Biography
Early life
Born Janet Neilson Horsburgh in Blackpool, Lancashire, in 1934, she was the daughter of Scottish comedian Alex Munro (real name Alexander Neilson Horsburgh) and his wife, Phyllis Robertshaw. She used her father's stage name professionally. [2]
Munro grew up on the road with her father, often appearing with him on stage. Her mother died when Janet was seven, and she was brought up by her father at first. She later recalled "during the war, he was head of entertainment for the RAF, and I went along with him wherever he happened to be. We entertained the troops. I wore kilts and sang. My voice was even smaller than I was, but the boys didn't seem to mind – I was a bit of baggage from home." [3]
She moved to the village of Embsay at age 10 to live with her aunt and uncle for a time. When her father remarried, she was brought up by her stepmother and him. After leaving school, she worked in a shoe shop, but her goal was to become an actress. [4] "I never had any doubt as to what I wanted to be", she said later. [3]
Early appearances
Munro's father wanted her to join him on his act, but she desired to become a legitimate actress. She got a job at a repertory company as a student messenger, and "learned as I went along, playing bits, and by the time I was 17, I was stage manager for the company." [3] She worked in towns such as Preston, Oldham and Hull and her wage at the time was around £8 a week. [4]
Munro appeared in a BBC TV adaptation of I Capture the Castle (1954), playing the lead part of Rose. In August 1956, she appeared on stage in a play Daughter of Desire . Variety wrote Munro was "cast as a respectable girl trapped into prostitution. She skillfully conveys the difficult characterization of a youthful femme on the downward path after falling for a plausible type who offers marriage." [5] She says she screen tested for Rank but they turned her down for being "too individual". [6]
She had a small part in the Gordon Harker comedy Small Hotel (1957) and started appearing regularly on British TV shows such as ITV Television Playhouse ("One of Us", "Pickup Girl", "Lace on Her Petticoat") and Armchair Theatre ("Trial by Candlelight", "The Deaf Heart"). [7] Munro could be seen in ingenue parts in the feature films The Trollenberg Terror (1958), a horror film, and The Young and the Guilty (1958), a melodrama written by Ted Willis. [8] [9] According to Filmink she alternated between playing "good girls" and "girls gone bad". [1] She was chosen "Miss English Television of 1958".Despite the efforts of her agent, though, no British studio or producer would put her under long-term contract. [10] "You're an awful long time playing character parts so cash in on juveniles while you can," she said. [11]
Disney
Munro's big break came in March 1958, when she was cast as the female lead in Disney's Darby O'Gill and the Little People (1959). Although the film was shot in Hollywood, it was cast out of London. Disney saw her in Pick Up Girl, and she was screen-tested over a two-day period. Disney liked her so much, he signed her to a five-year contract. [3] [12] It was non exclusive, enabling her to make British films. [10]
Disney immediately used her again as the female lead in Third Man on the Mountain (1959) opposite James MacArthur. Contemporary reports compared her with June Allyson. [13]
Munro made her US television debut when she played the romantic lead in a TV adaptation of Berkeley Square (1959) for Hallmark Hall of Fame . She was directed by George Schaefer and appeared opposite John Kerr. One review said she did "beautiful work". [14] Variety said she made an "impressive bow". [15]
Munro returned to England to play Tommy Steele's love interest in Tommy the Toreador (1959), then made a third film for Disney, Swiss Family Robinson (1960), again romancing MacArthur. It was shot in the West Indies over five months.
Munro was going to be in Bon Voyage for Disney with Karl Malden, but it was not made for another few years, with Deborah Walley in the role announced for Munro. [16] Instead, she appeared in The Horsemasters (1961) for him, shot in England for American television, and released theatrically in some markets.
Munro returned to US television with Time Remembered (1961) for Hallmark Hall of Fame. [17] Variety praised her performance. [18] Stanley Baker and she were announced to star in an adaptation of the book Marry at Leisure, but it was not made. [19] Munro's contract with Disney ended early - Munro claimed it was her decision, although it reportedly was Disney's decision, especially after the studio made a star of Hayley Mills. "It may simply have been mutual," wrote Filmink. [1]
Return to acting
Munro was inactive in her profession for a few years to concentrate on raising a family. [25] She appeared in episodes of Vendetta ("The Running Man"), and Thirty-Minute Theatre ("Turn Off If You Know the Ending"), and had a supporting part in Sebastian (1968). [26]
Munro travelled to New York City to star in a TV adaptation of The Admirable Crichton (1968). [27] She had a cameo in Cry Wolf (1969).
Munro was in ITV Playhouse ("Premiere: Flower Dew"), [28] and had the lead in a series, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall (1969). Reviewing the latter, The Guardian called her "a revelation. She is no longer the B picture girl next door. She is a woman and her acting has power and experience of life." [29]
Her last roles were in Play for Today ("The Piano"), and in several episodes of the TV series Adam Smith . In July 1971, she appeared on stage in Look – No Hands. [30]
Personal life
Munro married actor Tony Wright in January 1957. [31] She says she was given away at her wedding by Earl St. John of Rank, and they honeymooned in France, where Wright was making a film. According to Munro, Wright did not like her working and was jealous of her success; she left him after getting the contract with Disney. [32] Wright was granted a divorce in 1960, claiming Munro had committed adultery with Gerry O'Hara. [33]
Munro married Ian Hendry in 1963; the couple had two children, Sally and Corrie. They lived in a house on Pharaoh's Island.
Val Guest, who directed Munro in The Day the Earth Caught Fire, later said, "Janet's life was a disaster... [she] didn't become an alcoholic until she met Ian. She tried too hard to keep up with him." [34]
Munro and Hendry were divorced in December 1971. Hendry offered no contest to the charge that the marriage had broken down due to Hendry's "unreasonable behaviour". [35]
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