Janet Chandler: Hollywood Starlet
- Ninfa O. Barnard
- Oct 1, 2025
- 2 min read
In the 1930s, Pine Bluff native Janet Chandler starred in a number of Western films and melodramas like The Golden West, House of Danger, Cowboy Holiday, Cyclone of the Saddle, The Drunkard, Million Dollar Haul, Rough Riding Ranger, and Now or Never.
Image Credit: www.IMDb.com
Lillian Elizabeth Guenther was born in Pine Bluff, Arkansas on December 31, 1911, to Albert John and Janet Elizabeth (Williams) Guenther. During her childhood, Guenther moved to Los Angeles, California, with her family. She attended the Harter School for Girls and the Orton School for Girls in Pasadena, California.
As a teenager, Guenther modeled for exclusive Southern California shops and fashion shows. In the early 1920s, she had bit parts in silent films like The Three Musketeers (1921) with Douglas Fairbanks and Inez from Hollywood (1924). In 1929, Guenther moved to Newark, Ohio, where she worked as a theatrical dancer, aiming to pursue a film career. For three years, she studied acting and worked toward her Hollywood dreams. According to The Newark Advocate, her grandfather had told her it was her responsibility to continue the Guenther name. She laughed to the Advocate, "... now that there is a possibility of me doing something, I’m using the name Chandler," as she was already performing as Janet Chandler. The article featured Chandler and Peggy Shannon, celebrating their Pine Bluff roots.
In 1932, she represented Arkansas as a junior hostess at the Los Angeles Olympics. She soon signed with Fox Film Corporation and starred opposite George O'Brien in The Golden West (1932). In The Golden West, Chandler and O’Brien played star-crossed lovers, David Lynch and Betty Summers, separated in youth. Two decades later, their children, Betty Brown and Montano, are destined to meet and fall in love. Her next film, however, was a box office failure. As a result, Fox dropped Chandler.
Chandler continued in Hollywood as a leading lady, but she was relegated to low-budget Westerns and melodramas for lesser-known film companies, like the Weiss Brothers, Peerless, and Reliable. During those years, she starred in the House of Danger (1934) with Onslow Stevens, Cowboy Holiday (1934) with Big Boy Williams, Cyclone of the Saddle (1935) with Rex Lease, The Drunkard (1935), Million Dollar Haul (1935), Rough Riding Ranger (1935), and Now or Never (1935) with Richard Talmadge.
In 1935, Chandler was injured filming Rough Riding Ranger and soon retired from acting. That year, she married George E. Barrett, a New York investment broker. They had three daughters: Janet, Sarah, and Adriane. In 1947, Barrett and her husband divorced. She later returned to Hollywood and enrolled at UCLA.
In 1956, Barrett married actor and playwright Joseph A. Kramm, but they divorced months later.
On March 19, 1994, at the age of 82, Barrett died of heart failure at UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles, California. She was buried at Bellwood Cemetery in her hometown of Pine Bluff, Arkansas.
Sources:
www.newspapers.com - Here Are Rising Young Stars ---Peggy Shannon and Janet Chandler Should Not Be Overlooked as They Seem to Be on Their Way to Top
Written by: Ninfa O. Barnard
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