- Nobody had a better pair of gams (legs) or more educated feet than the beautiful Miss Tula Ellice Finklea (Cyd Charisse). That's her with Mr. Gene Kelly just above in the 1952 release of "Singin' In The Rain" (Click Pic Above for video).
When I think of cinema's greatest dancers, Ann Miller, Eleanor Powell, and Cyd Charisse come to mind. As far as I'm concerned, those three were as accomplished as (if not more accomplished than) their male counterparts, and even more importantly, I always found them more exciting to watch. They had great legs, great smiles, and great charm, and each excelled in different dance styles: Miller was exuberant, Powell was acrobatic, and Charisse, who had been trained as a ballerina in the Russian tradition, was both classy and sexy.
Move your mouse pointer over the pic on the left for the larger size. Miss Cyd was born on March 8, 1922 in Amarillo, Texas (one of those gutsy Texas girls!). After sufering a mild case of polio, she began taking ballet lessons at the age of 6 and at 14yrs old auditioned for the Ballet Russe dance company. She danced with the Ballet Russe using the names Maria Istomina and Felia Sidorova.
She was one of those "stick to it" kinda girls and was married only twice (almost a record for Hollywood). At a very young 17 she ran off with her Ballet instructor (Nico Charisse) got married in 1939 and kept his surname throughout her life. The marriage to Nico lasted until 1947 (eight years) and ended in the proverbial divorce so she could marry TONY MARTIN in 1948.
A very classy lady. She stayed married to Tony for 60yrs. You know they've been through the mill with all the strains of a Hollywood marriage and stuck it out! Here's a good BIOGRAPHY (I luv those Texas Girls!). Even the "Guinness Book of Records" reported her legs had been insured for five million dollars way back in 1952 when $5 million was worth a king's fortune! The buzz around town was that MGM had also insured each of her legs for a million $ a piece! It turned out to be all rumor as Miss Cyd said: "an invention of the MGM publicity machine" I LUV THIS STUFF!
! Move your mouse pointer over the word on the left. Let's face it, her legs weren't her only ASSets! WOW! What a girl! If you're a "Leg Man" like me here's a great site that shows off Miss Cyd's gams CLICK HERE.
She had an "adequate" singing voice but in this movie (BRIGADOON) her voice was dubbed in by Miss Carol Richards. I loved this movie about two guys on a hunting trip in old time Scotland.
No comments:
Post a Comment