- Born
- Died
- Birth nameJanet Neilson Horsburgh
- Nicknames
- Jan
- JM
- Height5′ 6″ (1.68 m)
- As Disney's lively lass Katie O'Gill, she was the freshness of spring. She could inspire you to dance a jig through a field of flowers. Her entrancing green eyes and catchy spirit had that kind of life-affirming effect. Cute, spunky, almond-eyed British actress Janet Munro was deemed to be an actress from day one as the daughter of Scottish stage and variety-hall comedian Alex Munro (1911-1986) (born Alexander Horsburgh). Janet Neilson Horsburgh was born in Blackpool (near Liverpool), Lancashire, England on September 28, 1934. Her entertainer father adopted the name Munro a few years after she was born. His wife, Janet's mother Phyllis, died when Janet was 8 and she was raised by his second wife, Lilias.
Janet first trained as a teenager in repertory theatre in the Lancashire area, and in the late 1950s she found popularity on British TV, even earning the title of "Miss Television of 1958" from a fan magazine. She also dabbled in films and had prominent roles in the breezy comedy Small Hotel (1957), the drama The Young and the Guilty (1959), and the creepy sci-fi/horror The Crawling Eye (1958) [aka The Trollenberg Terror].
Adaptable to both comedy and drama, the little charmer caught the eye of Walt Disney who saw big things for her, and she was signed to a five-picture deal in 1959. She made four. Appealing to a brand new generation of Britishers and Americans as the scrappy, brunette-banged ingénue of several box-office family films, she brightened up the screen with her performances in Darby O'Gill and the Little People (1959), Third Man on the Mountain (1959), and Swiss Family Robinson (1960).
The Golden Globe winner for "most promising newcomer" eventually outgrew Disney and tried to move ahead by altering her wholesome image with some mature, spicier roles, but audiences didn't respond well to this sudden departure. The idea of an adult Janet Munro playing overly-sexy ladies and seriously downtrodden women did not take and her career quickly faltered. Despite a BAFTA nomination for her role in Walk in the Shadow (1962), she began to see life unraveling both personally and professionally right before her eyes.
Janet's marriages to actors Tony Wright and Ian Hendry fell by the wayside and two miscarriages, plus chronic medical ills, only deepened her suffering. Worse yet, she developed an acute alcohol problem. Semi-retired from acting between 1964 and 1968 while married to Hendry in order to raise her children, she found the going difficult when she tried to return full-time.
Ironically, one of Janet's last screen roles showed her at her dramatic best, a boozing pop star in the British film Sebastian (1968). Four years later Janet died under somewhat mysterious circumstances. Reports circulated that she choked to death at a London hotel while drinking tea. The immediate cause of her death was acute myocarditis; the underlying cause was chronic ischemic heart disease. The sun set all too soon on this lovely actress when she was only 38. She was survived by her daughters, Sally and Corrie Hendry.- IMDb Mini Biography By: Gary Brumburgh / [email protected]
- SpousesIan Hendry(February 16, 1963 - December 1971) (divorced, 2 children)Tony Wright(1956 - 1959) (divorced)
- ChildrenSally HendryCorrie Hendry
- ParentsPhyllis Robertshaw
- Auburn hair
- Green almond eyes
- Dark Hair, Full Lips
- While filming the Adam Smith (1972) series in Scotland, Janet mentioned to local doctor that she was having severe stomach pains. He thought it might be an ulcer and suggested that she see her own doctor in London. Her own doctor booked her for a scan which involved the usual 10-hour fast followed by a barium meal. After the scan she was driving home and blacked out, crashing into the back of a parked car. Seat-belt use and laminated screens weren't compulsory in those days, and the impact sent her straight through the windscreen. The resulting injuries left her blind for 4 days with 130 stitches. Her surgeon was confident the facial injuries would heal eventually, leaving no scars. She had only recovered sight in one eye and she was to spend the next 6 months having treatment on her eyes. Her daughter Sally, who had been in the backseat, suffered only minor injuries.
- When Janet began to walk, she would often toddle across the stage as her father, comedic entertainer Alex Munro, was performing. On one occasion he looked around to catch her making an unscheduled entrance. "Aw, look at the size of it", he exclaimed and that became his catchphrase. From then on his name appeared on posters and playbills as Alex "The Size of It.".
- In her 1958 movie The Crawling Eye (1958), portraying Anne Pilgrim, she alit from a train onto a platform displaying a large poster advertising the Swiss ski resort Zermatt. Three years later she arrived in the real Zermatt to film Disney's Third Man on the Mountain (1959) with Michael Rennie and James MacArthur.
- Had a brother Alex born about 1947.
- Goddaughter of Frank Randle.
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