Gaynor, Mitzi (1930–)

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Gaynor, Mitzi (1930–)

American actress, dancer, and singer. Born Franceska Mitzie Gerber (sometimes seen Franceska Mitzi Marlene De Charney von Gerber), Sept 4, 1930, in Chicago, Illinois; m. Jack Bean (talent agent), 1954.

Made stage debut at age 3; made film debut in My Blue Heaven (1950); subsequently made a string of musicals for Fox, including Golden Girl (1951), in which she played Lotta Crabtree; made a number of hit films at other studios, including Anything Goes (1956), with Bing Crosby, The Joker Is Wild, opposite Frank Sinatra, and Les Girls, co-starring Gene Kelly and Kay Kendall (both 1957); chosen by director Joshua Logan for the coveted role of nurse Nellie Forbush in the film version of South Pacific but the movie was a failure and damaged her career; appeared on tv and initiated a nightclub act in which she sang, danced, and performed comedy skits; made 10 tv specials, including "Mitzi and a Hundred Guys."

See also Women in World History.