Janet Waldo ✝

Jeanette Marie Waldo was born in Yakima, Washington on February 4, 1919. Other birthdates were also cited, including 1918 or 1920. Her mother, Jane Althea Blodgett, was a singer trained at the Boston Conservatory of Music, and her father, Benjamin Franklin Waldo, was, according to Waldo family lore, a distant cousin of Ralph Waldo Emerson. She had three older siblings, one of whom, Elisabeth Waldo, is an authority on pre-Columbian music and an award-winning composer-violinist who appeared in the film Song of Mexico (1945). Janet attended the University of Washington, where her performance in a student theatrical garnered her an award and brought her to the attention of Bing Crosby. A Paramount Pictures talent scout, who was with Crosby at the time, signed Waldo for a screen test, which led to a contract with the studio. Waldo appeared in several films in uncredited bit parts and small roles, although she was the leading lady in three Westerns, two of them starring Tim Holt. Her big break came in radio with a part on Cecil B. DeMille's Lux Radio Theater. In her radio career, she lent her voice to many programs, including Edward G. Robinson's Big Town, The Eddie Bracken Show, Favorite Story, Four Star Playhouse, The Gallant Heart, One Man's Family, Sears Radio Theater, and Stars over Hollywood.[citation needed] She also played several characters including Joanne Allen and Mrs. Hodges on the radio show Adventures in Odyssey produced by Focus on the Family broadcasting. She co-starred with Jimmy Lydon in the CBS situation comedy Young Love (1949–50), and she had recurring roles on The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet (as teenager Emmy Lou), The Red Skelton Show, and People Are Funny. She recorded with jazz vocalist Mel Torme and his vocal group the Mel-Tones. Her eight-year run starring as teenager Corliss Archer on CBS's Meet Corliss Archer left a lasting impression, though Shirley Temple starred in the film adaptations, Kiss and Tell and A Kiss for Corliss. The radio program was the CBS answer to NBC's popular A Date with Judy. Despite the long run of Meet Corliss Archer, fewer than 24 episodes are known to exist. Waldo later turned down the offer to portray Corliss in a television adaptation (the role was recast with Ann Baker taking the role for TV).