Friday, December 6, 2013

BEVEY OF BEAUTY

 
Actress and dancer Ann Miller has always been one of my favorite Hollywood sirens. Could one woman hold more beauty and talent?
 



Ann Miller was an enduring actress and dancer famous for her long legs and tap-dancing speed.
Although she was unable to break through to the front ranks of movie stardom, Miller danced alongside legends Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire in a series of films for MGM in the late 1940s and early '50s, including "Easter Parade," "On the Town" and "Kiss Me Kate."
Born Johnnie Lucille Ann Collier in Chireno, Texas, Miller was enrolled by her mother in a tap-dancing school at age 5 to strengthen her legs after a case of rickets.
 


It was Lucille Ball and Benny Rubin who discovered her, and she went on the RKO Pictures and late on to become a MGM girl, making over 40 films. She was known, especially later in her career, for her distinctive appearance, which reflected a studio-era ideal of glamor: massive black bouffant hair, heavy makeup with a slash of crimson lipstick, and fashions that emphasized her lithe figure and long dancer's legs. Her film career effectively ended in 1956 as the studio system lost steam to television, but she remained active in the theatre and on television. One of my all time favorite spots was on the Love Boat, with fellows friends Carol Channing, Ethel Merman and Della Reese. It reminds me of the Mistress showing up for dinner.........
 

After years of refusing film offers because she hated the nudity and violence that had become almost a cliche in contemporary pictures, she went to work with one of the screen's most controversial directors, David Lynch, with a double role in Mulholland Dr. (2001), a film featuring both nudity and graphic violence. Of course, that wasn't what she had signed on for originally. The project was planned as a TV series for ABC, with Miller playing the eccentric landlady at a Hollywood apartment complex. When the network passed on the pilot, Lynch found funding for additional scenes and turned it into a feature. Miller's part became a double role. Her surprise appearance as a Hollywood hostess at the end gave fans a last look at their favorite and an inkling of what she could have done had she had time for more non-musical roles.
 

Miller died, aged 81, from lung cancer and was buried beside her infant daughter Mary, whom she loss from a fall down a flight of stairs. For her contribution to the motion picture industry, Miller has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame , a Golden Palm Star on the Palm Springs, California, Walk of Stars was dedicated to her. To honor her contribution to dance, the Smithsonian Institution displays her favorite pair of tap shoes, which she playfully nicknamed "Moe and Joe. She passed away in January 22, 2004.

31 comments:

  1. That's clip? Wow! And one of the more entertaining Love Boat episodes.

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  2. I think I just wet myself! Lovely post! And if ever there was a Mistress entrance at tavern on comac that was it. I had to make sure that was Ms.Miller!

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    1. It is rather like a Mistress entrance isn't it?

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    2. Well, if you gonna make an entrance do it right;

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  3. lOVE ANN MILLER! Such style she had. When she was on her tour of lounges and supper clubs we had the pleasure to see her twice. And she mingled with all afterward, very nice. We will never see the like of her again.

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    1. Oh Agnes I'm so jealous!!!! She was just so damn beautiful and talented. What a memory you have there.

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  4. With the innocent come hither look and that huge hair and entrance statements it is the mistress!

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  5. What a gal! As Miss Rita Moreno reminisced when I met her (name-dropper, moi?), she was a hell of a potty-mouth too...

    From Phyllis Newman's website: "She named all of her wigs with a childish euphemistic variation of the word (and place) ‘vagina’. When I moved in she proudly pointed to each one and in her inimitable trumpet voice declared – “She’s ‘Twat’ – she’s ‘Pussy’.” And well you get it..."

    Jx

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    1. Well, now this post is a gold mine of fabulous information!

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    2. I hear the Mistress does the same with his house boys.

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    3. That's right Jon, rub more salt in the wound. An a interesting fact I did not know but can't say I'm shocked,after all , all us glamour girls have a potty mouth don't we?

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    4. It's not potties we put in them, either. Jx

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    5. The Mistress would have said that first also if there wasn't already a cock in it.

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  6. Awww... you made me cry. She was one of a kind. And how apropos that she should appear on the Love Boat with her singing sister, Ethel Merman. Thanks for the mammaries! - Uptonking from Wonderland Burlesque

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    1. She makes me happy and sad too! Didn't mean to make you cry, can I make it up to you?

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  7. Anonymous12/06/2013

    Back in the mid-80s I got see Ann Miller in a play, but I can't remember what the name of it was. I remember we saw it in LA, and when we got on the glass elevator to go to our rooms that night we saw a naked couple doing it with the blinds open.

    That's probably why I forgot the name. ;-)

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  8. Now that was a Dame for sure! She was really one of a kind!

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  9. I do believe I saw her in one movie, but she was before my time. But upon seeing that clip.....she gave me some major chills! God she was quite beautiful.

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  10. Ann along with her cohort's really classed up this awful show!!! But what a great post Mistress. Ann Miller was always a special memory in my family. I just adored her and any part she had in a movie.

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  11. That is one perk of this job, learning about dames like this. Such inspiration!

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  12. Before my time but Wow!!!!! Style and grace! She would have been good on the Nanny to play a Fran Fine family member.

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  13. Major case of goose bumps

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  14. What a beautiful post! She was just amazing and so regal and stunning. But sad also. Hollywood is just a former shell of itself, so sad.

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  15. Everytime I see her I'm reminded of my mother who just loved her!!!! Her favorite movie was Easter parade and she just loved her in that . What a show gal.

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  16. Your top drawer Mistress with this post!!!!! Ann was one great entertainer,and I think one of the best dancers of all the MGM girls.

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  17. Awwww hell, if you can't have a good time with Ann Miller tapping and dancing around, you don't deserve a good time!

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  18. She is just amazing! Incredible moving,how did she do it? Too bad we'll never see the likes of her again.

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  19. Your right they really did have such style!

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Go ahead darling, tell me something fabulous!