Throwback Thursday and Vera-Ellen
Vera-Ellen Westmeyer Rohe was born on February 16, 1921 in
Norwood, Ohio. She began her dance training at age 9, but within only a few
years she became one of the youngest Radio City Music Hall Rockettes. She also
performed on Broadway.
In 1945 she was discovered by film producer Samuel Goldwyn
and went to Hollywood to play opposite Danny Kaye in the film Wonder Man. She quickly established
herself as a highly motivated, hard worker and she went on to dance with Gene
Kelly (On the Town), and Fred Astaire
(Three Little Words). But her most
famous role was in the movie White
Christmas with Bing Crosby.
She was married twice: first to actor and dancer Robert
Hightower, then to Victor Rothschild, but both marriages ended in divorce. She
lost her only daughter in 1963 to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. Vera-Ellen is believed
to have suffered from anorexia, and this may be why in White Christmas her neck
is always covered – since anorexia ages the body, and the effects are readily seen
in the neck.
Her last film was Let’s
Be Happy in 1957, after which she retired from public life, but continued
to take dance classes, partly as a treatment for her arthritis. Vera-Ellen died
of cancer on August 30, 1981 in Los Angeles.
A biography called Vera-Ellen:
the Magic and the Mystery was written by David Soren.
From the Big Blue Book of Ballet Secrets:
Dance History Factoid #92:
“Vera-Ellen is best remember for her
role in the movie White Christmas.”
Link of the Day:
Quote
of the Day:
“Dancing is like breathing-missing a day
doing either is very bad.
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