Tennessee Williams on Stage & Screen in New York -Festival Begins December 9th
Some Like It Wilder: The Life and Controversial Films of Billy Wilder - Coming in February
5 Chillers in the Universal Cult Horror Collection on DVD
Robert Redford in Downhill Racer on DVD
Ballast - Lance Hammer's Critically Acclaimed Drama
Z - Costa-Gavras's Oscar-winning Thriller on DVD

CYD CHARISSE (1922-2008)

CYD CHARISSE (1922-2008) Cyd Charisse, MGM’s star dancer whose graceful technique and stunning dark beauty were essential components in the success of such musical gems as Singin' in the Rain (1952), The Band Wagon (1953) and Brigadoon (1954), died on June 17 at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, just one day after suffering a heart attack. She was 86.

She was born Tula Ellice Finklea on March 8, 1922, in Amarillo, Texas. A victim of childhood polio, she began taking ballet lessons at age six to build up her strength. It was during a family holiday in Hollywood, when just 12 years of age, that her parents decided to further her dance education by enrolling her in ballet classes. She was a devout pupil, and her classical training eventually came to the attention of the Ballet Russe. She joined when she was just 16, and the following year, while touring Europe, she married her former dance instructor, Nico Charisse.

When she returned to the United States, she became a background dancer for MGM in a string of features: Mission to Moscow (1943), Thousands Cheer (1943), This Love of Mine (1944). She came to notice in 1946 with two popular musicals, as one of the Harvey girls in the Judy Garland vehicle The Harvey Girls and, with Fred Astaire for a sequence for the musical revue Ziegfield Follies.

MGM offered her a seven-year contract, and the dancer took on a childhood nickname, Cyd, adding an extra ‘s’ to her husband’s surname. The newly christened Cyd Charisse was now ready to make her mark. Unfortunately, she found herself playing a variety of ethnic roles (due to her dark hair and eyes) in some forgettable fare: As Ricardo Montalban’s Latina girlfriend, Conchita, in Fiesta (1947); Yvonne, a Polynesian in On an Island with You (1948); as a Latina again for the dramas East Side, West Side (1949) and Mark of the Renegade (1951), and as an Indian Girl who falls for Stewart Granger in the Western The Wild North (1952).

Her career took a turn for the better when she was cast as Gene Kelly’s dance partner in the unforgettable “Broadway Melody” sequence in Singin' In The Rain (1952). Complete with Louise Brooks’ style bangs, and a bright green flapper dress, Charisse simply smoldered in her routines with Kelly, bringing a great musical that much closer to perfection. Sure, there may have been other dancers who could match her technical proficiency, but could any of them infuse a turn, an extension or a pirouette with such panther like sexuality and seductiveness? You know the answer.

Afterwards, she played in some fine musicals throughout the ‘50s, using her lithe, supple movements to partner again with the two leading dancers of cinema: Astaire (The Band Wagon (1953) and Silk Stockings (1957) and Kelly (Brigadoon (1954) and It’s Always Fair Weather (1955). By the end of the decade, big budget musicals were on their way out, but Charisse proved she could hold her own as an actress in straight dramatic material. Arguably her two best films in this latter vein are Nicholas Ray’s tough color noir Party Girl (1958) and, Vincente Minnelli’s intriguing look at moviemaking in Two Weeks In Another Town (1962).

Charisse, like many stars of her generation, would make occasional television appearances on TV shows such as Hawaii Five-O, The Love Boat, Fantasy Island, Murder, She Wrote. But she had kept a low-key profilefor the last several years save for a special showing at various events where she was honored for her contributions in cinema. She is survived by her husband of 60 years, Tony Martin; two sons, Nico (with Charisse) and Tony (with Martin); and two grandchildren.

by Michael T. Toole

Career and Personal Information on Cyd Charisse

Family

FATHER: Ernest Finklea. Jewelry store owner. Died c. 1934.

MOTHER: Lela Finklea.

SON: Nicky Charisse. Born 1940; father Nico Charisse.

SON: Tony Martin Jr. Born 1950; father Tony Martin.

Companion

HUSBAND: Nico Charisse. Ballet instructor. Married on August 12, 1939 in France; divorced in 1947; began studying dance with him from the age of 13.

HUSBAND: Tony Martin. Singer. Married on May 15, 1948; born on December 25, 1912 in San Francisco; formerly married to singer and actor Alice Faye from 1937 to 1940.

Milestones

Moved to Hollywood in her early teens

1935: Became a member of Ballet Russe's corp de ballet; toured around the United States with company but returned home before troupe went to Europe when her father fell ill

Returned to the Ballet Russe about a year; toured Europe during the late 1930s and eventually married her instructor Nico Charisse while on tour

1943: Met Russian actor-impresario-director Gregory Ratoff who saw that Charisse was used in Warner Bros. "Mission to Moscow" and his own "Something to Shout About", billed as Lily Norwood

1944: Signed to MGM contract

1945: Danced (unbilled) in a ballet around Fred Astaire in "Ziegfeld Follies"

1946: Film acting debut in "The Harvey Girls"

1948: Offered second lead role in "Easter Parade"; broke leg and role went to Ann Miller

1949: First dramatic film role in "East Side, West Side"

1951: Lost lead role opposite Gene Kelly in "An American in Paris" because of pregnancy

1951: Played first romantic lead in "Mark of the Renegade", a non-musical starring Ricardo Montalban

1952: Achieved star status as Gene Kelly's dance partner in the climactic "Broadway Melody" number of "Singin' in the Rain"

1953: First female lead in a musical, "The Band Wagon", opposite Fred Astaire

1957: Played last starring role in a film musical, "Silk Stockings", opposite Astaire

Continued for several years thereafter in non-musicals which sometimes included a dance number or two

1959: Hosted the TV variety special, "Meet Cyd Charisse"

1963: Made her nightclub debut with husband Tony Martin

1967 - 1968: Starred in two TV concert performance specials, "The Cyd Charisse Special" and "Center Stage: Cyd Charisse"

1976: Published dual autobiography with Tony Martin

1991: Made Broadway debut as a replacement for Liliane Montevecchi in the musical, "Grand Hotel"

1994: Was one of the hosts of the feature compilation documentary, "That's Entertainment III", a salute to MGM musicals from the late 1920s through the 50s.