Jane Blair Schwartz died on June 16th after a long, courageous battle with peritoneal cancer. Jane was born in Mantua, Ohio in 1917. As a gifted young actress she played many roles with the Cleveland Playhouse and the Chautauqua Playhouse. Jane toured across the country as an ingenue with Gloria Swanson and also with Billie Burke. Joining the USO in 1946, she played the lead in Junior Miss for one year to many tens of thousands of US troops in the Philippines, Korea, and Japan. On Broadway she performed in the original cast of Arthur Miller's All My Sons. I her husband, David, was so fortunate to have been married to and loved by this intelligent, beautiful woman for fifty-five years, enjoying her boundless sense of humor and great wit, and constantly being amazed by her selfless generosity. Our son Blair and I will forever miss her love and devotion. Jane is survived by her caring brother. William Blair, and a host of loving nieces and nephews and friends, many of whom considered her a surrogate mother. Her favorite charities were The Bennett Schwartz Memorial Fund of Occidental College, 1600 Campus Rd., Eagle Rock, CA 90041 and The National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression, 60 Cutter Mill Rd., Great Neck, NY 11021. At her request, her burial was private. A celebration of her life will be held at a future time.
Published in the Los Angeles Times on 6/20/2003.