Janet Beecher, daughter of the German vice-consul in Chicago, studied
acting at the Art Students League in New York. For almost three decades
she made a name for herself as a leading actress in plays on the
Broadway stage, beginning with a bit part in 'The Two Orphans' in 1903.
Her hits included 'The Lottery Man' (1909-10), 'The Concert' (1910-11),
'A Bill of Divorcement' (1921-22) and 'Courage' (1928-29).
She made her Hollywood debut in 1933. Despite consistently good
critical reviews, her theatrical stardom never translated to the
screen. She was destined to be typecast as forthright wives and was
particularly droll as Mrs.Barnum in
The Mighty Barnum (1934),
opposite Wallace Beery. She also played
sympathetic dowagers, genial friends of the heroine and a multitude of
steadfast mothers (best of those being
Margaret Sullavan's in
Die Farm am Mississippi (1935) and
Tyrone Power's in
Im Zeichen des Zorro (1940). In
1943, she returned to the stage and made her theatrical curtain call as
the wife of the title character in 'The Late George Apley' the
following year.
