Mitzi Gaynor
Mitzi Gaynor (born Francesca Marlene de Czanyi von Gerber; September 4, 1931) is an American actress, singer, and dancer. Her notable films include We're Not Married! (1952), There's No Business Like Show Business (1954), The Birds and the Bees (1956), and South Pacific (1958) – for which she was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Comedy or Musical at the 1959 awards.
Mitzi Gaynor
Actress, dancer, entertainer
1949–present
Early life[edit]
Mitzi Gaynor was born as Francesca Marlene de Czanyi von Gerber in Chicago to Henry de Czanyi von Gerber, a violinist, cellist, and music director of Hungarian descent, and his wife Pauline, a dancer.[2][3][4][5]
By her father's second marriage, she became stepsister to anti-war activist Donald W. Duncan.[6] The family first moved to Elgin, Illinois,[7] and then to Detroit, and later when she was age 11, to Hollywood. She trained as a ballerina as a child and began her career in the corps de ballet. At 13, she was singing and dancing with the Los Angeles Civic Light Opera company. She lied about her address so she could attend Le Conte Junior High in Hollywood.
Career[edit]
20th Century Fox[edit]
Gaynor signed a seven-year contract with Twentieth Century-Fox at age 17. She sang, acted, and danced in a number of film musicals, often paired with some of the male musical stars of the day. A Fox Studio executive thought that Mitzi Gerber sounded like the name of a delicatessen, and they came up with a name that used the same initials.[3]
Gaynor made her film debut in the musical My Blue Heaven (1950); Betty Grable and Dan Dailey starred and she had a supporting role. A college drama Take Care of My Little Girl (1951) followed, with Gaynor's playing the roommate of Jeanne Crain.
