Actress. Born Karen Xandra Gaylord, the oldest of four children, her father was an engineer with the Northern Pacific Railway. Following her 1939 graduation from North Community High School, she intended to enroll in college to study music but when a friend sent her picture in to the magazine Movie Mirror for film recruitment, she was invited by MGM Studios to come to California for screen testing and she and her family relocated there. Her first film was an uncredited role in "The Chocolate Soldier" (1941). In 1942 the Minneapolis, Minnesota Chamber of Commerce selected her as their 'Miss Minnesota'. Between 1941 and 1949 she appeared in over 30 films and only received on screen billing once for her appearance in the 1944 Rita Hayworth feature "Cover Girl." In 1946 she was handpicked by Samuel Goldwyn to become one of his six goodwill glamour missionaries to tour England and Paris, France. Her other film appearances include "Miss Annie Rooney" (1942), "Thrill of a Romance" (1945), "Night in Paradise" (1946), "Three Little Girls in Blue" (1946), "Linda Be Good" (1947), "A Song is Born" (1948), and "The Girl from Jones Beach" (1949). Additionally, she was also in high demand as a stand-in for such leading ladies as Linda Darnell, Barbara Stanwyck, Laraine Day, Evelyn Keyes, Gene Tierney, and Jeanne Crain. In 1949 she retired from films and moved to Clearwater, Florida to teach music and art and in 1950 she legally changed her name to Jane Goerner and up until the 1990s she gave private lessons out of her home. She died in her sleep of complications from old age at the age of 93.
Actress. Born Karen Xandra Gaylord, the oldest of four children, her father was an engineer with the Northern Pacific Railway. Following her 1939 graduation from North Community High School, she intended to enroll in college to study music but when a friend sent her picture in to the magazine Movie Mirror for film recruitment, she was invited by MGM Studios to come to California for screen testing and she and her family relocated there. Her first film was an uncredited role in "The Chocolate Soldier" (1941). In 1942 the Minneapolis, Minnesota Chamber of Commerce selected her as their 'Miss Minnesota'. Between 1941 and 1949 she appeared in over 30 films and only received on screen billing once for her appearance in the 1944 Rita Hayworth feature "Cover Girl." In 1946 she was handpicked by Samuel Goldwyn to become one of his six goodwill glamour missionaries to tour England and Paris, France. Her other film appearances include "Miss Annie Rooney" (1942), "Thrill of a Romance" (1945), "Night in Paradise" (1946), "Three Little Girls in Blue" (1946), "Linda Be Good" (1947), "A Song is Born" (1948), and "The Girl from Jones Beach" (1949). Additionally, she was also in high demand as a stand-in for such leading ladies as Linda Darnell, Barbara Stanwyck, Laraine Day, Evelyn Keyes, Gene Tierney, and Jeanne Crain. In 1949 she retired from films and moved to Clearwater, Florida to teach music and art and in 1950 she legally changed her name to Jane Goerner and up until the 1990s she gave private lessons out of her home. She died in her sleep of complications from old age at the age of 93.
Bio by: William Bjornstad
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