Janet Sarno

Janet Margaret Sarno Sarno was the daughter of Margaret (née Daddona) and Italian-born hair stylist Francis "Frank" Sarno, longtime proprietor of Sarno's Beauty Salon. She attended Central High School, New Haven State Teacher's College, and, after teaching for several years at the Hallen Elementary School, simultaneously winning the Mrs. W William E. Hill. Sr. Award for drama, issued annually to "the actress who best exemplifies the Yale Drama school, scholastically and in acting achievement".

Of her performance that year in the Yale Drama Society's production of Here Comes Santa Claus, playwright in residence Joel Oliansky's black comedy about the relationship between an aging, erstwhile horror movie icon and his son (the former clearly modeled on Bela Lugosi), New York Times critic Howard Taubman, while deeming the work as written uneven but intermittently hilarious, cites the beneficial effect of several "helpful performances", including those of the two leads and of a young Daniel Travanti, and, in particular, Sarno's turn as "a tough, though sensitive girl who does amusing broadcasts for teenagers".

Some of Sarno's more noteworthy Off-Broadway and regional theater credits include performances as Pirate Jenny in Brecht's Threepenny Opera, the stepdaughter in Pirandello's Six Characters in Search of an Author, Melba Snyder in Pal Joey, and, at the Arena Stage in Washington, D.C., Masha in Chekhov's Three Sisters and Sabina in Thornton Wilder's The Skin of Our Teeth. She played "the woman" in Paul Shyre's A Whitman Portrait, and an assortment of characters in the rock opera, The Survival of St. Joan. She starred as Alice in Play Strindberg, as Patsie in Momma's Little Angels by Paul La Russo II,

Sarno's portrayal of Judith Fellowes in a 1989 revival of Tennessee Williams' Night of the Iguana proved one of the special pleasures of an otherwise "uneven" production for Montclair Times critic Naomi Siegel. One more comment on the cast: Janet Sarno as Miss Judith Fellowes brings a wonderful touch of humor and self righteous buffoonery to her small role. This is what good character acting is all about.

In 2010, Sarno became the titular subject of Janet's Class, a feature-length documentary, which followed Sarno and her acting students, ranging in age from 50 to 92. The film was produced, directed and shot by actress Dorothy Lyman, who had made Sarno's previous film, Split Ends. Scored by Grammy-winning arranger Bill Cunliffe, the film had, as of December 2025, yet to find a commercial distributor, although it did have at least one public screening, in February 2011 at the Andes Hotel in the city of Andes in upstate New York, From no later than 1985 until his death in 2012, she was, as noted in his New York Times funeral announcement, the "beloved wife" of New York State Supreme Court Justice Michael Joseph Dontzin, whose "other great passion was to serve as his wife's Stage Door Johnny, accompanying her to each of her theater performances".

On March 15, 2023, Sarno died at her home in New York City at age 89.

Works Plays Plays Year Play Role Theater Notes 1964 Dylan Nancy; Reporter; Party Guest, Student; Servant Plymouth Theatre January 4, 1964 – September 12, 1964 1974 Equus Elizabeth Almond Plymouth TheatreHelen Hayes Theatre Oct 24, 1974 - Sep 11, 1976October 5, 1976 - October 2, 1977 1979 Knockout Gracie Helen Hayes Theatre May 6, 1979 – Sep 16, 1979 1996 The Apple Doesn't Fall... Madge Wellington Lyceum Theatre Apr 14, 1996 – Apr 14, 1996 2015 Fish in the Dark Understudy; Gloria Drexel (Replacement); Rose Kantner (Replacement) Cort Theatre Mar 5, 2015 – Aug 1, 2015

Film

TV appearances TV TV Show Role Episode Year Faith for Today Janet (as Janet Margaret Sarno) 1968 As the World Turns Ms. Schultz 1970 Search for Tomorrow Gladys Weed 197_ Hardhat and Legs Josie 1980 The Edge of Night Mrs. Arnold 1981 The Baby-Sitters Club Mrs. Slade "Dawn and the Haunted House" 1990Law & Order Dr. Goldman "Forgiveness" 1992 Marie Costas "Tabula Rasa" 1999 Trial Judge Monica Ferrante "Smoke" 2003 Trial Judge Monica Ferrante "C.O.D." 2004 The Wright Verdicts Judge Rubino "Ex-Corpus Delicti" 1995 100 Centre Street "A Shot in the Dark" 2001 Conviction Aunt Renee "Breakup" 2006 New Amsterdam Debra Liu "Castles Made of Sand" 2022