Biography
With a light-up-a-room smile, mesmerizing hazel eyes, and a trademark perky demeanor, Jane Powell incarnated the last gasp of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's era of feel-good musicals and the wholesome performers who inhabited these Technicolor extravaganzas. Powell emerged from a troubled childhood to find a spot in MGM's stable of child stars, doing a string of plucky love-struck teen roles in B-musicals of the late 1940s and early 1950s. Wielding a …
Career Milestones
2007 | Featured in the documentary "Royal Wedding: June, Judy and Jane" | |
2002 | Guest starred on an episode of NBC's "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" | |
2000 | Landed featured role in the Showtime movie "The Sandy Bottom Orchestra" | |
2000 | Returned to the NYC stage as co-star of the play "Avow" | |
2000 | Appeared in a limited-run revival staging of the Kander & Ebb musical "70, Girls, 70" | |
1999 | Returned to feature films playing a ditsy art patron in the independent "Picture This" | |
1996 | Again replaced an ailing Eileen Fulton as Lisa on "As the World Turns" | |
1996 | Returned to New York stage in Anne Meara's play "After-Play" | |
1991 | Hosted PBS series "The Musicals," introducing classic Hollywood musicals | |
1990 | Briefly appeared on the CBS soap opera "As the World Turns" as Lisa, replacing an ailing Eileen Fulton | |
1985 | Made a brief appearance in the feature "Marie: A True Story"; billed as a "rally singer" | |
| Produced and appeared in exercise video for arthritis patients | ||
| Served as a TV spokesperson for Dry Dock Savings Bank in the 1970s | ||
1973 | Broadway debut in revival of "Irene"; took lead role after Debbie Reynolds left the cast | |
1959 | Kept busy during the late 50s and early 60s on TV, including a remake of the Vincente Minnelli musical "Meet Me in St. Louis" (1944), playing Judy Garland's role of Esther Smith | |
1958 | Last starring role in a feature film, "Enchanted Island" | |
1955 | Last film at MGM, "Hit the Deck" | |
1954 | Cast as Milly in "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers" | |
1951 | Co-starred with Fred Astaire in the romantic comedy "Royal Wedding" | |
1948 | Played title role opposite Elizabeth Taylor in "A Date with Judy" | |
1946 | Signed with MGM; first film there, "Holiday in Mexico" | |
1944 | Made film debut (as herself) in "Song of the Open Road" | |
| Hosted own program on KOIN-Radio in Portland, OR | ||