Vera-Ellen
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Vera-Ellen (February 16, 1921 - August 30, 1981) was an American actress and stage and film dancer, principally celebrated for her filmed dance partnerships with Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly and Donald O'Connor.
She was born Vera Ellen Westmeier Rohe in Norwood, Ohio to Martin Rohe and Alma Catherine Westmeier, both descended from German immigrants. She began dancing at the age of 9 and quickly became very proficient. At 16, she was a winner on the Major Bowes Amateur Hour, and entered upon a professional career.
In 1939, Vera-Ellen made her Broadway theatre debut in the Jerome Kern/Oscar Hammerstein musical Very Warm For May at the age of 18. She became one of the youngest Rockettes at Radio City Music Hall, although she was not tall. This led to roles on Broadway in Panama Hattie, By Jupiter, and A Connecticut Yankee, where she was spotted by Samuel Goldwyn, who cast her opposite Danny Kaye and Virginia Mayo in the film Wonder Man (1945).
She appeared in several films, including White Christmas (1954), On the Town (1949), the "Slaughter on Tenth Avenue" dance in Words and Music (1948) -- the last two with Gene Kelly. Vera-Ellen was also one of the stars in the last Marx Brothers film, Love Happy (1949). She took top billing alongside Fred Astaire in Three Little Words (1950) and The Belle of New York (1952), with Donald O'Connor in Call Me Madam (1953), and in Let's Be Happy (1957).
During the 1950s, she was reputed to have the "smallest waist in Hollywood", probably because she suffered from anorexia, which contributed to her premature aging [1]. She retired from the screen in 1957.
She died of cancer at her home in California at the age of 60 in 1981.
[edit] Filmography
- Wonder Man (1945)
- The Kid from Brooklyn (1946)
- Three Little Girls in Blue (1946)
- Carnival in Costa Rica (1947)
- Words and Music (1948)
- Love Happy (1949)
- On the Town (1949)
- Three Little Words (1950)
- Happy Go Lovely (1951)
- The Belle of New York (1952)
- Call Me Madam (1953)
- Big Leaguer (1953)
- White Christmas (1954)
- Let's Be Happy (1957)
[edit] References
David Soren, Vera-Ellen, The Magic and the Mystery, Luminary Press, ISBN 1-887664-48-3
