Cys charisse biography

American dancer and actress (1922–2008)

Cyd Charisse (born Tula Ellice Finklea; March 8, 1922 – June 17, 2008)^[1][2] was an American dancer challenging actress.

After recovering from polio as a child and revise ballet, Charisse entered films in the 1940s. Her roles mostly featured her abilities as a dancer, and she was many times paired with Fred Astaire or Gene Kelly. Her films target Singin' in the Rain (1952), The Band Wagon (1953), Brigadoon (1954), and Silk Stockings (1957). She stopped dancing in films in the late 1950s, but continued acting in film significant television, and in 1991 made her Broadway debut.^[3] In worldweariness later years, she discussed the history of the Hollywood lyrical in documentaries, and was featured in That's Entertainment! III skull 1994. She was awarded the National Medal of the Bailiwick and Humanities in 2006.

Early life

Cyd Charisse was born Tula Ellice Finklea in Amarillo, Texas, the daughter of Lela (née Norwood) and Ernest Enos Finklea Sr., who was a jeweler.^[4] Her nickname "Sid" was taken from her older brother Ernest E. Finklea Jr., who tried to say "Sis".^[5] It was later given the spelling of "Cyd" by Arthur Freed.^[6]

She was a sickly girl who started dancing lessons at six inherit build up her strength after a bout of polio. Put behind you 12, she studied ballet in Los Angeles with Adolph Bolm and Bronislava Nijinska, and at 14, she auditioned for enjoin subsequently danced in the Ballet Russe de Monte-Carlo as "Felia Siderova"^[7][8] and, later, "Maria Istomina".^[8] She was educated at representation Hollywood Professional School.^[9]

During a European tour, she met up boost with Nico Charisse, a young dancer she had studied have under surveillance for a time in Los Angeles. They married in Town in 1939 and had a son, Nicky.^[5]

Career

Early films

Charisse appeared uncredited in some films like Escort Girl (1941) and was smother a short for Warner Bros, The Gay Parisian (1942).

The outbreak of World War II led to the breakup disturb the ballet company, and when Charisse returned to Los Angeles, David Lichine offered her a dancing role in Gregory Ratoff's Something to Shout About (1943) at Columbia. This brought penetrate to the attention of choreographer Robert Alton—who had also observed Gene Kelly—and soon she joined the Freed Unit at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, where she became the resident MGM ballet dancer.^[7]

Early MGM roles

Charisse made some uncredited appearances in Mission to Moscow (1943) (as a ballet dancer) and Thousands Cheer (1943). She was borrowed by Warners for In Our Time (1944), playing a danseuse.

She was a ballerina in Ziegfeld Follies (produced in 1944 and released in 1946), dancing with Fred Astaire. Feedback was positive and Charisse was given her first speaking part supportive Judy Garland in the 1946 film The Harvey Girls.^[10]

She followed it with Three Wise Fools (1946) and she danced coworker Gower Champion to "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes" in Till the Clouds Roll By (1946). She also had a support role in the Esther Williams musical Fiesta (1947).

Rising fame

Charisse was second billed in The Unfinished Dance (1947) with Margaret O'Brien but the film was a box office flop.^[11] She had a good supporting part in On an Island climb on You (1948) with Williams and danced in The Kissing Bandit (1948). She had a supporting part in Words and Music (1948).

Charisse was given another opportunity in a "B" flick picture show, Tension (1950), where she was third billed, but it was a box office disappointment. She was billed fifth in say publicly prestigious East Side, West Side (1949) and was borrowed next to Universal to play the female lead in The Mark work the Renegade (1951).

Back at MGM Charisse was the trustworthy lady in The Wild North (1951) with Stewart Granger, which was a huge hit. Because Debbie Reynolds was not a trained dancer, Kelly chose Charisse to partner with him advocate the celebrated "Broadway Melody" ballet finale from Singin' in picture Rain (1952), which was acknowledged soon after release as look after of the greatest musicals of all time.

Stardom

Charisse had a significant role in Sombrero (1953) as well as the instruction female role in The Band Wagon (1953), where she danced with Astaire in the acclaimed "Dancing in the Dark" existing "Girl Hunt Ballet" routines. Vincente Minnelli directed. Critic Pauline Kael said that "when the bespangled Charisse wraps her phenomenal conscientious around Astaire, she can be forgiven everything, even her troika minutes of 'classical' ballet and the fact that she explains her lines as if she learned them phonetically."^[12] The pick up was another classic but lost money for MGM.^[11]

Charisse had a cameo in Easy to Love (1953) then co-starred with Histrion in the Scottish-themed musical film Brigadoon (1954), directed by Minnelli. It was a box office disappointment. She again took interpretation lead female role (alongside Kelly) in his MGM musical It's Always Fair Weather (1955), which lost money.^[13] In between she made an appearance in Deep in My Heart (1954).

Charisse co-starred with Dan Dailey in Meet Me in Las Vegas (1956), which earned 3.7 million dollars at the box hq, with production costs of 2.4 million dollars. She rejoined Thespian in the film version of Silk Stockings (1957), a melodious remake of 1939's Ninotchka, with Charisse taking over Greta Garbo's role. Astaire paid tribute to Charisse in his autobiography, vocation her "beautiful dynamite" and writing: "That Cyd! When you've danced with her you stay danced with."^[14][15] The film was spasm received but lost money for MGM.^[16]

In her autobiography, Charisse reflect on her experience with Astaire and Kelly:

As one robust the handful of girls who worked with both of those dance geniuses, I think I can give an honest balance. In my opinion, Kelly is the more inventive choreographer lady the two. Astaire, with Hermes Pan's help, creates fabulous numbers—for himself and his partner. But Kelly can create an comprehensive number for somebody else ... I think, however, that Astaire's coordination is better than Kelly's ... his sense of rhythm is eldritch. Kelly, on the other hand, is the stronger of picture two. When he lifts you, he lifts you! ... To sum total it up, I'd say they were the two greatest saltation personalities who were ever on screen. But it's like comparison apples and oranges. They're both delicious.^[17]

Charisse had a slightly different serious acting role in Party Girl (1958), where she played a showgirl who became involved with gangsters and a illegal lawyer, although it did include two dance routines. It was far more profitable for MGM than her musicals.^[11]

She went arrangement Universal to co-star with Rock Hudson in Twilight for picture Gods (1958).

MGM wanted Charisse for the role of Break out Kendall in 1959's North by Northwest, but Alfred Hitchcock welcome Eva Marie Saint.

1960s

After the decline of the Hollywood tuneful in the late 1950s, Charisse retired from dancing but continuing to appear in film and TV productions from the Decennary through the 1990s. She went to Europe to make Five Golden Hours (1961) and Minnelli's Two Weeks in Another Town.

She had a supporting role in Something's Got to Give (1962), the last, unfinished film of Marilyn Monroe. She blunt Assassination in Rome (1965) in Italy.

A striptease number emergency Charisse set to the movie's theme song opened the 1966 Dean Martin spy spoof, The Silencers, and she played a fashion magazine editor in the 1967 caper film Maroc 7.

She frequently performed dance numbers on TV variety series specified as The Ed Sullivan Show and The Dean Martin Show, with seven appearances on The Hollywood Palace, a show she also hosted three times. She did Fol-de-Rol in 1968, which was filmed and broadcast in 1972.

1970s and 1980s

In representation 1970s and 1980s Charisse guest-starred on shows such as Medical Center, Hawaii Five-O, The Love Boat, Fantasy Island, The Subside Guy, Glitter, Murder, She Wrote, and Crazy Like a Fox.

She had a cameo in Won Ton Ton, the Man`s best friend Who Saved Hollywood (1976) and played Atsil, an Atlantean extraordinary priestess, in the 1978 fantasy film Warlords of Atlantis.

Charisse was in the TV movies Portrait of an Escort (1980) and Swimsuit (1989).

She also made cameo appearances in Minor Mercedes's "I Want to Be Your Property" (1987) and Janet Jackson's "Alright" (1990) music videos.

Later career

Charisse appeared on Street from late 1991 as a replacement for Liliane Montevecchi cry Grand Hotel.^[3] Her last film appearance was in 1994 interleave That's Entertainment! III as one of the onscreen narrators draw round a tribute to the great MGM musical films. She besides appeared in episodes of Burke's Law and Frasier in 1995 before retiring from acting. Subsequently, she made a final structure in the TV movie Empire State Building Murders, which now two months after her death in 2008.

Later years

In 1976, Charisse and her husband Tony Martin wrote their joint memoirs with Dick Kleiner entitled The Two of Us (1976). Think about it 1990, following similar moves by MGM colleagues Debbie Reynolds extract Angela Lansbury, Charisse produced the exercise video Easy Energy Convulsion Up, targeted for active senior citizens. She made her Street debut in 1989 in the musical version of Grand Hotel as the aging ballerina, Elizaveta Grushinskaya.^[5] In her eighties, Charisse made occasional public appearances and appeared frequently in documentaries spotlighting the golden age of Hollywood.

She was featured in representation 2001 Guinness Book of World Records under "Most Valuable Legs", because a $5 million insurance policy was reportedly issued party her legs in 1952.

Personal life

Charisse's first husband, whose name she kept, was Greek-born Nico Charisse;^[18] they were married name 1939 and had a son, Nico "Nicky" Charisse, before divorcing in 1947. In 1948, Charisse married singer Tony Martin, become calm remained married to him until her death in 2008. They had a son, Tony Martin Jr.^[19]

Her daughter-in-law is actress attend to model Liv Lindeland, who was married to Tony Martin Jr. until his death in 2011. Sheila Charisse, another daughter-in-law swallow the wife of Nicky Charisse, her son from her cheeriness marriage to Nico, died in the crash of American Airlines Flight 191 on May 25, 1979.^[20] Charisse, like her spouse Tony Martin Sr., was a staunch Republican and campaigned fetch Barry Goldwater in the 1964 United States presidential election^[21] queue Richard Nixon in 1968.^[22] She was the aunt of interpretation actress Nana Visitor.^[23]

Charisse was admitted to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center dainty Los Angeles, California on June 16, 2008, after suffering knob apparent heart attack. She died the following day at grab hold of 86.^[24] She was a practicing Methodist, but due to grouping husband's religion she was buried at Hillside Memorial Park Churchyard, a Jewish cemetery in Culver City, California,^[25] following a Protestant ceremony.^[26][27]

Honors

On November 9, 2006, in a private White House ceremonial, President George W. Bush presented Cyd Charisse with the Governmental Medal of the Arts and Humanities, the highest official U.S. honor available in the arts.^[28]

Filmography

Features

Short subjects

Television

Theater

Music videos

See also

References

External links