Cyd Charisse

Born Tula Ellice Finklea, Cyd Charisse was born in Amarillo, Texas. She suffered from polio as a young girl and took up dancing as part of her recovery. As a teenager, she was sent to California for professional dance training and landed in the touring troupe of the Ballet Russe Monte Carlo, where she met her first husband, Nico Charisse. After a couple of anonymous background dancing roles, Charisse appeared earned her first credit in "Something to Talk About" (1943) using the name Lily Norwood. She landed a contract at MGM and producer Arthur Freed changed her name to Cyd Charisse for her appearance in "Zeigfeld Follies" (1945), directed by Vincente Minelli. Freed cast Charisse again in "Singin' in the Rain" (1952), this time in a single dance scene with Gene Kelly, but it was enough to make her the leading lady in her next film, "The Band Wagon" (1953) with Fred Astaire, again produced by Freed and directed by Minelli. She proved to be a reliable lead in musical/dance films like "Brigadoon" (1954) and "Silk Stockings" (1957), until the late 1950s, which saw a decline in the popularity of the genre. With dancing on the wane, Charisse began to take more dramatic roles. Starting with "Party Girl" (1958), she began to escape the dance genre, and for the next decade appeared in supporting roles in films like "Assassination in Rome" (1965) and "The Silencers" (1966), as well as guest roles on shows like "Fantasy Island" (ABC, 1977-1984) and "Murder, She Wrote" (CBS, 1984-1996). Charisse continued appearing on screen through the 1980s. She passed away in 2008.