"[3] JoAnn Dean began waitressing at her mother's restaurant when she was 12 years old, while her older brother worked as a dishwasher.
The duo performed at the Center Theatre in New York City for a show called "It Happens on Ice" for two years.
[5] Her feature film credits included Silver Skates in 1943 with British Olympic skater Belita; Something for the Boys, which starred Carmen Miranda in 1944; State Fair in 1945; Nob Hill in 1945; Rainbow Over Texas in 1946 opposite Roy Rogers; Lullaby of Broadway in 1951; and two films released in 1954, Sabrina and Red Garters, opposite Rosemary Clooney.
[4] She dressed in costume as a demitasse and saucer to dance in Betty Grable's 1945 musical, Diamond Horseshoe.
[5] Killingsworth appears on the movie poster for Lullaby of Broadway, next to the film's star, Doris Day.
[4] Dean performed long-term with her professional dance partner, actor and dancer Gene Nelson.
Nelson recalled her impressions of Dean in a 2014 interview with Orange Coast Magazine, "I thought JoAnn looked like Disney's Snow White, with her dark bangs...She was very enthusiastic, bubbly and always in good spirits.
"[2][3] Killingsworth, a 5-foot-3 dancer with dark brunette hair, was described as a bearing a strong resemblance to Disney's animated Snow White.
[5] In 1955, Killingsworth, who was 31 years old at the time, received a phone call inviting her to play Snow White for a 90-minute American Broadcasting Company (ABC) television special on the opening day of Disneyland.
"[2] Killingsworth's Snow White and the other costumed Disney characters, including the Seven Dwarfs, "led" hundreds of children across the bridge into Disneyland.
[5] In a 2014 interview with the Orange County Register, she remembered that she and the other cast members ran across just before the children charged the bridge, "We turned around and tried to run pretty.
[2] That year, The Walt Disney Company celebrated 50th anniversary by re-releasing Snow White in theaters and public appearances by the character, including the Smithsonian Institution and the Rose Bowl.
[5] Killingsworth did not want to commute from Balboa Island to Hollywood, so the move effectively ended her dancing career in the entertainment industry.
[5] In a 2014 interview, she reiterated that she had no regrets about the end of her dancing career due to the move to Newport Beach, "I’ve had a great life.
Most of her work featured scenery or wildlife from destinations she had visited, including Spain, the home of Paul Cézanne in France, and wild gerenuks from Africa.
[5] Guggenheim has noticed the painting hanging in her Newport Beach magazine office and paid $200 for the artwork.