Powell, Jane (1929–)

views updated

Powell, Jane (1929–)

American singer and actress. Born Suzanne Burce, April 1, 1929, in Portland, OR; m. Geary Anthony Steffen Jr. (professional ice skater), 1949 (div.); m. Patrick Nerney (writer), 1954 (div. 1963); m. James Fitzgerald (later her manager), 1965 (div. 1976); m. David Parlour (producer-director), 1978 (div. 1981); m. Dickie Moore (former child star), 1988; children: (1st m.) Geary Anthony Steffen (b. 1951), Suzanne Irene Steffen (b. 1952); (2nd m.) daughter, Lindsay Averille Nerney (b. 1956).

At 5, made singing debut on a Portland children's radio show; at 11, landed her own Sunday evening radio program; made film debut in Song of the Open Road (1944), with W. C. Fields (1944); appeared in Holiday in Mexico (1946), singing "Ave Maria"; lit up a series of MGM musicals (1946–54), including A Date with Judy (1948), Royal Wedding (1951), and Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954), her last 1st-rate screen role; on stage, replaced Debbie Reynolds in a revival of Irene (1974); on tv, had a recurring role in soap opera "Loving" and made an occasional guest appearance on such shows as "Murder, She Wrote" and "Growing Pains."

See also autobiography The Girl Next Door and How She Grew (1988); and Women in World History.

More From encyclopedia.com