Jane Bryan (June 11, 1918 – April 8, 2009) was an American actress who was being prepared by the Warner Bros. studio to become one of their leading ladies until she married a drugstore magnate in 1940 and retired.

She was born Jane O'Brien in Hollywood, California. 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) withJames Cagney and George Raft; and Invisible Stripes (1939) with George Raft, William Holden, and Humphrey Bogart.

Marriage

Jane Bryan married wealthy businessman and entrepreneur Justin Dart on New Year's Eve, 1939. Dart took over the then-flounderingRexall Drug chain in 1945 and build it into Dart-Kraft Inc., a food and consumer products conglomerate.

Justin and Jane Dart were staunch Republicans and helped persuade their personal friend, former California governor Ronald Reagan, to run for President of the United States in 1980. She and her husband were married until his death in 1984.

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

Death

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.

Source: Wikipedia