Mitzi Gaynor

01 / The Detroit story

The Detroit story

Gaynor was born Francesca Marlene de Czanyi von Gerber in Chicago in 1931. Her father, Henry de Czanyi von Gerber, was a violinist, cellist and music director of Hungarian descent, and her mother Pauline was a dancer. The family moved from Chicago to Elgin, Illinois, and then to Detroit, where the young girl spent several childhood years and began ballet lessons at eight, before they settled in Hollywood when she was eleven. By thirteen she was singing and dancing with the Los Angeles Civic Light Opera, and in the 1950s she became a leading lady of Hollywood musicals, starring in There's No Business Like Show Business (1954), Les Girls (1957) and above all South Pacific (1958), which earned her a Golden Globe nomination as Nellie Forbush. She later built a long career in television specials and Las Vegas shows. She was one of the last stars of the golden age of the Hollywood musical and died in 2024.

Highlights

1. Father was a musician of Hungarian descent
2. Lived in Detroit as a child before moving to Hollywood at 11
3. Nellie Forbush in South Pacific (1958), Golden Globe nomination
4. Star of There's No Business Like Show Business (1954)