Matinee Classics - Mitzi Gaynor Biography & Filmography

Mitzi Gaynor ACTOR

PHOTOS

MITZI GAYNOR BIOGRAPHY & FILMOGRAPHY:

Mitzi Gaynor was born on September 4th, 1931 in Chicago, Illinois with the birth name Francesca Marlene de Czanyi von Gerber. For her career in the entertainment industry she is most remembered for her role in, "South Pacific" (1958) starring Rossano Brazzi, France Nuyen, John Kerr, Ray Walston, Tom Laughlin, Ron Ely and Juanita Hall, for which she was nominated for a Best Actress Golden Globe Award.

She was born to Pauline Fisher and Henry von Gerber and lived in Chicago and Detroit until her family relocated to Hollywood when she was eleven. From a young age she took ballet lessons and by the age of thirteen she had already found work as a chorus dancer and was performing with the Los Angeles Civic Light Opera.

At the age of seventeen, she signed a seven year contract with Twentieth Century-Fox and some of her more notable films were, "There's No Business Like Show Business" (1954) which featured Irving Berlin's music and also starred Ethel Merman, Dan Dailey, Marilyn Monroe, Donald O'Connor and Johnnie Ray, "Les Girls" (1957) starring Gene Kelly, Kay Kendall, Taina Elg, Jacques Bergerac, Leslie Phillips, Henry Daniell and Patrick Macnee, "Surprise Package" (1960) also starring Yul Brynner and Noel Coward and her final film was "For Love or Money" (1963) starring alongside Kirk Douglas, Dick Sargent, William Windom, Thelma Ritter, Gig Young, William Bendix, Leslie Parrish, Billy Halop and Julie Newmar.

Along with her film work she performed at such venues as Academy Award ceremonies and a variety of television specials. She also would sing in a number of Las Vegas night clubs and concerts.

Mitzi Gaynor also worked as a columnist for the Hollywood Reporter news magazine and between 2009 and 2010, her one woman show titled, "Razzle Dazzle: My Life Behind the Sequins" toured throughout the United States.

She married only once to Jack Bean in 1954 and they remained together until her husband passed away in 2006. She never had any children of her own and has remained involved in the industry as a live performer.

Filmography

1963 For Love or Money

1960 Surprise Package

1959 Happy Anniversary

1958 South Pacific

1957 Les Girls

1957 The Joker Is Wild

1956 Anything Goes

1956 The Birds and the Bees

1954 There's No Business Like Show Business

1954 Three Young Texans

1953 Down Among the Sheltering Palms

1953 The I Don't Care Girl