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Born as Francesca Marlene de Czanyi von Gerber, Gaynor trained as a ballerina as a child and began her career as a chorus dancer. She sang, acted and danced in a number of film musicals, often paired with some of the biggest male musical stars.

Notable early roles included There`s No Business Like Show Business (1954) which featured Irving Berlin`s music and also starred Ethel Merman, Dan Dailey, Marilyn Monroe, Donald O`Connor, and Johnnie Ray.

She also appeared in Les Girls (1957, directed by George Cukor) with Gene Kelly and Kay Kendall, and the remake of Anything Goes (1956), co-starring Bing Crosby, Donald O`Connor, and Zizi Jeanmaire, loosely based on the musical by Cole Porter, P.G. Wodehouse and Guy Bolton.

Gaynor`s biggest international fame came from her starring role as Ensign Nellie Forbush in the film version of Rodgers and Hammerstein`s South Pacific, one of the most financially successful musicals of all time, although it was largely panned by critics. For her performance, she was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for best actress.

She made films with many other well-known stars, including Ginger Rogers, Frank Sinatra, David Niven, Dan Dailey, Betty Grable and Oscar Levant. She made her last film to date in the early 1960s. One of her last films was the United Kingdom production Surprise Package (1960), a musical comedy thriller directed by Stanley Donen. Her co-stars were Yul Brynner and Noel Coward. The film had a theme song by Jimmy Van Heusen and Sammy Cahn.

Following her film work, Gaynor remained a popular favorite. She often performed songs at Academy Awards ceremonies. At the 1967 Oscar telecast, she sang the theme from the film Georgy Girl. Gaynor later added the number to her concert repertoire. Throughout the 1960s and `70s Gaynor starred in nine acclaimed television specials that garnered 16 Emmy nominations. As an interesting historical footnote, Gaynor appeared between two sets by The Beatles when they made their second appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show of February 16, 1964. She performed for an unprecedented nine-minute segment from the stage of the Deauville Hotel in Miami Beach, separated with one commercial break. She sang "Too Darn Hot" and a blues medley.

Gaynor also recorded two albums for the Verve label, one called Mitzi and the second called Mitzi Gaynor Sings the Lyrics of Ira Gershwin. It is estimated that she earned more from the record royalties on the South Pacific soundtrack album than her salary for the movie. She also recorded the title song from her film, Happy Anniversary for the Top Rank label.

For several decades, Mitzi Gaynor was a top attraction in Las Vegas and at nightclub and concert venues throughout the United States and Canada. During the 1990s, Gaynor also became a featured columnist for the influential newsmagazine The Hollywood Reporter. During her nightclub years, Gaynor rehearsed and broke in her night club routines at `The Cave,` a popular night club in Vancouver. She developed an affinity for the city and was much appreciated by both the local media and the viewing public, frequently making guest appearances on local television for interviews. "Mitzi`s back in town," became an annual slogan when Gaynor would come to the city for a number of weeks each year to break in her Las Vegas routines.

On December 4, 2006, Jack Bean, Gaynor`s husband of 52 years, died of pneumonia in the couple`s Beverly Hills home, aged 84.

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