husband Dagwood and also featuring Lloyd Bridges and Adele Mara and her biggest film role in, "My Sister Eileen" (1942) starring alongside Rosalind Russell, Brian Aherne, George Tobias, Gordon Jones and The Three Stooges as construction workers.

More successful film roles soon followed such as, "Something to Shout About" (1943) starring with Don Ameche and Jack Oakie, "Once Upon a Time" (1944) starring with Cary Grant and James Gleason, "Tonight and Every Night" (1945) starring Rita Hayworth and Lee Bowman, "The Fabulous Dorseys" (1947) starring with Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey and also William Lundigan, "Gallant Journey" (1946) starring Glenn Ford, Charlie Ruggles and Henry Travers and "The Black Arrow" (1948) starring Louis Hayward, Edgar Buchanan and George Macready.

Blair then began to turn her focus back to live performing and with a successful nightclub act she was soon working on stage in such productions as, "South Pacific" and on Broadway in, "A Girl Can Tell", "Anything Goes", "Bells Are Ringing", "Annie Get Your Gun" and "Follies".

On occasion she did return to Hollywood adding such film credits to her resume as, "The Fuller Brush Man" (1948) starring Red Skelton and Hillary Brooke, "Public Pigeon No. One" (1957) also starring Red Skelton, "Boys' Night Out" (1962) starring James Garner, Tony Randall and Kim Novak, "Burn, Witch, Burn" (1962) and "The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band" (1968) starring Walter Brennan, Buddy Ebsen, Lesley Ann Warren, Kurt Russell and John Davidson.

Along with stage and film work she also appeared in a number of television shows such as, "Climax!", "Burke's Law" starring Gene Barry, "The Smith Family", "Marcus Welby, M.D" starring Robert Young, James Brolin and Elena Verdugo, "Switch" starring Eddie Albert and Robert Wagner, "Fantasy Island" starring Ricardo Montalban and "The Love Boat", "Murder, She Wrote" starring Angela Lansbury.

She married twice throughout her lifetime, first to Lou Busch in 1943 however by 1950 this marriage came to an end.  She then wed Nick Mayo in 1952 and they had two children and remained together until 1971.
 
Janet Blair passed away on February 19th, 2007 at the age of eighty five in Santa Monica, California after suffering from pneumonia.  Her remains are interred at the Woodlawn Cemetery in Santa Monica, California. 

  
 Filmography
 
 1991   Murder, She Wrote
 1982   The Love Boat
 1980   Fantasy Island
 1977   Switch
 1976   Won Ton Ton: The Dog Who Saved Hollywood
 1970-1973  Marcus Welby, M.D.
 1971-1972  The Smith Family
 1968   The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band
 1966   Ben Casey
 1963-1964  Burke's Law
 1963-1964  The Red Skelton Hour
 1964   Destry
 1964   Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre
 1963   The Outer Limits
 1962   Boys' Night Out
 1962   Burn, Witch, Burn 
 1960-1961  The Chevy Show
 1960-1961  The Dinah Shore Chevy Show
 1960   Shirley Temple Theatre
 1960   The Chevy Mystery Show
 1960   Around the World with Nellie Bly
 1959   The Strawberry Blonde
 1958   Alcoa Theatre
 1957   Public Pigeon No. One
 1956-1957  Caesar's Hour
 1956   Screen Directors Playhouse
 1956   Celebrity Playhouse
 1956   The Ford Television Theatre
 1955   One Touch of Venus 
 1955   Front Row Center
 1955   Climax!
 1955   Lux Video Theatr
 1954   The United States Steel Hour
 1954   The Elgin Hour
 1954   Armstrong Circle Theatre
 1949   The Philco-Goodyear Television Playhouse
 1949   The Chevrolet Tele-Theatre
 1948   The Ford Theatre Hour
 1948   The Fuller Brush Man
 1948   The Black Arrow
 1948   I Love Trouble
 1947   The Fabulous Dorseys
 1946   Gallant Journey
 1946   Tars and Spars
 1945   Tonight and Every Night 
 1944   Once Upon a Time
 1943   Something to Shout About 
 1942   My Sister Eileen
 1942   Broadway 
 1942   Two Yanks in Trinidad
 1942   Blondie Goes to College
 1941   Three Girls About Town