Janet Munro (born Janet Neilson Horsburgh; 28 September 1934 – 6 December 1972) was a British actress. She won a Golden Globe Award for her performance in the film Darby O'Gill and the Little People (1959) and received a BAFTA Film Award nomination for her performance in the film Life for Ruth (1962).
Munro starred in three Disney films: Darby O'Gill and the Little People (1959), Third Man on the Mountain (1959), and Swiss Family Robinson (1960). Her other film credits were roles in The Trollenberg Terror (1958) and The Day the Earth Caught Fire (1961).
Munro married the actor Tony Wright, and then the actor Ian Hendry. She died of a heart attack at age 38. She was described as having "one of the most haunting, magical cinematic presences in the late 1950s and early 1960s… and one of the saddest personal stories."
Born Janet Neilson Horsburgh in Blackpool, Lancashire, in 1934, she was the daughter of Scottish comedian Alex Munro (real name Alexander Neilson Horsburgh) and his wife, Phyllis Robertshaw. She used her father's stage name professionally.
Munro grew up on the road with her father, often appearing with him on stage. Her mother died when Janet was seven, and she was brought up by her father at first. She later recalled "during the war, he was head of entertainment for the RAF, and I went along with him wherever he happened to be. We entertained the troops. I wore kilts and sang. My voice was even smaller than I was, but the boys didn't seem to mind – I was a bit of baggage from home."
She moved to the village of Embsay at age 10 to live with her aunt and uncle for a time. After her father remarried she was brought up by her stepmother and him. She left school and worked in a shoe shop, but her goal was to become an actress. "I never had any doubt as to what I wanted to be", she said later.
Munro's father wanted her to join him on his act, but she desired to become a legitimate actress. She got a job at a repertory company as a student messenger, and "learned as I went along, playing bits, and by the time I was 17, I was stage manager for the company." She worked in towns such as Preston, Oldham, and Hull, and her wage at the time was around £8 a week.
Munro appeared in a BBC TV adaptation of I Capture the Castle (1954), playing the lead part of Rose. In August 1956 she appeared on stage in the play Daughter of Desire. Variety wrote Munro was "cast as a respectable girl trapped into prostitution. She skillfully conveys the difficult characterization of a youthful femme on the downward path after falling for a plausible type who offers marriage." She says she screen tested for The Rank Organisation, but they turned her down for being "too individual".
She had a small part in the Gordon Harker comedy Small Hotel (1957) and started appearing regularly on British TV shows such as ITV Television Playhouse ("One of Us", "Pickup Girl", "Lace on Her Petticoat") and Armchair Theatre ("Trial by Candlelight", "The Deaf Heart"). Munro could be seen in ingenue parts in the feature films The Trollenberg Terror (1958), a horror film, and The Young and the Guilty (1958), a melodrama written by Ted Willis. According to Filmink she alternated between playing "good girls" and "girls gone bad". She was chosen "Miss English Television of 1958". Despite the efforts of her agent, though, no British studio or producer would put her under long-term contract. "You're an awful long time playing character parts so cash in on juveniles while you can," she said.
Munro's big break came in March 1958, when she was cast as the female lead in Disney's Darby O'Gill and the Little People (1959). Although the film was shot in Hollywood, it was cast out of London. Disney saw her in Pick Up Girl, and she was screen-tested over a two-day period. Disney liked her so much, he signed her to a five-year contract. It was non-exclusive, enabling her to make British films.
Disney immediately used her again as the female lead in Third Man on the Mountain (1959) opposite James MacArthur. Contemporary reports compared her with June Allyson.
Munro made her U.S. television debut playing the romantic lead in a TV adaptation of Berkeley Square (1959) for Hallmark Hall of Fame. She was directed by George Schaefer and appeared opposite John Kerr. One review said she did "beautiful work". Variety said she made an "impressive bow".
Munro returned to England to play Tommy Steele's love interest in Tommy the Toreador (1959), then made a third film for Disney, Swiss Family Robinson (1960), again romancing MacArthur. It was shot in the West Indies over five months.
Munro was going to be in Bon Voyage for Disney with Karl Malden, but it was not made for another few years, with Deborah Walley in the role originally announced for Munro. Instead she appeared in The Horsemasters (1961) for him, shot in England for American television and released theatrically in some markets.
Munro returned to U.S. television with Time Remembered (1961) for Hallmark Hall of Fame. Variety praised her performance. Stanley Baker and she were announced to star in an adaptation of the book Marry at Leisure, but it was not made. Munro's contract with Disney ended early - Munro claimed it was her decision, although it reportedly was Disney's, especially after the studio made a star of Hayley Mills.
Munro was the female lead in the science-fiction film The Day the Earth Caught Fire (1961), one of her best-remembered parts. She made it after her contract with Disney ended.
She had the female lead role in Life for Ruth (1962), directed by Basil Dearden, which earned her a BAFTA nomination for Best Female Actor.
She returned to Armchair Theatre ("Girl in a Bird Cage", "Afternoon of a Nymph" with Ian Hendry whom she was to marry) and was top billed in a film for the first time with Bitter Harvest (1963), but it was not a success.