Wilton’s Jane Powell, 80 years young

Written by Nick Thomas
Friday, 11 September 2009 14:21

Still pretty, perky, and petite, long-time Wilton resident and veteran actress Jane Powell celebrated a milestone birthday this year.

“My husband and Robert Osborne gave me a beautiful 80th birthday,” Ms. Powell said from her Wilton home, which she and husband Dick Moore have owned for 24 years. “They took over a room at a New York hotel for 45 family and friends. It was fabulous.”

Best remembered for her roles in two giant MGM musicals in the 50s, Powell starred in just 18 other feature films between 1944 and 1958, though in later years she played more serious roles on TV and in theater to great acclaim.

On the big screen, she was a reliable actress who could also dance and sing with the best. In A Date with Judy (1948) she held her own against the brilliant Elizabeth Taylor, she matched Fred Astaire step for step in Royal Wedding (1951), and crooned alongside Debbie Reynolds in Hit the Deck (1955).

Standing just five feet tall and a slender 100 lbs her entire life, Ms. Powell was born Suzanne Burce, in Portland, Ore., where she performed on radio and in local theater.

“I started professional singing training when I was 10, and dancing when I was 2,” she said. But in reality, she had little interest in an entertainment career, though her mother had other ideas.

While vacationing with the family in Hollywood in 1943, she won a talent contest and signed a contract with Universal Studios the next day. She was just 14. “I didn’t particularly want to do it,” she says, but her parents “had this planned.”

Within months, she was preparing for her first film Song of the Open Road in which she played, quite prophetically, a child film star named “Jane Powell.” The character’s name appealed to the studio heads, and little Suzanne was re-christened Jane.

According to Robert Osborne, film historian and host for cable TV’s Turner Movie Classics (TMC), Seven Brides for Seven Brothers and Royal Wedding probably remain Ms. Powell’s best known movies.

Royal Wedding features two famous solos by Fred Astaire, dancing on a ceiling and with a coat rack. And in a charming six-minute vaudevillian-type skit, Powell and Astaire go head to head, matching witty banter, singing and dancing. Mr. Osborne says the sequence (online at: www.metacafe.com/watch/2850247/royal_wedding) perfectly showcases Powell’s on-screen energy, enthusiasm, and talent.

“We can also see her comic ability, in that number,” said Mr. Osborne, by phone from New York. “She’s hilarious — chewing gum, swinging her hips, and acting like a ‘tough broad.’ It’s too bad MGM didn’t capitalize more on her comedic side.”

Of Astaire, Ms. Powell says he was the consummate performer. “After you worked with Fred, you just didn’t want to work with anyone else,” said Ms. Powell.

But she did, including other greats such as Walter Pidgeon, Jeanette MacDonald, Ricardo Montalban, and Hedy Lamarr. Oscar-winner Cliff Robertson co-starred with Ms. Powell in the 1958 musical comedy, The Girl Most Likely.

“I’ve worked on over 100 films and remember Jane vividly,” said 85-year-old Robertson from his home in New York. “She had a natural joy and energy, with a very positive attitude and sound sense of values.”

However, life for stars in the 40s and 50s could be tough. The major studios dominated the film industry and their actors, especially child performers, had little say in selecting roles and were readily typecast. They could be “rented out” to other companies at the studio’s whim.

“The studios groomed young actors to be stars,” said Ms. Powell. “When I wasn’t working, I was studying in the MGM Studio School with the other kids like Margaret O’Brien, Roddy McDowall, and Dean Stockwell.”

As a result, Ms. Powell says she missed out on what many teenagers took for granted. “It was hard to make friends socially, we were all working so hard. I never had any ‘girls’ nights’ or sleepovers.”

Despite being pushed into a Hollywood career and the pressures of work, Ms. Powell’s troubles never showed in her performances, which were always bright and bubbly, making her a fan favorite.

“She bravely struggled through difficult times in her life,” e-mailed long-time fan Tony Makara of Manchester, England, who created the Jane Powell web site, janepowell.blogspot.com. “The site was my way of saying ‘thank you Janie’ for the joy she has given so many down the decades.”

As the 50s drew to a close, so too did the era of lavish Hollywood musicals. “They were expensive to make and the studio system dissolved,” said Ms. Powell. “Audiences became more sophisticated and wanted more of a story plot.”

Nevertheless, TV channels like TMC are popular today with older audiences who like to reminisce, as well as younger viewers who are fascinated by the early Hollywood era.

“People still love to watch the old musicals,” said Ms. Powell.