The Girl Next Door and How She Grew

by Jane Powell

A musical-comedy star discusses her career, from her early childhood stardom to her work with such greats as Fred Astaire, and describes the personal heartbreaks she has endured and her new and happy life

Genres: Biography, Autobiography, Film

253 pages, Hardcover

First published July 1, 1988

About the author

Suzanne Burce became Jane Powell when she hit the screen in 1944. She became a top singing star for MGM making splashy musicals usually concerning her teenage character falling in love and having conflicts with her parents. She also toured with live musical productions and appeared on television for years after her film career ended.

She was married five times and has three children.

Reviews

[Jay · Rating 4 out of 5]

An enjoyable read. Having been written in 1988 the book doesn't bring the reader up to the present day but it offers a clear eyed and honest view of a woman whose career was chosen for her. She is very honest about her faults, a pleaser to the point of damage to her well being and a crippling inability to be alone, and how she conquered them. A more in depth look at her film career would have been nice since that's a large part of her fame. She discusses frankly many things that touched her life: drug problems of one of her children and the distance that came with it, a rocky relationship with her own mother, AIDS, and various other issues that when the book was published where not freely discussed.

[Russell Sanders · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have always adored Jane Powell with her perky personality and her gorgeous singing voice. So when she died at the age of 92, I both grieved and celebrated her long life. Little did I know, until reading The Girl Next Door…And How She Grew, her autobiography, that the Jane I loved actually was a much more complex person, one who was not truly happy until her late fifties. This book, written in 1988, with Jane on the cusp of her sixth decade, is a therapy session, in effect. I read celebrity biographies not only to find out about the celebs but also to hear anecdotes from their careers. Jane’s book, though, is heavy on the personal life, light on the professional life. We find she was an unhappy child, an uncertain loner during her film career, and a woman who hated being alone and loneliness so much that she married four men before finding the love of her life. And since the book was written thirty-four years ago, we don’t know if that love of her life stuck around. I certainly hope so—and I suppose I could Google it and find out. But I like to leave my memories of Jane with the knowledge she finally found happiness in her life. I only wish she had dwelt a little bit more on her remarkable career, letting us in on the goings-on while filming classics like Royal Wedding and Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. I also applaud her for revealing her oldest daughter is gay, but I wish she hadn’t used the terms choice and lifestyle and refused to utter the word gay. But this was 1988, and this was a woman who grew up in a much more unenlightened era than today’s openness. So I forgive her.

[Samantha Glasser · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jane Powell is not the most recognized name in Hollywood history, but the petite actress has her place as a very pleasant singing star who enjoyed a brief career as a box office attraction. She left Hollywood at the beginning of the demise of the studio system and spent her later years with her family, doing summer stock, and performing on television.

This is a quick read, but not an entirely filling meal. Jane gives a lot of information about her feelings and the important moments in her life, but they are not necessarily the ones you might be interested in. What about the films? She discusses some of them, but in no great detail. Part of this is because of her reluctance to be an actress, something she just did to please her parents and to help support the family. But it would have been nice to hear more. After all, her fans are interested because her films are so much fun.

However, her brightness shines through and this makes for an enjoyable book. She is extremely candid about herself, her failed marriages, and her career, but she never comes off as negative or bitter. She seems to be a very happy woman, in the throes of her new love with husband Dick Moore, also a former child star. (They are still together.) And while she talks about a desire to grow up when she was a girl, it is obvious that she has retained her youth and optimism.

[Miranda · Rating 3 out of 5]

I discovered this perky soprano on TV a couple years ago in the movie Two Weeks With Love. From the first scene, I was captivated by her beautiful voice. My next watch was Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, a movie I had avoided for years despite recommendations from a friend and a neighbor. How foolish I was for not watching it sooner! It quickly became my favorite movie of all time.

From there, I went on a mission to watch every movie that Jane Powell was ever in. While I was working my way through them, I bought a vintage Lustre-Creme shampoo magazine ad with her picture on it that I came across in an antique store. I've seen all 19 movies now (20 if you count her one voice acting credit), but knew very little about her, so I figured it was time to read her memoir.

I have to say this isn't the best written celebrity memoir I've ever read. Her narrative voice is warm and amiable, but a bit erratic. She jumps from one topic to another in ways that don't always feel cohesive. In some chapters I'm not sure what overarching theme she's aiming for. At one point in the book, she mentions making two of her favorite movies, but only goes on to talk about one of them. Yes, Jane, I know you enjoyed Two Weeks with Love, but what was your other favorite? I can only assume she was referring to Royal Wedding, but I don't know. If this book was organized and edited a little better, I would definitely rate it higher, because I truly did enjoy reading her life story.

Jane suffered a lot of mistreatment through the years, at the hands of her parents, peers, the industry, and multiple husbands. Some of her story was hard to read, and I don't think she fully grasped just how abusive some of the people in her life were, even as she was writing the book in her fifties. Despite it all, I kept hoping she would find her beautiful glorious heavenly marvelous wonderful wonderful day. I believe she finally did, in the last few chapters, as she built a life with her fifth husband, Dickie Moore. According to the internet, they were together until his death in 2015. Being a movie star was never her dream, but I hope she knew how much her fans adored her. Seventy years on, her movies are just as beloved as ever.

Side note, I found it adorable that her apartment neighbors heard her singing as a child and suggested she take lessons. If I remember right, a similar thing happened to her Seven Brides costar Howard Keel.

[Sharon · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading Jane Powell's memoir. I was always delighted with her in the musicals of Royal Wedding, A Date with Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (favorite) and I Love Melvin. Mkky husband saw her and Howard Keel in the stage play "I Do, I Do" and loved it. She was always sweet, petite, and had a lovely voice. Her memoir describes a totally different personal life which was fraught with tears, loneliness, ignored, shunned by a mother who didn't want her, as well as 4 marriages which ended in divorce. She always seemed to bounce back, and tried so hard to be a good daughter, a good singer and actress, a good wife and mother. As I read the book, I was singing or humming the songs as she told about each movie and stage show she performed in. I didn't realize the book was written in 1988, and read this just a couple of months after she passed at age 92. I am so glad she finally found happiness.

[Alex (Alex's Version) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book by Ms. Powell and I loved it although it was actually quite an unexpectedly truthful story. Did you know her mother tried to kill her? She wrote allot about her her feelings and how sad and Lonely she was. Good book!

[Stacy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would have enjoyed more dirt about the entertainment business and a little less of the repetitive (I hate to call it) whining about her personal life. She did have some sorrows and obstacles to overcome but they were a recurring theme to the detriment of more show business stories.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not enough information about the movies she made. It definitely focused on her personal life, which was interesting, but I wanted more dirt on Howard Keel and the other six brothers. :)

[Laurie · Rating 3 out of 5]

All that you want in a celebrity autobiography. Incest, child molestation. Five husbands. One child on drugs, one gay, one SPOILER ALERT molested by her dad. Jane not divorcing the molester as soon as she found out is hard to accept. I'm glad that she was happy with her last husband, though. She is quite good in the movie with Astaire, and the cameos she did on tv shows, especially one as a woman with Alzheimer's.

[Herb · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent account of the life of one of America's "Girl Next Door" film stars of the 1940's and 50's. Remember "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers"? Worth reading.

[Linda Klager · Rating 5 out of 5]

I greatly admired Jane Powell.