Ben Walker - How They Died: Best Actress Oscar Award Winners Vol. 1

Janet Gaynor was born Laura Augusta Gainer in Philadelphia to Frank D. Gainer, an amateur actor and Laura Buhl, a housewife. She also had a sister, Helen. Following a divorce, the girls and their mother moved around a number of times before eventually settling in San Francisco with their mother's new husband, Harry C. Jones.

In 1923, Gaynor graduated from Polytechnic High School and later studied with Helen at a Hollywood Secretarial School, with both girls eventually becoming stenographers while also working as movie extras.

Helen who would eventually get a job as secretary to Hal Roach, used her new position to get her kid sister into the film industry. Gaynor got her start by starring in Hal Roach comedies. In 1926, at 20 years of age, she was given the role of Anna Burger in the Fox film, "The Johnstown Flood". This was her first major break and her ascent into stardom began thereafter.

In December of 1932, after only 3 years of marriage, Gaynor and her husband, Lydell Peck (a screen writer) announced their separation and intent to seek divorce. They were divorced in April 1933. Gaynor then married Gilbert Adrian, an influential costume designer, in 1939 and they remained married until his death in 1959. Finally, she married her third husband, producer Paul Gregory in 1964.

Audiences were drawn to Gaynor's attractive face, smooth voice, small stature and large girly eyes. She always portrayed sweet but vulnerable women who used their resolve to win at last against all odds. These qualities which she possessed would ensure her successful transition as a Superstar from an era of silent movies into the new era of talking movies.

She starred in several films playing several roles including Diane in "7th Heavens" (1927), The Wife in "Sunrise" (1927) and Angela in "Street Angels" (1928).

Gaynor won the first ever Academy Award for Best Actress in 1928 for her roles in all three aforementioned films. This was back in the day when the award was decided by cumulative performance in a number of films.

As early as Tuesday, September 7, 1982, goodwill messages from fans from across America began to pour into the San Francisco General Hospital for Janet Gaynor and her companions. Just two days earlier, Gaynor was up and about and full of life with no premonition of what was to unfortunately become the beginning of the end for her.

Around 7:00 p.m. on Sunday, she had entered a taxicab on her way to have dinner at a Chinatown restaurant. She was joined by her husband, Paul Gregory, her long time friend and fellow actress, Mary Martin (Nellie Forbush in South Pacific) and Miss Martin's Manager, Ben Washer. In all, there were 5 souls in the taxicab including Ronald Drury, the driver.

The taxicab was traveling east on California Street, approaching the intersection of California and Franklin Street. Right out of no where, a van suddenly appeared from the north side of Franklin. The van had sped through the red light and without warning rammed into the broadside of Miss Gaynor's taxi.

Upon impact, the cab spun out of control across the intersection, only stopping when it hit a tree.

Ben Washer was instantly killed. Mary Martin suffered a punctured right lung, two fractured right ribs, two pelvic fractures and a bruised kidney. Gaynor's husband, Gregory, suffered broken legs and fractured ribs but was otherwise fine. The cab driver also suffered minor injuries.

Unfortunately, amongst the survivors, Gaynor suffered the most devastating injuries. She had five broken ribs on the right side, six on the left, a right collarbone fracture, multiple pelvic fractures, a ruptured bladder and bleeding around the right kidney.

All the victims were rushed to the San Francisco General Hospital. In an operation lasting more than four hours, surgeons battled to save Gaynor's life. Principal work was done to repair her perforated bladder and to stop the bleeding near her right kidney. More than nine pints of blood were used on her during the procedure. She remained in critical condition for many days.

Meanwhile, Robert Cato, an apartment house manager and who was the driver of the van, was arrested. Laboratory results from his blood test indicated that the blood alcohol level of the 36 year old exceeded .10, which was California's legal borderline between drunkenness and sobriety.

Cato was charged with vehicular manslaughter, felony drunken driving, reckless driving, speeding and running a red light. He posted $3500 bail and was released pending his trial. During his trial, it was revealed that Cato had recently seen a psychiatrist and had done community service in connection with a case of assault with a deadly weapon. He had also been involved in a previous drunken driving case. In this present case, Cato's lawyer contended that he had only swallowed a single shot of Peppermint Schnapps before the accident but Prosecutors contested that he had consumed seven drinks before the crash.

On February 10, 1983, Cato was convicted of drunken driving and vehicular manslaughter. A month later, on March 15, Judge Raymond Arata, gave Robert Cato the maximum sentence of three years imprisonment.

Gaynor would go on to spend four months in hospital receiving treatments for her injuries. For the next two years, she went in and out of hospital for different ailments, mainly resulting from her accident. On September 4, 1984, she was admitted at the Desert Hospital in Palm Springs for problems related to an infection which later led to kidney and liver problems.

On Friday, September 14, 1984, at exactly 1:45 a.m., Janet Gaynor passed away with Paul Gregory and her son, Robin Adrian, present. Cause of death was Pneumonia. Carl Smith, Chief Deputy Coroner at the Riverside County Coroner's office said "The death was the direct result of complications which occurred from her injuries during the traffic accident."

Gaynor is buried at Lot 193, Garden of Legends, Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Los Angeles County.

Mary Pickford was born Gladys Marie Smith in Toronto, Ontario, Canada to John C. Smith and Charlotte Hennessy Smith. She had two younger siblings, Jack and Lottie Pickford.

When Pickford's father died, in order to support the family, Mrs Smith began operating a boarding house business. As fate would have it, one of the lodgers turned out to be a theatrical producer. A few days into his stay, the lodger asked Mrs Smith if she would allow her two little girls, Gladys and Charlotte, feature in one of his plays. Because the family needed the money, she reluctantly agreed. This was how Pickford and her family got their start in show business.

In the early 1900s, Pickford and her family embarked on a tour of the United States working on third-rate plays that hardly paid enough. In 1907, she landed a role in the Broadway play "The Warrens of Virginia". David Belasco, the producer of the play, insisted that Pickford changed her name to "Mary Pickford". Up until that point, she still used the name "Gladys Marie Smith". 'Marie' was changed to 'Mary' and her surname was changed to Pickford, which was her mother's maiden name. He felt the combination was sufficiently unique and stood her out.

Pickford married three times and divorced twice. She was first married to Owen Moore (1911 - 1920), then to Douglas Fairbanks (1920 - 1936) with both of them becoming the most famous couple of their generation in show business. Then, she married Buddy Rogers in 1937 and would remain married for 41 years until her death in 1979.

In 1909, D.W. Griffith of the Biograph company hired Pickford and she began featuring in silent films. This was the beginning of her ascent into stardom. She featured in films such as 'Sweet and Twenty', 'They Would Elope', 'To Save Her Soul,' 'Friends,' 'The Mender of Nets', 'Just Like a Woman,' and 'The Female of the Species' just to name a few.