Sweet Sixteen #4

Dirinda Jones dreads her blind date—not because she's shy, but because her friend Mary Jane convinced her that boys hate intellectual girls, so she's determined to act like a glamorous airhead instead. When Cadet Dan Martin arrives, Dirinda's phoney performance backfires spectacularly, but Dan sees through the act and discovers something far more appealing than any act she could pull off.

From her earliest days dancing on Brooklyn sidewalks, Bea discovered a gift for movement that set her apart—and when the opportunity came to join the corps de ballet and eventually audition for a role in *Oklahoma!*, she seized it. This non-fiction profile follows Beatrice Lynn's rise in the world of American ballet, showing how what started as childhood invention became a demanding professional career that proves ballet is far more than European tradition. Bea's story captures both the grace and the grueling reality behind the footlights.

Jo Stafford always dreamed of singing, and from her first radio win at eleven with her sisters to her spot with the Pied Pipers, she worked her way up alongside some of the era's biggest talents—including a young Frank Sinatra in Tommy Dorsey's band. Discovered by Johnny Mercer, Jo's records soon outsold every other girl singer in America, proving that dedication and hard work were the real secrets to her success. This true-comics profile traces the singing sweetheart's rise from Long Beach to the top of the charts, and her enduring pride in earning the title "G.I. Jo" for her service entertaining troops during the war.

Dana Andrews rose from a preacher's son with divided ambitions—football and theater both called to him—but practicality won out, leading him to accounting and an oil company desk he couldn't tolerate. After hitchhiking to Hollywood with dreams of a singing career, a string of small stage roles eventually caught the eye of talent scouts and led to his breakthrough in *Laura*, launching him into stardom. Now a top box-office draw who's remained refreshingly grounded despite Hollywood's pressures, Andrews proves that sometimes the path to success winds through rejection and persistence rather than a straight line.