Janice Gilbert

Janice Gilbert ( 1920 - 1992) was an American child actress on radio and a game-show personality on television who became an expert on bridge.

Early years Gilbert was born Janice Wolfe in New York City 1920. She and her family moved to Sebring, Florida, soon after her birth, and they moved back to the northern United States when she was years old. She attended the Professional Children's School and graduated from high school before her 14th birthday.

Radio and television Gilbert's acting career began when she and her mother arrived early at a radio studio and watched the rehearsal. They met some of the actors, and Gilbert told them that she wanted to be an actress. When a child actress who had a role that included a southern dialect failed to appear for the broadcast, Gilbert was given an audition, and she went on the air for the first time that day. Gilbert (then 16 years old) attributed that versatility to her having "a voice flexible enough to change."

+ Partial List of Gilbert's Roles on Radio Program Character Bachelor's Children Kathleen Carney Doc Barclay's Daughters Clarabelle Higgins Gasoline Alley Nina Clock Her Honor, Nancy James A baby Hilltop House Adair Little Orphan Annie Annie The O'Neills Janice Collins The Sea Hound Carol Anderson Second Husband Fran

Other radio shows on which she performed included True Confessions, Cloak and Dagger, The Aldrich Family, Aunt Jenny, David Harum, Light of the World, Myrt and Marge, Pepper Young's Family, and True Story. In the late 1940s and early 1950s, Gilbert was the "paying teller" on the radio and television versions of Break the Bank. In that role she presented the prize money to each winner.

Bridge Tobias Stone, whom Gilbert married in 1955, and she set records by achieving life-master status in seven months and by accumulating the most master points in one year. She said that the memory skills that had enabled her to perform in 10-12 radio and TV shows per day were an asset in playing bridge. In 1956, Stone was ranked the best bridge player in the world, and Gilbert was ranked second.

In 1957 they became the only married couple to win the Goldman Pairs in its 64-year history. In 1965 they won the Master Mixed Team Championship. Gilbert also was part of three additional national championship groups, Women's Teams (1956, 1969) and Life Master Women's Pairs (1965).

Boating accident and presumed death Gilbert and Fulton were lost in choppy waters when their fishing boat capsized in the Caribbean about 150 miles north of Haiti on November 12, 1992. Ian Miller, Gilbert's attorney said that both were presumed dead, as was another passenger in the 22-foot boat. The Coast Guard and private planes searched the area, and two passengers were rescued from the righted boat on November 13. The search, which had been initiated after Miller alerted authorities that the Fultons had not returned home, ended on November 15.