CABARET VILLE MAGAZINE. P53.

REVISITING  SUPERSTARS AND LEGENDS BY MAXIMILLIEN DE LAFAYETTE

ANN MILLER

She Was #1 In The World...

 

 

What breaks my heart is the fatal blow of death that takes away from me, the people I love and admire. Our biggest enemy is not communism or absurd intellectualism, radical fanaticism or arrogant vanity, but DEATH ITSELF. The fact that we will never see again the face of  our beloved friends, family members and buddies who left us for ever kills me. And how silly is the human race that waits for such tragic loss to immortalize or remember such outstanding human beings. People like Ida Lupino, my wonderful friends Simone Signoret and Melina Mercouri, Maria Felix, and now Ann Miller...

The star of forty motion pictures and Broadway shows, national tours and innumerable television appearances, Ann Miller has been tap dancing since her earliest childhood days. Ann began her Hollywood career at age eleven, and with her vibrant personality, great legs and her tap dancing, won a seven year contract with R.K.O. at the age of thirteen (claiming to be eighteen). She was so remarkable that by age fourteen, she played Ginger Roger's dancing partner in "Stage Door", which started a Motion Picture Career that spanned 20 years. During that period, Ann appeared in more than 40 films. At fifteen, Ann was "borrowed" by Columbia to appear with James Stewart and Jean Arthur in "You Can't Take It With You" which won the Academy Award for Best Picture of 1938. That same year, back at R.K.O., she appeared with the Marx Brothers in "Room Service". She left R.K.O. and starred on Broadway in the George White Scandals of 1939 and 1940. Following her initial contract with R.K.O., Ann came back to appear in the Rogers and Hart musical, "Too Many Girls". She went on to make twelve movies in six years at Columbia Studios. She was borrowed by Republic Studio to star in Gene Autry's first musical "Melody Ranch" in 1940 and "Hit Parade" of 1941. Ann Miller was then signed by MGM where, from the late forties to the mid fifties, she starred in some of MGM's most spectacular musical productions, as well as, in films where she played straight acting roles. These memorable musicals included "Easter Parade" which featured her dancing with Fred Astaire and "On The Town" with Gene Kelly. Ann appeared in top notch form in the role of Bianca, in what is considered her finest film for MGM, "Kiss Me Kate". Several of Ann Miller's legendary dance and song routines were featured in "That's Dancing" and the popular retrospective films "That's Entertainment I", and "That's Entertainment 11". In 1994 she was the hostess for the Fred Astaire segment of "That's Entertainment III which also featured some of her dance numbers. For years, MGM was proud to have the outgoing, charming and articulate Ann Miller represent them around the world on speaking engagements, and personal appearances as a most effective Good Will Ambassador. CONTINUES NEXT