Jane Connell brings charm, humor
and energy
to her
love of acting
by Daniel Hines
Publisher
America's Seniors/TodaysSeniorsNetwork. com
When she was a little girl, the baby of
the family, Jane Connell stood on a curb holding her Mother's hand. It
was outside the kindergarten that Jane's older siblings not only attended, but had helped make their
baby sister somewhat of a star, providing an audience for her to entertain.
On this day, however, when the teacher
asked Jane's Mother if she could have the child attend the class to be a
part of a little show, her Mother said 'No...she has to go home and take a
nap..."
"I didn't say anything, but I recall
looking up at Mother--who seemed to be 8-feet tall--and thinking , 'Lady,
you just made a big mistake...'"
It wasn't that she was a bad child, but it
was an early indication of Jane's love of performing any time she had a
chance. It was also to set the life-style that even today, at 78 years
old, she brings to her performance in The Full Monty as the old-time
big band singer who misses performing so much that she drops everything,
including her husband, to go to an audition for an unlikely group of male
strippers, who are really nothing more than a bunch of unemployed steel
workers who can't dance, who are not really physically fit, but, who
inspired by The Chippendales, male strippers who are performing to sold-out
audiences of women.
The group, realizing its lack of talent
decides to do something special--strip fully, or go The Full Monty, hence
the name of the show.
Jane's character is so anxious to return
to performing that she even brings her own piano with her to the audition.
It's a natural role for this bundle of
energy and charm. She will be recognizable to the audience from her
many roles, including the one that I remember the most, the haughty, but
funny Queen Victoria in Bewitched. But that's only one of
dozens of outstanding roles she has played, including working with a number
of stars, such as Carol Burnett and many others (see shows in the column to
screen right). She is also a personal friend of Bea Arthur of Mame.
During our interview, I mentioned that I
remember one outstanding feature from her TV shows--expressive eyes that are
capable of projecting a vast amount of emotion.
"People think I have big eyes," she muses.
"Actually, it's not that they are so big, but that they seem to be very
liquid. Of course, as I have gotten older, the skin around them has
sagged a bit, but makeup takes care of a lot of that."
This isn't a woman bemoaning her aging. To
the contrary, this is a continuation of her ability to, as she describes it,
"always see the funny side of things."
She recalls that as a child one of her
family roles was to entertain. "I loved the attention and making
people laugh," she says.
But then, something happened that changed
Jane's life forever. It was Shirley Temple, an escape from the
harshness of the Depression bundled in a small bundle of talent and charm.
This was followed by the classic Our Gang comedies.
"I remember looking at the screen and
thinking 'I can do that,'" she explains. "There was something
magic about the singing and dancing...I even believed that the people I was
watching lived behind the screen."
Jane tried to talk her sister into going
to Hollywood, but when that failed, she resorted to such antics as
pretending she had a broken arm so that she could get the same attention as
playmates who really did have an injury and were wearing casts that friends
and neighbors were signing.
"I've always had a high degree of
self-confidence in the sense of knowing that this was what I had to do," she
continues.
Finally she had her chance to show her
stuff, and the rest of the story might have been a succession of successful
appearances in a number of TV shows, movies and the theater.
"I just love to make people laugh," she
explains. "There is a bonding with an audience that I have always
enjoyed, even when I was a little girl making faces or mimicking shows on
radio."
Her current role came under difficult
circumstances. Kathleen Freeman, who originally had the role, suffered
from cancer and Jane filled in for her for two weeks. Then, when Ms.
Freeman succumbed to the disease, Jane was called on to take the part
full-time.
In the tradition of the theater, she has
thrown herself body and soul into her role. She has a great wit and
undoubtedly her seniority in life provides a balance for the foibles of the
would-be Chippendales.
And, Jane, should you ever decide there is
a demand for senior-type Chippendales, who cannot dance or sing and whose
bodies are not the greatest, plan the auditions, grab that piano and give me
a call for the tryouts.
cting