On a Star Named Twinkle Watts

For the life of me I can’t recall how I stumbled upon the existence of Janelee “Twinkle” Watts (1933-2018), and I only know the public part of the story, but it seemed worth sharing.

Born in Tampa, Florida, Twinkle Watts began showing up in national (even international) press around 1940. At age six, she was giving public exhibitions of her skill at both figure skating and bowling and was considered a child prodigy in both fields. You can see her in British Pathe newsreels, in Life magazine spreads, and in fun little items sent out over the wires.

Erm…is this entirely proper?

Twinkle’s youth appears exaggerated throughout her public career, with Shirley Temple ringlets and ballerina dresses and the like. There’s a Baby Jane cutesiness that most contemporary people would find off-putting, I think. The nickname “Twinkle” suggests a fairy, but also “twinkle toes” a label often used to suggest excellent coordination skills.

She gave skating demonstrations at Rockefeller Center, and routinely beat adult champions at bowling (her high score was 218; she often went through long stretches where every bowl was a strike).

In 1943 Republic Studios signed Twinkle to be their in-house child star. She appeared in thirteen Republic pictures through 1946, most of them westerns starring Red Barry or Allan Lane, surrounded by supporting players like Wally Vernon, Kirk Alyn, Helen Talbot,Peggy Stewart, Glenn Strange, etc. In many of them her character’s name is also Twinkle, although sometimes, it’s Winky, Inky, Li’l Jo, or Midge.

One notable exception to the usual formula is Lake Placid Serenade (1944), in which she gets to show her skating skills in all star musical production that also starred Vera Ralston, Eugene Pallette, Barbara Jo Allen, Bob Livingston, Walter Catlett, Lloyd Corrigan, William Frawley, Roy Rogers, and Ray Noble and his orchestra. Her last film was a soapy drama called A Guy Could Change (1946).

Twinkle’s thespian skills were apparently not as impressive as the dexterity she brought to skating rinks and bowling lanes, and, well, that enemy of all child stars, adolescence loomed. There were apparently no acting offers after she left Republic. The last mention of her I have been able to find was a spread in an 1947 issue of Polly Pigtails magazine.

In this terrific interview with Boyd Magers, co-star Helen Talbot claimed that Twinkle had an older sister named Kilo…Kilo Watts. As for whatever became of Twinkle after she left the biz I have been able to locate neither hide nor hair. I find it probable, even likely, that as a teenager she sought to bury the cutesy pie image. But she seems not to have pursued competitive bowling or skating either. All I know is that she lived another 70 years after dropping out of the public eye. Then the little star twinked out.

For more on show biz historyconsult No Applause, Just Throw Money: The Book That Made Vaudeville Famous.