Jane powell actress singer biography

Portland native Jane Powell was an actress, singer, and dancer in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer musicals during the 1940s and 1950s, a period known as Hollywood’s Golden Age. With wholesome girl-next-door looks and a versatile soprano voice—she had a range of two and a half octaves—she starred in movies that included Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, which the American Film Institute named one of the best musicals of all time. Toward the end of her career, she appeared with Pink Martini in Portland, New York, and Los Angeles. 

Suzanne Lorraine Burce was born in Portland on April 1, 1929, to parents who hoped their only child would become the next Shirley Temple. Her father Paul Emerson Burce, who worked for Wonder Bread, and her mother Eileen Baker Burce, a homemaker, made sure their daughter got both dance lessons and a hair permanent when she was two years old. By the time she was five, she was a singing sensation on Stars of Tomorrow, a Portland children’s radio show. At the Agnes Pete

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