Cyd Charisse

Jun 19 2008 by David Charters, Liverpool Daily Post

ON HEARING of her death, an old Liverpudlian rubbed his chin and the memories came back.

“Ah yes,” he said, “she had legs which stretched to . . .”

For a few moments, he paused to think of a suitable destination, and then it came. “Heaven,” he said, triumphantly.

At the same time, a film critic in Los Angeles said she had “sizzle and sophistication”, but for most people, who sat in the glorious picture palaces, it was those legs, which had it.

Cyd Charisse, dark-haired and tall with high cheek-bones, embodied the elegance, style, wit and brio of Hollywood in the days of big studios and sleek limousines. Drizzle fell on a Britain squeezed grey by post-war austerity, but cinema was an escape to beauty.

She was born Tula Ellice Finklea, in Amarillo, in the Texas Panhandle. Her father, Ernest, was a jeweller, while her mother, Lela, ran their house on Tyler Street.

A brother tried to called her Sis, but could only manage Sid, which became her familiar name, later spelt “Cyd” to add mystery.

As a little girl, she had suffered polio and her ambitious parents sent her to ballet class to strengthen her legs. Her outstanding potential was soon spotted.

So Cyd was recruited into the acclaimed Ballet Russe. While on a European tour, she met a former dance teacher, the charming Frenchman, Nico Charisse, who, at 32, was twice her age.

They married and ran a dance school together in Los Angeles, where they had a son, Nicky. But Hollywood called. Miss Charisse’s dancing debut was Something to Shout About (1943).

Then she was paired with Fred Astaire in Ziegfield Follies. This led to her co-starring with him in The Band Wagon (1953) and four years later in Silk Stockings.

Even more famously, she danced Broadway Melody with Gene Kelly in Singin’ in the Rain (1952), with hidden aircraft motors blowing to keep her 50ft scarf flowing the right way. By then, her legs were covered by a $5m dollar insurance policy. She also starred with Kelly in Brigadoon (1954).

From 1948, Miss Charisse was married to Tony Martin, with whom she had a son, Tony.

She continued performing and making occasional film and TV appearances, the last being as an ageing ballerina in Grand Hotel (1992).

Cyd Charisse, star; born March 8, 1922, died June 17, 2008.