Sheila Kuehl
Kuehl was born Sheila Ann Kuehl in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Her father, Arthur, was an airplane construction worker at Douglas Aircraft. He was Catholic and her mother, Lillian, was Jewish. As a child actress she performed under the stage name Sheila James.
Sheila Kuehl
At age seven Kuehl's parents noticed that she loved to try to play piano and sing though she lacked any training. Kuehl's parents agreed to pay for lessons when a door-to-door salesmen came to their home selling Saturday classes for tap-dancing, ballet, and singing lessons at Meglin Studios. Her parents would accompany her by bus for tap-dancing lessons at the studio every Saturday. As the tap instructor's wife taught drama classes for an additional 50 cents, Kuehl's parents signed her up for those as well. The classes would have recitals on Monday nights to showcase what they had learned.