Jane Manning

After graduating from Central High School in Oklahoma City, Ms. Manning was awarded a full scholarship to The Conservatory of Music in Kansas City, Missouri. Upon leaving The Conservatory, Jane was cast in the chorus of the St. Louis Municipal Opera where she was singled out to do small roles. From there, she moved on to Caine Park Theatre in Cleveland, Ohio. Ms. Manning's career got a boost when she was offered a co-starring role on a new television show presented by the ABC affiliate in Chicago. The series was a one-hour program Monday-Friday in which she sang, performed comedy skits, and interviewed well-known guests. During the run of the TV show, she was also appearing at a night club in the Chicago suburbs. Summer months were spent at The Fox Valley Playhouse doing principal roles in that season's musicals. She moved to New York City and after intensive study with Wynn Handman, the premier acting teacher on the east coast, Jane played the female lead opposite Tom Poston in a tour of "The Male Animal," immediately followed by another co-starring role opposite Perry Mason's Raymond Burr in a summer tour of "Critic's Choice." On Broadway, while understudying the lead in "Nobody Loves An Albatross," with just three hours notice she was called upon to perform the role opposite Robert Preston. Six months later, when Barry Nelson took over the lead from Preston, Jane was signed as his co-star. Ms. Manning worked on television in starring roles on "The Secret Storm" (seven months), "Love of Life" (one year), and as Jean Garrison on "Love Is A Many-Splendored Thing" at CBS (four years). She can still be seen on re-runs of "Tales From The Dark Side" in a segment entitled "The Moth" with co-star Debbie Harry (Blondie). These theater and TV roles were performed simultaneously with night club engagements as a solo performer at Eighty Eights and a Cole Porter revue at The Bitter End. Ms. Manning co-authored a play, "The Sloth," which is a Samuel French publication. "A Home Of Her Own (In The End)," Is Ms. Manning's second play.