Cyd Charisse, technically speaking the greatest female dancer in movie history but perhaps the most underappreciated by posterity, has passed at age 86.
Classically trained and touring internationally as a ballerina in her teens, Cyd entered the movies during World War II and proceeded to conquer every style from tango to tap. Her elegant brunette beauty (in an era dominated by Marilyn Monroe look-alikes) and her reserved onscreen persona kept her from becoming a household name like dancer comediennes Ginger Rogers and Rita Hayworth. But dance legends Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire recognized her amazing skills and demanded Cyd play the female lead in their pictures after her breakthrough work in Kelly's 1952 masterpiece Singin' In the Rain. She made five films with Kelly and Astaire altogether, including Brigadoon, The Band Wagon, It's Always Fair Weather, and Silk Stockings. Unfortunately, big Hollywood musicals fell out of style soon after she made it to the top.
Words fail when you're talking about Cyd's dancing (or her legendary legs, insured for a million dollars by MGM), so I'll let the legend speak for herself:
"Flaming Flamenco" (with Ricardo Montalban) from Fiesta, 1947.
"Broadway Melody" Parts 1 and 2 (with Gene Kelly) from Singin' In the Rain, 1952.
"Frankie and Johnny" (with John Brascia and Liliane Montevecchi) from Meet Me In Las Vegas, 1956.
"The Girl Hunt Ballet" (with Fred Astaire) from The Band Wagon, 1957.
"Dancing Doll" from Party Girl, 1958.
I pray Cyd's dancing in heaven today.
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