Janet Landgard, who accompanied Burt Lancaster on part of his bizarre tour of backyard swimming pools in the acclaimed 1968 drama The swimmer, has died. She was 75.
Landgard died this week after a very short battle with brain cancer, said actor Paul Petersen The Hollywood Reporter. She was the love of his life for the last three seasons of the ABC Family comedy The Donna Reed Show.
On Facebook, Petersen called her “the best TV girlfriend my alternate ego Jeff Stone ever had.” Janet was gorgeous inside and out… a flawless Scandinavian beauty who literally silenced jaded Hollywood types. We were always close to each other, regardless of time or distance.”
In Columbia Pictures’ The swimmer – directed by Frank Perry and adapted by his then-wife Eleanor Perry from a short story by John Cheever The New Yorker — Landgard was unforgettable as Julie Ann Hooper, who used to babysit Ned Merrill’s (Lancaster) children but is now an adult.
The two reunite when Ned “swims home” using the suburban Connecticut pools. But when she admits that she once had a crush on him and he gets a little too intimate, she runs away, leaving him to continue his bizarre journey alone.
Janet Landgard (center) with Burt Lancaster and Lisa Daniels in the 1968s The swimmer
Landgard was born on December 2, 1947, grew up in Pasadena and worked for the William Adrian Modeling Agency. She made her film debut in 1963 while still studying at Pasadena High The Donna Reed Show, plays a girl named Sabrina in a fifth season episode. She also appeared on ABC My three sons this year.
She returned to play Jeff’s girlfriend Karen in eleven episodes of The Donna Reed Show to 1965, and the couple would grace the cover of Teen screen Magazine.
Landgard was featured in the TV special as an up-and-coming young talent alongside Raquel Welch, Mary Ann Mobley, Barbara Parkins and others The Hollywood Deb Stars of 1965then acted as hostess Dream girl from ’67Executive Producer: Chuck Barris.
After The swimmerLandgard appeared in land robbers (1969) with Telly Savalas, George Maharis and Arlene Dahl; in the 1971 ABC television film The deadly dream, with Lloyd Bridges and Janet Leigh; and in Moonchild (1972) starring Victor Buono before she gave up acting.
Landgard is “a real nature lover,” Petersen said, adding that she has been involved in horse racing in recent years. Information about their survivors was not immediately available.
Source : www.hollywoodreporter.com