The Tragic Death Of Royal Wedding Actor Jane Powell
One of classic Hollywood's brightest stars has dimmed today. The Hollywood Reporter announced the death of Jane Powell, much-beloved star of movie musicals from Hollywood's Golden Age, on September 16, of natural causes. Powell's longtime friend Susan Granger confirmed her death. She was 92 years old.
Powell worked with MGM Studios' Hollywood machine since she was a teenager, playing "girl next door" types. After several films, including 1948's "A Date With Judy" and 1950's "Nancy Goes to Rio," she replaced first June Allyson, who got pregnant, and then Judy Garland, who was fired, for the role of Ellen in the 1951 hit "Royal Wedding," opposite dance legend Fred Astaire. She perfectly matches dance moves, singing, and wits with Astaire in the number "How Can You Believe Me When I Said I Loved You When You Know I've Been a Liar All My Life."
She's most known for her role in the classic (if now arguably problematic) movie musical "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers," as Milly, the 1850s housewife to Howard Keel's backwoodsmen Adam, who's tasked with finding brides for Adam's seven brothers. The studio had their hopes on the Gene Kelly-Cyd Charisse-led film version of the stage hit "Brigadoon" to be the runaway smash that 1954 season, but the disappointing film flopped, and "Seven Brides" became a sleeper hit, thanks in large part to Michael Kidd's dynamic, energetic choreography. It even earned a Best Picture Oscar nomination that year.
Keep reading to learn more about this star's incredible life.
Jane Powell was a theater baby longing for normalcy
Jane Powell was born in Oregon on April 1, 1929, as Suzanne Lorraine Burce, and studied and performed as a child — her parents hoping she would be the next Shirley Temple, complete with curls. She got some nightclub jobs and a weekly radio show, per The Hollywood Reporter, growing up very quickly.
When her family moved to Los Angeles before she started high school, she became part of the MGM movie machine when she caught the studio's attention while singing in Janet Gaynor's radio show "Stars Over Hollywood." She made her first film, "Song of the Open Road," at 15 as a loan to United Artists, playing a character very much like herself — a child star who longed to live a normal life — named Jane Powell. After the film, MGM insisted she adopt the name as her own. Powell did three more films after her massive MGM hits, but she could see the waning interest in movie musicals and asked to be released from her MGM contract at 26, per TCM. She moved on to television and theatre, performing in road productions of classic musicals like "Oklahoma!," "Carousel," and "South Pacific," again opposite Howard Keel. She made her Broadway debut in 1973's "Irene," and appeared in Stephen Sondheim's "Bounce."
Powell was married five times, the first at age 20 to Geary Steffin, and most recently to Dickie Moore, who died in 2015. She has three children, Geary, Suzanne, and Lindsay, and two grandchildren, Skye and Tia.