A publicist for Cyd Charisse says the actress-dancer has died in Los Angeles at age 86. Publicist Gene Schwam says Charisse died early today at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center after suffering an apparent heart attack on Monday.
Charisse was a long-legged Texas beauty who danced with the Ballet Russe as a teenager and starred in MGM musicals with Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly. She also appeared in dramatic films, but her fame came from Technicolor musicals of the 1940s and '50s.
One of her best is the “Broadway Melody Ballet" sequence with partner Gene Kelly in MGM's 1952 classic Singin' In The Rain. Her numerous big screen pairings with both Kelly and Astaire are now considered industry benchmarks.
On December 15th, 2000 Cyd was presented with the very first Nijinsky award from Princess Caroline in Monoco for her lifelong contributions to the world of dance. Ill bet the great Nijinsky himself might have enjoyed dancing with Cyd. As Fred Astaire so aptly stated about his favorite partner Cyd Charisse, When youve danced with her, you stay danced with.
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