Cyd Charisse
June 17, 2008 (aged 86)
Lily Norwood
Felia Siderova
Maria Istomina
- Actress
- dancer
1939–2008
2
Nana Visitor (niece)
After recovering from polio as a child and studying ballet, Charisse entered films in the 1940s. Her roles usually featured her abilities as a dancer, and she was paired with Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly; her films include Singin' in the Rain (1952), The Band Wagon (1953), Brigadoon with Gene Kelly and Van Johnson (1954), and Silk Stockings (1957). She stopped dancing in films in the late 1950s, but continued acting in film and television, and in 1991 made her Broadway debut.[3] In her later years, she discussed the history of the Hollywood musical in documentaries, and was featured in That's Entertainment! III in 1994. She was awarded the National Medal of the Arts and Humanities in 2006.
Early life[edit]
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 to build up her strength after a bout of polio. At 12, she studied ballet in Los Angeles with Adolph Bolm and Bronislava Nijinska, and at 14, she auditioned for and subsequently danced in the Ballet Russe de Monte-Carlo as "Felia Siderova"[7][8] and, later, "Maria Istomina".[8] She was educated at the Hollywood Professional School.[9]
During a European tour, she met up again with Nico Charisse, a young dancer she had studied with for a time in Los Angeles. They married in Paris in 1939 and had a son, Nicky.[5]
Career[edit]
Early films[edit]
Charisse appeared uncredited in some films like Escort Girl (1941) and was in a short for Warner Bros, The Gay Parisian (1942).
The outbreak of World War II led to the breakup of 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 her to the attention of choreographer Robert Alton—who had also discovered 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[edit]
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 ballerina.
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 supporting Judy Garland in the 1946 film The Harvey Girls.[10]
She followed it with Three Wise Fools (1946) and she danced with Gower Champion to "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes" in Till the Clouds Roll By (1946). She also had a supporting role in the Esther Williams musical Fiesta (1947).
Personal life[edit]
Charisse's first husband, whose surname she kept, was Greek-born Nico Charisse;[18] they were married in 1939 and had a son, Nico "Nicky" Charisse, before divorcing in 1947. In 1948, Charisse married singer Tony Martin, and remained married to him until her death in 2008. They had a son, Tony Martin Jr.[19]
Her daughter-in-law is actress and model Liv Lindeland, who was married to Tony Martin Jr. until his death in 2011. Sheila Charisse, another daughter-in-law and the wife of Nicky Charisse, her son from her first marriage to Nico, died in the crash of American Airlines Flight 191 on May 25, 1979.[20] Charisse, like her husband Tony Martin Sr., was a staunch Republican and campaigned for Barry Goldwater in the 1964 United States presidential election[21] and Richard Nixon in 1968.[22] She was the aunt of the actress Nana Visitor.[23]
Charisse was admitted to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California on June 16, 2008, after suffering an apparent heart attack. She died the following day at age 86.[24] She was a practicing Methodist, but due to her husband's religion she was buried at Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery, a Jewish cemetery in Culver City, California,[25] following a Methodist ceremony.[26][27]
