Vera-Ellen

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Vera-Ellen
Vera-Ellen.JPG
BornVera Ellen Westmeier Rohe
February 16, 1921
Norwood, Ohio, U.S.
DiedAugust 30, 1981 (aged 60)[1]
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Cause of death
Cancer
OccupationActress, Dancer
Years active1937–59
Political party
Republican
Spouse(s)Robert Hightower (1941–46)
Victor Rothschild (1954–66)
Vera-Ellen (February 16, 1921 – August 30, 1981) was an American actress and dancer, principally celebrated for her lithe figure and animated performances with partners Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly, Danny Kaye, and Donald O'Connor. She is best known for her starring roles in On the Town with Kelly and the 1954 blockbuster White Christmas with Kaye.

Early life[edit]

Vera Ellen Westmeier Rohe was born in Norwood, Ohio, a suburb of Cincinnati, to Martin Rohe and Alma Catherine Westmeier, both descended from German immigrants.[2] She began dancing at age 10 and quickly became proficient. (One of her fellow dance students was Doris Day.) At age 16 she was a winner on the Major Bowes Amateur Hour and embarked upon a professional career.

Career[edit]

Betty Garrett, Ann Miller, and Vera-Ellen in On the Town (1949)
In 1939, she made her Broadway debut in the Jerome Kern/Oscar Hammerstein musical Very Warm for May. She became one of the youngest Rockettes at Radio City Music Hall, although she was only 5'4".[3][4] This led to roles on Broadway in Panama Hattie, By Jupiter, and A Connecticut Yankee, where she was spotted by Samuel Goldwyn, who cast her opposite Danny Kaye and Virginia Mayo in the 1945 film Wonder Man.
She danced with Gene Kelly in the Hollywood musicals Words and Music and On the Town, while also appearing in the last Marx Brothers film, Love Happy. She received top billing alongside Fred Astaire in the musicals Three Little Words and The Belle of New York. She had a co-starring role with Donald O'Connor in the Ethel Merman vehicle, Call Me Madam. Vera-Ellen's second to last film role was the 1954 blockbuster hit White Christmas, co-starring with Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, and Rosemary Clooney. She starred in only one more film, the 1957 British production Let's Be Happy. Her last performances were on a November 1958 television episode of The Perry Como Show and a February 1959 broadcast of the The Dinah Shore Show.[citation needed]

Personal life[edit]

She was married twice. Her first husband was a fellow dancer, Robert Hightower, from February 1941 to November 1946.[5]
Her second husband, from 1954 to their 1966 divorce, was millionaire Victor Rothschild of the Rothschild family. While married to Rothschild, she gave birth to a daughter, Victoria Ellen, who died at three months of age from SIDS in 1963. Following the death of her only child, she withdrew from public life. The marriage between Vera-Ellen and Rothschild ended in divorce.[6]
She was a lifelong Republican and a strong supporter of fellow actor and President Ronald Reagan.[7]
Vera-Ellen suffered from anorexia before much was known about the disease. She was celebrated for her lithe figure at the time. Vera-Ellen also developed severe arthritis due to a combination of years of her dancing and anorexia.[8]

Death[edit]

She died from cancer in Los Angeles, California on August 30, 1981 at age sixty. Her interment was at Glen Haven Memorial Park in Sylmar, California.

Filmography[edit]

Stage work[edit]

See also[edit]

Portal iconDance portal

References[edit]

  1. Jump up^ "Vera-Ellen, Dancer in Movies". The New York Times (NYTimes.com). 2 September 1980. p. 17. Retrieved 2011-07-03.
  2. Jump up^ Soren, David (2003). Vera-Ellen: The Magic and the Mystery. Luminary Press. ISBN 978-1-887664-48-6.
  3. Jump up^ http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0893584/bio#trivia
  4. Jump up^ Several other sources cite her height as 4'11". Unless wearing ballet flats in a dance sequence, she invariably wore very high heels which minimized her short stature.
  5. Jump up^ cf. Soren, pp. 71-72: "The stable, happy marriage with Bob Hightower lasted from their wedding day on February 4, 1941 (some sources say February 1942 or March 17, 1943) to their official separation in 1946 ... Photos of ... Vera Ellen hit the newspapers on November 28, 1946, when a default divorce was granted in Los Angeles"
  6. Jump up^ "Victor Bennett Rothschild". Find A Grave. Retrieved 2013-12-26.
  7. Jump up^ [3]
  8. Jump up^ "Vera-Ellen Biography". IMDB. Retrieved 2013-12-26.

Further reading[edit]

  • Oderman, Stuart, Talking to the Piano Player 2. BearManor Media, 2009. ISBN 1-59393-320-7.

External links[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Vera-Ellen.
Authority control