News

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. --Prepared by IMDb staff...