Janet Gaynor October 6 1906 September 14 1984 was an American actress and painter One of the most popular actresses of the silent film era in 1928 Gaynor became the first winner of the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performances in three films Seventh Heaven 1927 Sunrise A Song of Two Humans 1927 and Street Angel 1928 This was the only occasion on which an actress has won for multiple roles This rule would be changed three years later by AMPAS Her career continued with the advent of sound film and she achieved a notable success in the original version of A Star Is Born 1937 She worked only sporadically after the late 1930s Severely injured in a 1982 vehicle collision the incident contributed to her death two years later Description above from the Wikipedia article Janet Gaynor licensed under CCBYSA full list of contributors on Wikipedia