Ann Miller, fabulous dancer, singer, and actress just passed away:

Dancer Ann Miller, one of the most memorable stars of musicals during their golden era in the 40s and 50s, died Thursday in Los Angeles of lung cancer; she was 81. A dark-haired beauty with legs that literally went up to there, Miller began her professional dancer as a child, taking dance lessons to help straighten her legs after a bout with rickets. She signed with RKO in 1937, when she was a mere 14, appearing in New Faces of 1937 and as part of the ensemble cast of Stage Door. Her fast-tapping talents – she claimed a record-holding 500 taps a minute – won her a string of roles in musicals for RKO and Republic, including Melody Ranch and Hit Parade of 1941. When the "golden era" of MGM musicals came along in the late 40s, Miller was too old to play the ingénue, but that didn't keep her from taking on memorable, second-lead roles in films like Easter Parade (where she was a last-minute substitute for Cyd Charisse, who broke her leg), The Kissing Bandit, On the Town, and her crowning achievement, Kiss Me, Kate, where she sang and danced the legendary number, "Too Darn Hot." During her years at MGM, she dated studio mogul Louis B. Mayer, but declined his offer of marriage. When the popularity of big-budget dance musicals declined in the late 50s, Miller pretty much ended her film career, but continued working extensively in television and on the stage. She experienced a second wave of popularity in the late 70s when she starred opposite Mickey Rooney in the Broadway show Sugar Babies, which toured extensively throughout the 80s; she later remarked that the show helped her become financially independent. Eschewing modern films because of their emphasis on sex and nudity, she made a brief but memorable return in David Lynch's Mulholland Drive, her last screen credit.

*****************
Ann Miller was a fabulous talent - I can't believe she's gone. Two of my favorite stars, Ann Miller and Jeanne Crain have gone within a month of each other. Ann was a lovely addition to Easter Parade and On the Town, and had an amazing role in Mulholland Dr. The last time I saw her was on Larry King, where she was commenting on the loss of her friend, Katharine Hepburn. So many gone, so fast. I'm just in tears right now, because I can't believe she's gone. Rest in peace, Ann. I always hoped to meet you someday, and someday, God willing, I still will. :)

http://www.thegoldenyears.org/ann_miller.jpg
Her last film, the fabulous Mulholland Dr:
http://www.davidlynch.de/coco.jpg

OMG, I love Ann Miller, thanks for the announcement Liza; she was one of the best female dancers, and I loved her during her Glory days at MGM in all those wonderful musicals..

God Bless Her....

Thats so sad. R.I.P. Ann.:(

Originally posted by Mrs. R.N.HARRIS
OMG, I love Ann Miller, thanks for the announcement Liza; she was one of the best female dancers, and I loved her during her Glory days at MGM in all those wonderful musicals..

God Bless Her....

Originally posted by Mrs. R.N.HARRIS

Originally posted by Mrs. R.N.HARRIS
OMG, I love Ann Miller, thanks for the announcement Liza; she was one of the best female dancers, and I loved her during her Glory days at MGM in all those wonderful musicals..

God Bless Her....

You're welcome. I'm glad to see there are still people out there who remember her :)

http://images.allposters.com/images/71/039_34389.jpg

Originally posted by Liza
You're welcome. I'm glad to see there are still people out there who remember her :)

http://images.allposters.com/images/71/039_34389.jpg

I love that bathing suit; she was so beautiful...:)

Originally posted by Mrs. R.N.HARRIS
I love that bathing suit; she was so beautiful...:)

She certainly was. What a loss :(

Celebrity death beeper has just confirmed it as well. Here's the article:

Dancer Ann Miller Dies of Cancer at 81

Jan 22, 9:16 PM (ET)
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Ann Miller, the raven-haired, long-legged actress and dancer whose machine-gun taps won her stardom during the golden age of movie musicals, died Thursday of lung cancer. She was 81.

Miller died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, said Esme Chandlee, her longtime friend and former publicist.

A onetime childhood dance prodigy, she reached the peak of her film career at MGM in the late 1940s and early '50s with "On the Town,""Easter Parade" and "Kiss Me Kate."

She remained a dazzling tapper in her 60s and earned millions on Broadway and touring with Mickey Rooney in "Sugar Babies," a razzmatazz tribute to the era of burlesque.


"At MGM, I always played the second feminine lead; I was never the star in films," she once recalled. "I was the brassy, good-hearted showgirl. I never really had my big moment on the screen.

"'Sugar Babies' gave me the stardom that my soul kind of yearned for."

Rooney said Thursday that Miller "was a great talent. She is a great talent. I'll never think of her as being gone."

"She told me the last time I spoke to her she wasn't feeling too well, and I said, 'Keep your head up, kid.' I'm just very sad."

Debbie Reynolds, who also danced in films, noted that Miller could sing as well as dance.

"She could knock 'em dead vocally as well as outdance everybody," Reynolds said.

Miller's legs, pretty face and fast tapping (she claimed the record of 500 taps a minute) earned her jobs in vaudeville and night clubs when she first came to Hollywood. She adopted the stage name of Anne Miller. Her early film career included working as a child extra in films and as a chorus girl in a minor musical, "The Devil on Horseback."

An appearance at the popular Bal Tabarin in San Francisco won a contract at RKO studio, where her name was shortened to Ann.

Her first film at RKO, "New Faces of 1937," featured her dancing. She next played an acting hopeful in "Stage Door," with Katharine Hepburn, Ginger Rogers, Lucille Ball and Eve Arden.

Most of her RKO films were low-budget musicals and comedies. A contract at Columbia Pictures started impressively with the role of the would-be ballerina in Frank Capra's Oscar-winning "You Can't Take It with You."

Then she was cast in a series of wartime B musicals with titles like "True to the Army,""Priorities on Parade" and "Hey Rookie."

When Cyd Charisse broke a leg before starting "Easter Parade" at MGM with Fred Astaire, Miller replaced her. That led to an MGM contract and her most enduring work.

She was teamed with Gene Kelly and Frank Sinatra in "On the Town," Red Skelton in "Watch the Birdie," and Bob Fosse in "Kiss Me Kate."

Other MGM films included: "Texas Carnival,""Lovely to Look At,""Small Town Girl,""Deep in My Heart,""Hit the Deck" and "The Opposite Sex."

The popularity of musicals declined in the 1950s, and her film career ended in 1956. Miller remained active in television and the theater, dancing and belting songs on Broadway in "Hello, Dolly" and "Mame."

In later years, she astounded audiences in New York, Las Vegas and on the road with her dynamic tapping in "Sugar Babies" when. The show, starring her and Rooney, opened on Broadway in 1979 and toured for years. In 1990, she commented that "Sugar Babies" had made her financially independent.

Before each performance, she practiced for an hour.

"Honestly, I have had to live like a high priestess in this show," she remarked in a 1984 interview. "It is a very, very lonely life. When you work the way I work - that means hard - there's no time for play."

She was born Johnnie Lucille Collier in Chireno, Texas, the first name dictated by her father, who had wanted a boy. After her parents divorced, she was called Annie, for reasons she never knew.

Growing up in Houston, Annie suffered from rickets, and dancing lessons helped straighten her legs. Her mother was almost totally deaf and could not find work. By the age of 12, Annie was almost full grown at 5 feet 5, and she danced to support her mother and herself.

While her career in Hollywood prospered, Miller became a regular figure in the town's night life, and she caught the eye of Louis B. Mayer, all-powerful head of MGM. They began dating and could be seen on the dance floors of Ciro's and Mocambo.

"I think one reason Mr. Mayer fancied himself in love with me was that he was lonely," she wrote in her 1972 autobiography, "Miller's High Life." Another reason: "He knew or reasoned that I was as virginal as the day I was born."

She declared that Mayer pleaded for marriage, but her ever-watchful mother would not allow it. She decided to accept the offer of marriage from steel heir Reese Milner.

It was a mistake. After giving birth to a daughter who died three hours later, she divorced Milner. Marriages to oilmen William Moss and Arthur Cameron also ended in divorce.

Originally posted by Liza
She certainly was. What a loss :(

Celebrity death beeper has just confirmed it as well. Here's the article:

Dancer Ann Miller Dies of Cancer at 81

Jan 22, 9:16 PM (ET)
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Ann Miller, the raven-haired, long-legged actress and dancer whose machine-gun taps won her stardom during the golden age of movie musicals, died Thursday of lung cancer. She was 81.

Miller died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, said Esme Chandlee, her longtime friend and former publicist.

A onetime childhood dance prodigy, she reached the peak of her film career at MGM in the late 1940s and early '50s with "On the Town,""Easter Parade" and "Kiss Me Kate."

She remained a dazzling tapper in her 60s and earned millions on Broadway and touring with Mickey Rooney in "Sugar Babies," a razzmatazz tribute to the era of burlesque.


"At MGM, I always played the second feminine lead; I was never the star in films," she once recalled. "I was the brassy, good-hearted showgirl. I never really had my big moment on the screen.

"'Sugar Babies' gave me the stardom that my soul kind of yearned for."

Rooney said Thursday that Miller "was a great talent. She is a great talent. I'll never think of her as being gone."

"She told me the last time I spoke to her she wasn't feeling too well, and I said, 'Keep your head up, kid.' I'm just very sad."

Debbie Reynolds, who also danced in films, noted that Miller could sing as well as dance.

"She could knock 'em dead vocally as well as outdance everybody," Reynolds said.

Miller's legs, pretty face and fast tapping (she claimed the record of 500 taps a minute) earned her jobs in vaudeville and night clubs when she first came to Hollywood. She adopted the stage name of Anne Miller. Her early film career included working as a child extra in films and as a chorus girl in a minor musical, "The Devil on Horseback."

An appearance at the popular Bal Tabarin in San Francisco won a contract at RKO studio, where her name was shortened to Ann.

Her first film at RKO, "New Faces of 1937," featured her dancing. She next played an acting hopeful in "Stage Door," with Katharine Hepburn, Ginger Rogers, Lucille Ball and Eve Arden.

Most of her RKO films were low-budget musicals and comedies. A contract at Columbia Pictures started impressively with the role of the would-be ballerina in Frank Capra's Oscar-winning "You Can't Take It with You."

Then she was cast in a series of wartime B musicals with titles like "True to the Army,""Priorities on Parade" and "Hey Rookie."

When Cyd Charisse broke a leg before starting "Easter Parade" at MGM with Fred Astaire, Miller replaced her. That led to an MGM contract and her most enduring work.

She was teamed with Gene Kelly and Frank Sinatra in "On the Town," Red Skelton in "Watch the Birdie," and Bob Fosse in "Kiss Me Kate."

Other MGM films included: "Texas Carnival,""Lovely to Look At,""Small Town Girl,""Deep in My Heart,""Hit the Deck" and "The Opposite Sex."

The popularity of musicals declined in the 1950s, and her film career ended in 1956. Miller remained active in television and the theater, dancing and belting songs on Broadway in "Hello, Dolly" and "Mame."

In later years, she astounded audiences in New York, Las Vegas and on the road with her dynamic tapping in "Sugar Babies" when. The show, starring her and Rooney, opened on Broadway in 1979 and toured for years. In 1990, she commented that "Sugar Babies" had made her financially independent.

Before each performance, she practiced for an hour.

"Honestly, I have had to live like a high priestess in this show," she remarked in a 1984 interview. "It is a very, very lonely life. When you work the way I work - that means hard - there's no time for play."

She was born Johnnie Lucille Collier in Chireno, Texas, the first name dictated by her father, who had wanted a boy. After her parents divorced, she was called Annie, for reasons she never knew.

Growing up in Houston, Annie suffered from rickets, and dancing lessons helped straighten her legs. Her mother was almost totally deaf and could not find work. By the age of 12, Annie was almost full grown at 5 feet 5, and she danced to support her mother and herself.

While her career in Hollywood prospered, Miller became a regular figure in the town's night life, and she caught the eye of Louis B. Mayer, all-powerful head of MGM. They began dating and could be seen on the dance floors of Ciro's and Mocambo.

"I think one reason Mr. Mayer fancied himself in love with me was that he was lonely," she wrote in her 1972 autobiography, "Miller's High Life." Another reason: "He knew or reasoned that I was as virginal as the day I was born."

She declared that Mayer pleaded for marriage, but her ever-watchful mother would not allow it. She decided to accept the offer of marriage from steel heir Reese Milner.

It was a mistake. After giving birth to a daughter who died three hours later, she divorced Milner. Marriages to oilmen William Moss and Arthur Cameron also ended in divorce.


Yeah, they were just showing clips of Kiss Me Kate on CNN:(

I know she is now in heaven with her daughter that she lost...

Originally posted by Mrs. R.N.HARRIS
I know she is now in heaven with her daughter that she lost...

That's a lovely thought :) Thank you for that.

Originally posted by Liza
That's a lovely thought :) Thank you for that.

You are very welcome:)

:(

This makes me sad... I saw her on stage in the production Sugar Babies on Broadway. I loved her in the film Easter Parade. It's one of my favorite movies. :(

never heard of her

Originally posted by STEPH_McMAHON_FAN
never heard of her

you missed out. ;) Watch Easter Parade.

I posted on the Chit Chat Movie Board last night. That was sad. I only have the movie "That's Entertainment!" a documentry of MGM movie musicals.

So sad. :( :( :(

She was an incredible dancer and singer- I love On The Town, Kiss Me Kate, and Easter Parade.

RIP Ann



For those of you who arent as into 40s and 50s musicals, she also guest-starred on Home Improvement as a ballroom dance instructor