Eleanor Powell

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Lore & Background

Eleanor Powell was born in Springfield, Massachusetts, to Clarence Gardner Powell and Blanche Torrey Powell. Her parents divorced when she was eleven months old, and she was raised by her mother and maternal grandparents. As a painfully shy child, she was sent to dance lessons at age 11 to combat her shyness. She trained in classical ballet, interpretive modern dance, and acrobatics. While performing acrobatics on a beach in Atlantic City, she was discovered by Gus Edwards and began working paid gigs at age 12. Jack Benny, Eddie Cantor, and her teacher Ralph McKernan suggested she aim for Broadway. In 1927, Powell moved to New York City and signed with the William Morris Agency. To become marketable on Broadway, she took ten tap lessons from Jack Donahue and Johnny Boyle, the only formal tap training she ever had. She initially disliked tap but later said it came together around the seventh lesson. Her teachers used an unconventional method: an army surplus belt with sandbags to help her feel the floor. She toured the vaudeville circuit, sharing bills with Buck & Bubbles, and was strongly influenced by John 'Bubbles' Sublett. She also performed with Bill 'Bojangles' Robinson at private parties, where he mentored her and taught her his signature Stair Dance.

Reader's Guide

Eleanor Powell developed a dance style that fused ballet, acrobatics, and grounded tap. She moved smoothly through fast, complex footwork, barely leaving the floor, and contrasted this with energetic turns and high leaps. She incorporated Hula into her choreography after the film Honolulu. Her films were credited with helping MGM avoid bankruptcy. She retired from films in the mid-1940s but later hosted a Christian children's TV show and headlined a nightclub act in Las Vegas. She died from cancer at age 69.

Did You Know?

• Eleanor Powell was sent to dance lessons at age 11 to combat her painful shyness.
• She took only ten formal tap lessons in her life, from Jack Donahue and Johnny Boyle.
• Her tap teachers used an army surplus belt with sandbags to help her feel the floor.
• Bill 'Bojangles' Robinson mentored her and taught her his signature Stair Dance.
• Her films were credited with helping MGM avoid bankruptcy.