Tula Ellice Finklea (March 8, 1922 – June 17, 2008), better known as Cyd Charisse, was an American dancer and actress who rose to fame in musicals made in The '50s, during the last phase of the Golden Age of Hollywood.
As a child, she was sickly due to polio, and started taking dance lessons at age 6 to build up strength. By age 12 she was already trained by prestigious ballet dancers and toured with the Russian Ballet of Monte Carlo. The outbreak of World War II put that ballet company out of business, and she tried her luck in Hollywood, at first in bit parts and supporting roles of increasing importance in addition to her talents being put to use as backup dancer in musicals of the time.
The one-two-punch that made her name skyrocket to fame was certainly her appearance in Singin' in the Rain in 1952 (she was famously introduced in it by her having slowly hand Gene Kelly his hat with her leg after he drops it) as well as The Band Wagon in 1953 (alongside Fred Astaire). She became a sensation in particular for her long, shapely and beautiful legs (which she reportedly insured for five million dollars once she got famous).
Her glory days were over as soon at The '60s started, but she kept appearing on film and television, and even made her Broadway debut in 1992. One of her neices is Star Trek: Deep Space Nine actress Nana Visitor.
Works on TV Tropes:
Film:
- Ziegfeld Follies (1945) as a ballerina
- The Harvey Girls (1946) as Deborah
- Singin' in the Rain (1952) as the long-legged flapper
- The Band Wagon (1953) as Gabrielle Gerard
- Brigadoon (1954) as Fiona Campbell
- It's Always Fair Weather (1955) as Jackie Leighton
- Silk Stockings (1957) as Ninotchka Yoschenko
Television:
- Hawaii Five-O, episode "Death Mask" (1978) as Alicia Warren
- The Love Boat, episodes "April's Return/Super Mom/I'll See You Again" (1979) as Eve Mills
- The Fall Guy, episode "The Huntress" (1984) as Diana
- Murder, She Wrote, episode "Widow, Weep for Me" (1985) as Myrna Montclair LeRoy
- Crazy Like a Fox, episode "Hyde-And-Seek" (1986) as Barbara Carlisle
- Frasier, episode "The Adventures of Bad Boy and Dirty Girl" (1995) as Polly (voice)
