Jane Bryan

Jane Bryan (born Jane O'Brien, June 11, 1918 – April 8, 2009) was an American actress groomed by Warner Bros. to become one of its leading ladies until she married a drugstore magnate in 1940 and retired.

Bryan was born in Hollywood, California and gained acting experience as an apprentice at the Hollywood Theatre Workshop. Her film debut came in The Case of the Black Cat (1936).

Her screen career lasted only four years, but she appeared in prominent roles in several memorable films, including Marked Woman (1937) with Bette Davis and Humphrey Bogart; Kid Galahad (1937) with Edward G. Robinson, Bette Davis, and Humphrey Bogart; A Slight Case of Murder (1938) with Edward G. Robinson; Each Dawn I Die (1939) with James Cagney and George Raft; Invisible Stripes (1939) with George Raft, William Holden, and Humphrey Bogart; and The Old Maid (1939) with Bette Davis and Miriam Hopkins.

Bryan married businessman and entrepreneur Justin Dart on New Year's Eve, 1939. They were married until his death in 1984. Dart took control of the Boston-based United Drug Company in 1943, and rebranded the stores under the Rexall Drug name.

The Darts were staunch Republicans and helped persuade their personal friend, former California governor Ronald Reagan, to run for president of the United States in 1980.

Bryan served on the United States Commission of Fine Arts in Washington, D.C. from 1971 to 1976.

Jane Bryan Dart died at her home on April 8, 2009, aged 90, in Pebble Beach, California, following a lengthy illness. She was survived by her three children, Guy Michael Dart, Jane Dart Tucker and Stephen M. Dart; three grandchildren; two great-grandchildren; and two brothers, William and Donald O'Brien.

She was predeceased by her brother Jim O'Brien in 1986. Her stepson Justin Whitlock Dart, Jr., a disability-rights activist, died in 2002.