That girl who married royalty and got so much publicity with a glass slipper and a pumpkin coach a while back was just a plodder compared with Miss Jane Powell, aged 14. Jane is the proud possessor of a long-term contract at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, the starring role in United Artists' Song of the Open Road and a small, sweet dressing room of her very own. What's more it took her only about ten days to get them.

"Even now, I can't believe it's all true," confessed Jane between scenes of the giant musical in which she appears with veterans like Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy, Bonita Granville and W.C. Fields. "I'm so afraid that one night I'll arrive home, go to bed, and wake up to find that it was a dream."

It all began last summer when Jane visited Los Angeles with her parents for a three-week vacation. At that time Jane's only interest was to see Hollywood and as many movie stars as possible. She planned to do this by going to broadcasts, eating at the Brown Derby, and wangling her way inside at least one studio. Jane just couldn't wait.

"Two nights after our arrival we went to the Hollywood Showcase broadcast," Jane explained. "Janet Gaynor was mistress of ceremonies on the show. I thought she was beautiful and sweet and terribly clever. I don't think I even noticed the six people who were auditioned, I was so thrilled and excited at seeing Miss Gaynor. I didn't even notice that my father and mother had something on their minds."

Jane laughed. "I didn't know for several days what they had been thinking about. Then they broke the news. Seeing this show had given them an idea, and they had followed it up. I was to sing on the following week's broadcast. I didn't know whether to be pleased or not. I was plain scared pink."

Jane sang one song, Il Bacio, on that broadcast and received an ovation. The studio audience, usually given to polite applause, stamped, stood on their feet and yelled for more. Janet Gaynor brought her back to the mike, and Jane sang an aria from Carmen. By the time the program was over eight agents were trying frantically to get in touch with her parents.

Things can happen fast in Hollywood, but they never happened any faster than to Jane Powell. The very next day she was signed to appear on the Chase and Sandborn program with Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy. One week later she was given a screen test by MGM.

Another day elapsed, one in which everyone on the lot saw the test and very quickly agreed that here was another Deanna Durbin - a girl who not only sang beautifully, but photographed equally well. Next day, Jane Powell was given a long-term contract, with the result that instead of merely seeing Hollywood celebrities, she became one herself. Almost overnight.

Then, while MGM was looking for an important vehicle in which to feature the new find, she was loaned to Charles R. Rogers for Song of the Open Road.

The role she plays in the picture couldn't be better for a start. Jane plays a young, natural American girl, who is one of Hollywood's singing stars. She steals away from the cameras to join a gang of real kids.

These children bicycle from Youth Hostel to Youth Hostel, picking oranges, dates, vegetables and doing other farm chores to help the war effort. Jane, who has cut off her hair and dyed it to disguise herself, meets many trials and tribulations with these real-life children, and finally brings Hollywood stardom to their aid in an awful pinch.

Born Suzanne Burce, on April 1st, in Portland, Oregon, Jane Powell is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Paul E. Burce. She was educated at Beaumont Grade School in Portland and now goes to the MGM studio school.

Compared to Deanna Durbin by none other than the man who starred her, Charles Rogers, the slim and smiling Cinderella from Portland takes much of the enthusiasm that surrounds her with a grain of salt. Her only comment on her sudden success has been, "They mus like my singing."

Mathematics, English and French are her favorite school subjects. She answers to the names of Hep and Bert. She would like to eat chocolate cake and pudding at every meal. She likes to read love stories and biographies, her dominant trait is one of honest simplicity.

Her favorite actress is Laraine Day. Her favorite actor, Walter Pidgeon. She likes Ginny Simms and John Charles Thomas and thinks Deanna Durbin is out of this world. She can't eat too much spaghetti, with hot sauce and meat balls. But she loathes oysters.

She adores all small, cuddly animals, especially kittens, of which there are five in her current picture. Her own pet is named Punky. She prefers sports clothes, slacks, and doesn't care for frilly things - especially organdy dresses. The nicest color of all she thinks is aquamarine. She is mad about daffodils, but considers gardenias over-rated. Young gentlemen, please note!

Jane, her mother and father and Punky, live in a three-bedroom house within a stone's throw of Beverly Hills. Their simple, modern furniture was brought from Portland on an MGM truck because they couldn't get it moved any other way. It is one of the dissapointments of Jane's exciting young life that she couldn't ride down beside the driver.

Neither of her parents has ever been a professional, but her father who is a baby-food salesman, coaches her in singing, and her mother coaches her in acting. They don't for a minute allow Jane's new rating as a star to go to her head. At home, she still has to do the dishes.

article from Motion Picture Magazine, July 1944