Jane Powell, Hollywood golden-age musicals star
Jane Powell, the bright-eyed, operatic-voiced star of Hollywood鈥檚 golden age musicals who sang with Howard Keel in 鈥淪even Brides for Seven Brothers鈥 and danced with Fred Astaire in 鈥淩oyal Wedding,鈥 died last month. She was 92.
鈥淛ane was the most wonderful friend,鈥 long-time friend Susan Granger said. 鈥淪he was candid, she was honest. You never asked Jane a question you didn鈥檛 want an absolutely honest answer to.鈥
Granger was a youngster when she met the then-teenaged Powell, who was making her film debut in 1944鈥檚 鈥淪ong of the Open Road,鈥 directed by Granger鈥檚 father, S. Sylvan Simon.
She performed virtually her whole life, starting about age 5 as a singing prodigy on radio in Portland, Oregon. On screen, she quickly graduated from teen roles to the lavish musical productions that were a 20th-century Hollywood staple.
Her 1950 casting in 鈥淩oyal Wedding鈥 came by default. June Allyson was first announced as Astaire鈥檚 co-star but withdrew when she became pregnant. Judy Garland was cast, but was withdrawn because of personal problems. Jane Powell was next in line.
鈥淭hey had to give it to me,鈥 she quipped at the time. 鈥淓verybody else is pregnant.鈥 Also among the expectant MGM stars: Lana Turner, Esther Williams, Cyd Charisse and Jean Hagen.
Powell had just turned 21 when she got the role; Astaire was 50. She was nervous because she lacked dancing experience, but she found him 鈥渧ery patient and understanding. We got along fine from the start.鈥
鈥淪even Brides for Seven Brothers鈥 proved to be a 1954 鈥渟leeper鈥 hit.
鈥淭he studio didn鈥檛 think it was going to do anything,鈥 she recalled in 2000. 鈥淢GM thought that 鈥楤rigadoon鈥 was going to be the big moneymaker that year. It didn鈥檛 turn out that way. We were the ones that went to the Radio City Music Hall, which was always such a coup.鈥
The famed New York venue was a movie theater then.
Audiences were overwhelmed by the lusty singing of Keel and Powell and especially by the gymnastic choreography of Michael Kidd. 鈥淪even Brides鈥 achieved classic status and resulted in a TV series and a Broadway musical.
鈥淏londe and small and pretty, Jane Powell had the required amount of grit and spunk that was needed to play the woman who could tame seven backwoodsmen,鈥 John Kobal wrote in his book 鈥淕otta Sing Gotta Dance: A Pictorial History of Film Musicals.鈥
After 13 years at MGM, though, Powell quit the studio, reasoning that she was going to be fired 鈥渂ecause they weren鈥檛 going to be doing musicals anymore.鈥
鈥淚 thought I鈥檇 have a lot of studios to go to,鈥 she said in 2000, 鈥渂ut I didn鈥檛 have any, because no one wanted to make musicals. It was very difficult, and quite a shock to me. There鈥檚 nothing worse than not being wanted.鈥
She found one musical at RKO, 鈥淭he Girl Most Likely,鈥 a 1958 remake of 鈥淭om, Dick and Harry.鈥 Aside from a couple of minor films, her movie career was over.
She was born Suzanne Lorraine Burce in Portland, Oregon, in 1928. She began singing on local radio as a small child, and as she grew, her voice developed into a clear, high-pitched soprano.
When the Burce family planned a trip to Los Angeles, the radio station asked if Suzanne would appear on a network talent show there. The tiny girl with a two-and-a-half-octave voice drew thunderous applause with an aria from 鈥淐armen鈥 and was quickly put under contract to MGM.
Her first movie was a loanout to an independent producer for 鈥淪ong of the Open Road,鈥 a 1944 mishmash with W.C. Fields (at the end of his career) and Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy.
The character鈥檚 name in 鈥淪ong of the Open Road鈥 was Jane Powell, and MGM decided that would be her movie name.
She played teens in such films as 鈥淗oliday in Mexico,鈥 鈥淭hree Daring Daughters鈥 and 鈥淎 Date With Judy.鈥 But she pleaded with the studio bosses to be given grown-up roles and finally succeeded in 鈥淩oyal Wedding.鈥
Frothy romances and musicals continued to dominate her career, including 鈥淵oung, Rich and Pretty,鈥 鈥淪mall Town Girl鈥 and 鈥淭hree Sailors and a Girl.鈥
After her movie career ended, musical theater offered plenty of work for a star of her prominence and talent. She sang in supper clubs, toured in such shows as 鈥淭he Unsinkable Molly Brown鈥 and 鈥淚 Do! I Do!鈥 and replaced Debbie Reynolds in the Broadway run of 鈥淚rene.鈥
She frequently appeared on television, notably in the Judy Garland role in a new version of 鈥淢eet Me in St Louis.鈥
As she approached her 70s, Powell abandoned her singing career. 鈥淚 can鈥檛 hit the high notes, and I won鈥檛 be second-rate,鈥 she explained in 2000.
She switched to drama, appearing in New York theater in such plays as 鈥淎vow,鈥 portraying mother of an unmarried, pregnant daughter and a son who wanted to marry his male partner.
Powell鈥檚 first four marriages ended in divorce: to Geary Steffen (son Geary, daughter Suzanne), Patrick Nerney (daughter Lindsay), James Fitzgerald and David Parlour.
Powell met fifth husband Dick Moore when he interviewed her for his book about child actors. As Dickie Moore, he had been a well-known child actor in the 1930s and 1940s and gave Shirley Temple her first screen kiss in 鈥淢iss Annie Rooney鈥 (1942). Moore, head of a New York public relations office, and Powell married in 1988. He died in 2015.
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