Editing Janet Gaynor (section)

==Early life==
[[File:Janet Gaynor - Sunrise (1927).jpg|right|thumb|Gaynor in her most famous silent film, [[F. W. Murnau]]'s ''[[Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans]]'' (1927)]]

Gaynor was born Laura Augusta Gainor (some sources stated Gainer) in [[Germantown, Philadelphia]].<ref>{{cite book|last= Ellenberger|first=Allan R.|title=Celebrities in Los Angeles Cemeteries: A Directory|year=2001|publisher=McFarland & Company Incorporated Pub|isbn=0-786-40983-5|page=128}}</ref> Nicknamed "Lolly" as a child, she was the younger of two daughters born to Laura (Buhl) and Frank De Witt Gainor.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://pabook2.libraries.psu.edu/palitmap/bios/Gaynor__Janet.html|title=Janet Gaynor}}{{Dead link|date=July 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> Frank Gainor worked as a theatrical painter and paperhanger. When Gaynor was a toddler, her father began teaching her how to sing, dance, and perform acrobatics.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1928&dat=19310123&id=CB4gAAAAIBAJ&pg=2956,1822374|title=Stage and Screen|date=January 23, 1931|work=The Lewiston Daily Sun|page=4|access-date=March 30, 2015|location=Lewiston, Maine}}</ref> As a child in Philadelphia, she began acting in school plays. After her parents divorced in 1914, Gaynor, her sister, and her mother moved to Chicago. Shortly thereafter, her mother married electrician Harry C. Jones.<ref name="parish">{{cite book|last=Parish|first=James Robert|author-link=James Robert Parish|title=The Fox Girls|year=1971|publisher=Arlington House|isbn=0-870-00128-0|page=[https://archive.org/details/fdr00farr/page/50 50]|url=https://archive.org/details/fdr00farr/page/50}}</ref> The family later moved to San Francisco.<ref>{{cite book|last=Menefee|first=David W.|author-link=David W. Menefee|title=The First Female Stars: Women of the Silent Era|year=2004|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|isbn=0-275-98259-9|page=83}}</ref>

After graduating from [[San Francisco Polytechnic High School]] in 1923,<ref name="parish"/> Gaynor spent the winter in [[Melbourne, Florida]], where she did stage work. Upon returning to San Francisco, Gaynor, her mother, and stepfather moved to Los Angeles, where she could pursue an acting career. She was initially hesitant to do so and enrolled at Hollywood Secretarial School. She supported herself by working in a shoe store and later as a theatre usher. Her mother and stepfather continued to encourage her to become an actress and she began making the rounds to the studios (accompanied by her stepfather) to find film work.<ref name="sydney">{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1301&dat=19370803&id=P1BVAAAAIBAJ&pg=7354,321949|title=Hollywood, Mecca of the Hopeful|date=August 3, 1937|work=The Sydney Morning Herald|page=9|access-date=March 30, 2015|location=Sydney, Australia}}</ref>

Gaynor won her first professional acting job on December 26, 1924, as an [[extra (acting)|extra]] in a [[Hal Roach]] comedy short.<ref name="sydney"/> This led to more extra work in feature films and shorts for [[Film Booking Offices of America]] and [[Universal Pictures|Universal]].<ref name="parish"/> Universal eventually hired her as a stock player for $50 a week. Six weeks after being hired by Universal, an executive at [[Fox Film Corporation]] offered her a screen test for a supporting role in the film ''[[The Johnstown Flood (1926 film)|The Johnstown Flood]]'' (1926).<ref name="tedrick">{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1350&dat=19811111&id=Rj5PAAAAIBAJ&pg=6937,6936019|title=Janet Gaynor In 'Pictures' But Only Those She Paints|last=Tedric|first=Dan|date=November 12, 1981|work=Toledo Blade|pages=P–2|access-date=March 30, 2015|location=Toledo, Ohio}}</ref> Her performance in the film caught the attention of Fox executives, who signed her to a five-year contract and began to cast her in leading roles.<ref name="monush">{{cite book|editor=Monush, Barry |title=Screen World Presents the Encyclopedia of Hollywood Film Actors: From the silent era to 1965|volume=1|year=2003|publisher=Hal Leonard Corporation|isbn=1-557-83551-9|page=272}}</ref><ref name="lowe">{{cite book|last=Lowe|first=Denise|title=An Encyclopedic Dictionary of Women in Early American Films, 1895-1930|year=2005|publisher=Psychology Press|isbn=0-789-01843-8|page=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9790874369709_b7n2/page/230 230]|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9790874369709_b7n2/page/230}}</ref>
Later that year, Gaynor was selected as one of the [[WAMPAS Baby Stars]] (along with [[Joan Crawford]], [[Dolores del Río]], [[Mary Astor]], and others).<ref>{{cite book|last=Liebman|first=Roy|title=The Wampas Baby Stars: A Biographical Dictionary, 1922-1934|year=2000|publisher=McFarland|isbn=0-786-40756-5|pages=8, 90}}</ref>