Jane Powell

Powell lives in Connecticut, USA, with her fifth husband, Dick Moore, and still performs today. Her death was attributed to alcohol. Her stage roles include "South Pacific", "The Sound of Music", "Oklahoma!", "My Fair Lady", "Carousel", "The Girl Next Door and How She Grew", and "Irene". She appeared in two more films after that, but was not able to control her addiction, and on August 26, 1961, Gail was found dead in her apartment in Los Angeles, California at the age of 36. Since then Powell has continued to work in television, radio, and live performances. She divorced Madison in 1954, and returned to work in a minor role in the western Seven Men From Now (1956), and had a bigger role in The Tattered Dress (1957). By the end of the 1950s, Hollywood musicals began to lose popularity, and her film career ended. Over the next 10 years she tried to regain control of her life.

Her other films include: Rich, Young and Pretty (1951), Small Town Girl (1953), Three Sailors and a Girl (1953), Athena (1954), Deep in My Heart (1954), Hit the Deck (1955), and The Girl Most Likely (1957). She continued working after 1947, and married Guy Madison in 1949, but by 1950 it was well known that she had become a victim of alcoholism, and Paramount did not renew her contract. Her best know film is probably Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954), which gave her the opportunity to play a more mature character than previous films. Gail later appeared in the more popular films, Calcutta (1947) with Alan Ladd, and Angel and the Badman (1947) with John Wayne. Powell got the chance to sing and dance with Fred Astaire in Royal Wedding (1951), when she was brought in as a replacement for both June Allyson and Judy Garland. Gail appeared in several more films in the early and mid 1940s, the most notable being Our Hearts Were Young and Gay (1944), in which she co-starred with Diana Lynn. Her first MGM musical was Holiday in Mexico (1946), which brought her to the public's attention, and she was later billed as the co-star in several films including A Date With Judy (1948), and Nancy Goes to Rio (1950). At the age of 19 she appeared in her first film, Henry Aldrich Gets Glamour (1943).

She appeared in her first film, Song of the Open Road (1944), at age 15. Although she was shy and had no acting experience, Paramount had great expectations for her and employed an acting coach to work with her. Born Suzanne Burce in Portland, Oregon, USA, she sang on the radio as a child, and performed in theater before her film career began in 1944. Gail's extraordinary beauty brought her to the attention of Paramount Studios in 1942. She was the petite blonde with an operatic singing voice in many MGM musicals in the 1940s and 1950s. Gail Russell (September 21, 1924 - August 27, 1961) was an American actress. Jane Powell (born April 1, 1928) is an American actress.