Golden Age Hollywood Actress Jane Powell Dies at 92

People
·2 min read
Jane Powell
Jane Powell

John Springer Collection/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images Jane Powell

Jane Powell, an actress during the Golden Age of Hollywood, has died. She was 92.

Powell died at her home in Wilton, Connecticut, on Thursday, her friend Susan Granger told the New York Times and the Associated Press.

The actress, whose real name is Suzanne Lorraine Burce, shot to stardom after being cast in musicals in her teens and twenties.

In her first movie, 1944's Song of the Open Road, she played a character named Jane Powell and ended up taking the moniker for her own, the NY Times reported.

She is perhaps best known for her role in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers 10 years later, which Powell once called her "last really wonderful role in a film."

Jane Powell
Jane Powell

Silver Screen Collection/Getty Images Jane Powell

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"The studio didn't think it was going to do anything," she said in 2000 while looking back on the movie, the AP reported. "MGM thought that Brigadoon was going to be the big moneymaker that year. It didn't turn out that way. We were the ones that went to the Radio City Music Hall, which was always such a coup."

In 1951, Powell starred in Royal Wedding opposite Fred Astaire. The duo played an American brother and sister touring in London.

In addition to her film career, Powell performed in touring musical productions including My Fair Lady, The Sound of Music and Carousel. In 1974, she appeared in Irene to mark her Broadway debut.

Jane Powell
Jane Powell

Howard Keel talks to Jane Powell as she sits on a staircase in a scene from the film 'Seven Brides For Seven Brothers', 1954

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Powell was married five times. Her fifth marriage was to Dick Moore, who died in 2015.

The actress is survived by son Geary Anthony Steffen III, daughters Suzanne Steffen and Lindsay Cavalli, and two grandchildren.

"Jane was the most wonderful friend," Granger told the AP. "She was candid, she was honest. You never asked Jane a question you didn't want an absolutely honest answer to."

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