Film Gecko

Cyd Charisse: RIP

by Jane Boursaw on June 18th, 2008

One of my favorite Cyd Charisse movies — 1946’s The Harvey Girls — was early in her career. She was “Deborah from Rhode Island” to Judy Garland’s “Susan Bradley.”

Charisse passed away Tuesday at the age of 86 after suffering an apparent heart attack. Known for her long legs that seemed to go on forever, it was shortly after “The Harvey Girls” that she appeared (uncredited) opposite Fred Astaire in Ziegfeld Follies. The role won her a 7-year contract with MGM.

One of the best female dancers in Hollywood history (just look at those legs!), she starred in such big-screen extravaganzas as Brigadoon (1954) and as a young Vicki Carr in The Silencers (1966). But the voice? Well, her singing was usually dubbed.

You know, she never spent much time on the screen, as if the filmmakers were saving her for the dance scenes, but wow, when she appeared, you couldn’t take your eyes off her. She also appeared in Three Wise Fools, Till the Clouds Roll By, Fiesta, The Unfinished Dance, Words and Music and The Kissing Bandit.

Her final dancing turns were in the ’50s in such films as It’s Always Fair Weather, Invitation to the Dance and Silk Stockings, a musical remake of “Ninotchka” that reteamed her with Astaire.

Thanks for sharing your considerable gifts with the world, Miss Charisse.

Image: Cyd Charisse, The Silencers, Columbia Pictures, 1966

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