IN: Joan Agnes Theresa Sadie Brodel was born on January 26, 1925, in Highland Park, Michigan, the youngest child of John and Agnes Brodel. John was a bank clerk and Agnes was a pianist. Joan's two older sisters, Betty and Mary Brodel, shared their mother's musical interest and started to learn how to play instruments, such as the saxophone and the banjo, at an early age. They began performing in front of audiences in acts that included singing and dancing.

In 1936, Leslie caught the attention of a talent scout from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) when the three Brodel sisters were performing in New York. She was given a six-month contract with the studio, earning $200 per week. While working at the studio, she attended MGM's Little Red Schoolhouse with other child actors like Mickey Rooney and Freddie Bartholomew. Her first film role was in Camille (1936), a romantic drama starring Greta Garbo and Robert Taylor. She played Taylor's younger sister Marie Jeanette, but her speaking scenes were deleted and she was uncredited. MGM had trouble finding suitable roles for her, and she was let go by the studio along with Deanna Durbin. Leslie returned to New York, working on the radio and as a model. During this time, her older sister Mary was signed to Universal Studios. Leslie returned to Hollywood with the rest of her family, working for different studios as a freelancer. She mainly worked for RKO Pictures. Leslie was selected to play a small role in Men with Wings (1938). While shooting the film, director William A. Wellman discovered that Leslie's mother had lied about her daughter's age and that she was only thirteen years old. For the remainder of the filming schedule, Wellman replaced her with Mary. Leslie gained her first credited role in Winter Carnival (1939) as Betsy Phillips. She was chosen for the part because the director was searching for an actress with a southern accent. She was billed as Joan Brodel. Later that year, she co-starred with Jimmy Lydon in Two Thoroughbreds, in which she played the daughter of a horse owner. At age 15, Leslie was selected by a group of Hollywood directors as one of 13 "baby stars of 1940."
QUESTION: Did she have trouble getting roles?
IN: Dreamgirls is a 2006 American romantic musical drama film written and directed by Bill Condon and jointly produced and released by DreamWorks Pictures and Paramount Pictures. Adapted from the 1981 Broadway musical of the same name by composer Henry Krieger and lyricist/librettist Tom Eyen, Dreamgirls is a film a clef, a work of fiction taking strong inspiration from the history of the Motown record label and one of its acts, The Supremes. The story follows the history and evolution of American R&B music during the 1960s and 1970s through the eyes of a Detroit, Michigan girl group known as the Dreams and their manipulative record executive. The film adaptation of Dreamgirls stars Jamie Foxx, Beyonce, Eddie Murphy, and Jennifer Hudson, and also features Danny Glover, Anika Noni Rose and Keith Robinson.

Dreamgirls musical supervisors Randy Spendlove and Matt Sullivan hired R&B production team The Underdogs -- Harvey Mason, Jr. and Damon Thomas -- to restructure and rearrange the Henry Krieger/Tom Eyen Dreamgirls score so that it better reflected its proper time period, yet also reflected then-modern R&B/pop sensibilities. During post-production, composer Stephen Trask was contracted to provide additional score material for the film. Several musical numbers from the Broadway score were not included in the film version, in particular Lorrell's solo "Ain't No Party". Four new songs were added for the film: "Love You I Do", "Patience", "Perfect World," and "Listen." All of the new songs feature music composed by original Dreamgirls stage composer Henry Krieger. With Tom Eyen having died in 1991, various lyricists were brought in by Krieger to co-author the new songs. "Love You I Do," with lyrics by Siedah Garrett, is performed in the film by Effie during a rehearsal at the Rainbow Records studio. Willie Reale wrote the lyrics for "Patience," a song performed in the film by Jimmy, Lorrell, C.C., and a gospel choir, as the characters attempt to record a message song for Jimmy. "Perfect World," also featuring lyrics by Garrett, is performed during the Rainbow 10th anniversary special sequence by Jackson 5 doppelgangers The Campbell Connection. "Listen", with additional music by Scott Cutler and Beyonce Knowles, and lyrics by Anne Preven, is presented as a defining moment for Deena's character late in the film. After preview screenings during the summer of 2006, several minutes worth of musical footage were deleted from the film due to negative audience reactions to the amount of music. Among this footage was one whole musical number, C.C. and Effie's sung reunion "Effie, Sing My Song", which was replaced with an alternative spoken version. The Dreamgirls: Music from the Motion Picture soundtrack album was released on December 5 by Music World Entertainment/Columbia Records, in both a single-disc version containing highlights and a double-disc "Deluxe Version" containing all of the film's songs. The single-disc version of the soundtrack peaked at number-one on the Billboard 200 during a slow sales week in early January 2007. "Listen" was the first official single from the soundtrack, supported by a music video featuring Beyonce. "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going" was the Dreamgirls soundtrack's second single. Though a music video with all-original footage was once planned, the video eventually released for "And I Am Telling You" comprised the entire corresponding scene in the actual film.
QUESTION:
did anyone else partake in the music?