CYD CHARISSE DIES
A goddess has left us…
CYD CHARISSE, the Texas film star who danced in MGM musicals with the likes of FRED ASTAIRE and GENE KELLY, died today in Los Angeles. She was 86.
Ms. Charisse was born and raised in Amarillo. From her earliest years she was called “Sid” because her older brother couldn’t pronounce the word sister. That later evolved into her stage name. She was a sickly girl who took dance lessons to build up her strength after having polio.
At 14 she auditioned for the head of Russia’s famed BALLET RUSSE, became part of the Corps de Ballet and toured the U.S. and Europe.
She arrived at MGM just as the studio was becoming known for the production of large scale glamourous musicals. She appeared in THE BAND WAGON, SINGIN’ IN THE RAIN, BRIGADOON, IT’S ALWAYS FAIR WEATHER, INVITATION TO THE DANCE and on Broadway as a ballet dancer in GRAND HOTEL.
GENE KELLY likely would have cast her in the Best Picture winner of 1951, AN AMERICAN IN PARIS, but she was pregnant at the time. The role went to LESLIE CARON.
Ms. Charisse was a cross between AVA GARDNER and RITA HAYWORTH. My uncle thought she was the most gorgeous woman in all of creation. She could take on anything dancewise (she had brilliant instincts) and she was quite a good actor as well.
She was only 5′6″, but in high heels and full length stockings, she seemed serenely tall and moved with extraordinary grace. Her flawless beauty and jet black hair contributed to an aura that FRED ASTAIRE described in his 1959 memoir, STEPS IN TIME, as “beautiful dynamite”.
He said of her in an interview: “She wasn’t a tap dancer. She’s just beautiful, trained, very strong in whatever she did. When we were dancing, we didn’t know what time it was.”
DEBBIE REYNOLDS, who starred with her in SINGIN’ IN THE RAIN, said in a statement, “Her beauty was breathtaking. The world will miss her dancing.”
Absolutely…
June 19, 2008 at 11:40 am
This just stinks. I’m tired of seeing the good ones slip away.
The LA Film Festival is going to get in my way, but I’m planning on revisiting a bunch of Cyd’s movies soon. It’s been too long since I’ve seen some of them.
RIP
June 19, 2008 at 11:50 am
Honey, I am SO with you. But the beloved lady was 86.
She lived a long and wonderful life by the accounts I heard. She was actually still married.
Ms. Charisse left a fabulous legacy for us all. It would suck if she had passed away as a gorgeous, vital young woman or even middleaged. But she was in her mid 80s. Lots of people don’t even last that long.
I think it’s getting to us because we’ve had a LOT of extremely talented people that revolutionized the industry – that were exceedingly well loved – go within a relatively short amount of time.
Don’t be sad, Craig. Please. The universe is unfolding as it should.
Even though it may be hard to comprehend some days…