Ms. Powell continued to attract attention with her vocal talent, eventually winning the favor of MGM mogul Louis B. Mayer. Without so much as a screen test, she was signed to a seven-year contract just as she finished eighth grade. She later said she would have preferred to continue on with friends to high school but signed out of loyalty to her parents who “had sacrificed so much.”

Source: Washington Post September 16, 2021 22:38 UTC