# Jane Powell, RIP **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** celebrity-death\ **Created:** [September 20, 2021, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jane-powell-rip/950976 "2021-09-20T06:01:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2021, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jane-powell-rip/950976/1 "2021-09-20T06:01:41Z")
She died three days ago at the age of 92, but I haven’t seen anything about it here. She was a teen and young adult musical star for MGM in the 40’s, and in the 50’s was in such movies as Royal Wedding with Fred Astaire, and Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. After that she mostly did live or TV appearances as a singer. I always found her charming and cheerful on the screen, and if her acting was a bit mannered that was pretty standard for musical comedy stars at the time. She was born in my hometown, Portland, Oregon, and got her contract with MGM when she was 14. She had a difficult childhood in Portland, but it didn’t seem to affect her later life very much (or she hid it better than most). I guess most people today who aren’t aficionados of movies from that era haven’t a clue who she was. [Here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gYl9iugPTcA)’s the TCM tribute, that shows a lot of shots of her face, but unfortunately no singing. So here are a couple of clips from her movies that you might like. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/PYobT21oJbQ/maxresdefault.jpg "Fred Astaire & Jane Powell 1951") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYobT21oJbQ) [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/G87BCljOeuA/maxresdefault.jpg "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (4/10) Movie CLIP - Goin' Courtin' (1954) HD") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G87BCljOeuA) ---
**Author:** ![nelliebly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nelliebly/32/5422_2.png) [@nelliebly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nelliebly)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2021, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jane-powell-rip/950976/2 "2021-09-20T06:13:34Z")
I’m sorry to see this. I loved her in _Seven Brides for Seven Brothers_. What a voice! ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2021, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jane-powell-rip/950976/3 "2021-09-20T16:29:36Z")
I hadn’t heard of her, and did not recognize her in RF’s video link. Rest in Peace, Jane Powell. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2021, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jane-powell-rip/950976/4 "2021-09-20T17:33:57Z")
I’ve been a big fan for decades. She started out so young, I thought she’d be much older than 92 by now.