 |
| Cyd Charisse |
With her legs once insured for $1 million, Hollywood dancer and actress Cyd Charisse was one of the biggest names in the heyday of the Hollywood musical. Charisse died in her Los Angeles home Wednesday at 87, the last of the great Hollywood dance greats.
A frequent partner of Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire, the Associated Press reported that Charisse suffered a heart attack at her home and never recovered. Charisse rose to fame with a brief but memorable role in Singin’ in the Rain.
Her brief but memorable entrance as Kelly’s straw hat dangled on the tip of her high heel, treating audiences to a glimpse at her fully extended leg, paved the way for lead roles in movies including Vincente Minnelli's Brigadoon and opposite Astaire in The Band Wagon.
After Hollywood stopped spending money on lavish movie musicals, Charisse turned to France, where she produced Les Collants Noirs, and later, Broadway, where she madeher debut at 70 years old in a remake of Grand Hotel.
Charisse started dancing at age six on a doctor’s recommendation that it might help her to recover from Polio.
She notoriously turned down an offer to costar with Kelly in An American in Paris, arguing that she wanted to devote her time to starting a family with husband Tony Martin.
That marriage lasted 60 years and produced one child, Tony Jr.
