New! See Janet in Darby O'Gill on DVD
Janet Munro was born September 28, 1934 in northern England and died December 6, 1972 in London of a sudden inflamation of the muscle tissue of her heart. A broken heart, some might say. She was just 38 years old.
Interestingly, in her science fiction classic "Day the Earth Caught Fire," Leo Mckern was writing an article about thrombosis, a differnt kind of heart ailment.
A controversy on other fan websites deals with whether or not Caroline Munro (who appeared in the Golden Voyage of Sinbad and The Spy Who Loved Me) is her daughter. I have to come down on the side of those websites such as The Avenger's Forever (a site about the classic series and it's cast) who say she is definitely not. The name is just a coincidence.
Janet Munro would have only been 16 years old when Caroline Munro was born in 1950. Janet suffered two miscarriages within matrimony. Although Monroe is the common spelling in America, Munro is common in the UK. I will change my oppinion on this as soon as some different evidence is presented, but I believe that the other fansites simply have not done their research.
Janet got her start in British TV. A notable TV performance was her role in "Afternoon of a Nymph" where she was kissed by a lesbian. Quite shocking in those days. Last time I checked, you can see a still picture of her in that tv show here: London Times Article
Janet Munro was nominated for a BAFTA Best British Actress award in 1963 for "Life for Ruth" (aka Walk in the Shadow in the US) and won an American Golden Globe award in 1960.
Janet Munro in Crawling Eye
Links:
A complete list of Janet's film appearances:
Small Hotel 1957
Crawling Eye 1958
Young and the Guilty 1958
Darby O'Gill & the Little People 1959
The Third Man on the Mountain 1959
Tommy the Toreador 1959
Swiss Family Robinson 1960
Day the Earth Caught Fire 1961
The Horsemasters 1961
Walk in the Shadow 1962
Bitter Harvest 1963
Hide and Seek 1963
A Jolly Bad Fellow 1964
Daylight Robbery 1964
Cry Wolf 1968
Sebastian 1968