Remembering Jane O'Brien Dart

Gina Wilhem Actress - Remembering Jane O'Brien Dart

Jane O'Brien Dart passed away recently at the age of 90. Although she stopped acting in 1939 to get married, she had a highly successful career.

She was renamed Jane Bryan by Warner Bros. when she signed her contract with them in 1936.

Bette Davis took the young actress under her wing, and Dart got to play Davis' younger sister in 1937's "Marked Woman."

In his "All Movie Guide," Hal Erickson said Dart was "far more effective in roles calling for disillusionment in pathos" than Davis.

Erickson hailed her performance in "We Are Not Alone" as her finest.

She appeared with Ronald Reagan and his first wife, Jane Wyman, in "Brother Rat" and "Brother Rat and a Baby." The latter film was her last.

In 1939, she married Justin Dart, who would take over Rexall Drugs and who eventually convinced Reagan to go into a career in politics.

Justin Dart's nickname for his wife was "Punky."

Together, the Darts collected 70 artworks, which they donated to the Monterey Museum of Art.

On her marriage and retirement from acting, the Los Angeles Times ran the story under the headline, "Love Triumphs Over Career."

Maybe, but in fewer than five years, she had been in nearly 20 films.

Gina Wilhelm Actress