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All the action took place at MGM's `commissary' (canteen).
"I was very shy. And very lonely. We were all very busy. Oh no, I never worried about whether I would
make it or not. We didn't think that way. We just worked.

"I really never felt I belonged. I couldn't believe it was all happening to me. And I still think that."
Once she was lunching in the commissary and a handsome man came up, winked, and said "Hiya
Janey girl."
"It was Clark Gable. And I couldn't think of his name."

And what about MGM chief Louis B. Mayer, the mogul with the palatial office who frightened hell out of
everyone?
"He was always wonderful to me. I never had any problem. I was sad when he left. The studio didn't
exist after he left."

Despite the more or less total absence of her kind of "musical", today’s movies are often enjoyed by
Jane Powell.
"I like a lot of them. There are wonderful foreign movies.
They deliver a different message. Morals are so different."
Radio work also came her way during the 1940s and 50s,
which she adored. "It was different. I loved radio. We
would even dress up. It was very exciting. With radio, you
can close your eyes and imagine. People don't have the
chance to use their imagination any more."
As for the millions upon millions paid to today's stars, Miss
Powell seemed serene. "We didn't get that money. But it
was the golden age of musicals. And the golden era of
film."
She has worked since she was two years old, when she
tap- danced on the radio in her hometown of Portland,
Oregon.

"Every man wanted his kid to become Shirley Temple. At
ten, I had singing lessons. At twelve, I became the Oregon Victory Girl. I sang The White Cliffs Of
Dover..."
...at which point, her voice tripped. "I always get a lump in my throat over that song."

At 14, she won a talent quest and went to Hollywood, and sang, and was taken to meet The Lion
(Louis B Mayer), and signed a seven-year contract.
She had been Suzanne Burce, of Portland, Oregon. They changed her to Jane Powell. "I wanted to be
changed to Cheryl. I'd still like to be Cheryl.

"I never understood that fear and trauma people had of growing older. I wanted to be older. I was
advised never to make waves. So I didn't."
These days, life in Connecticut is busy but calmer.

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