Born Laura Gainor in Philadelphia, PA. After graduating from a San Francisco high school, she went to Los Angeles, hoping to get into films. She worked briefly as a bookkeeper in a shoe store and an usherette in a local theater, then began appearing as an extra in movies. She gradually worked her way to to bit parts in Hal Roach comedy shorts and a led in a two-reel Western. Her first substantial part, under contract to Fox, came in THE JOHNSTOWN FLOOD (1926). Within a year, she was the most important star on the Fox lot on the strength of her appeal in Murnau's masterpiece SUNRISE and Borzage's box-office hit SEVENTH HEAVEN. She won the first Academy Award ever given in the best actress category, for her performances (early Oscars were often awarded for cumulative work) in SUNRISE, SEVENTH HEAVEN (both 1927) and STREET ANGEL (1928). Diminuitive, dimpled and sweetly wholesome, her appeal lay in her ability to project vulnerability and naïveté, even when playing prostitutes or misguided women. She often co-starred with equally wholesome Charles Farrell. At the height of their popularity as a team, in the early 1930s, they were known as "America's favorite lovebirds." In 1934, she was Hollywood's top box-office attraction. After getting out of her Fox contract, Miss Gaynor scored handsomely in two successful Selznick films, A STAR IS BORN (1937, Oscar nomination) and THE YOUNG IN HEART (1938), then announced her retirement from the screen. Having married and divorced (1932-34) Lydell Peck, an attorney, in 1939 she married Gilbert Adrian, Hollywood's most famous costume designer. She emerged from retirement (much of it spent on a Brazilian ranch) occasionally in the 50s for radio and TV work and a mother part in the film BERNADINE (1957). She was widowed in 1959, and in 1964 she married Paul Gregory, a producer. In 1976 her still-life paintings were exhibited in a New York gallery. In 1978 she was honored with a special plaque from the Motion Picture Academy for "her truly immeasurable contributions to the art of motion pictures and for the pleasure and entertainment her unique artistry has brought to millions of film fans around the globe." Her final appearances came in 1980, in the short-lived Broadway stage adaptation of HAROLD AND MAUDE and in an episode of the TV series "Love Boat." In 1982 she was critically injured in a traffic accident, in which her husband and actress-singer Mary Martin were also hurt. She sustained 11 broken ribs, a broken pelvis and collarbone, and various internal injuries from which she never fully recovered. Her death of pneumonia two years later was directly attributed by the coroner to these injuries. Other notable screen credits include DADDY LONG LEGS (1931), TESS OF THE STORM COUNTRY (1932), STATE FAIR (1933), CHANGE OF HEART (1934), THE FARMER TAKES A WIFE (1935), SMALL TOWN GIRL and LADIES IN LOVE (both 1936) and THREE LOVES HAS NANCY (1938).  Actress 1927-8: SEVENTH HEAVEN and STREET ANGEL and SUNRISE (co-nomination)  Nominated for Actress 1937: A STAR IS BORN 2 nominations, 1 Award