Actress, dancer Cyd Charisse dead at 86

[Villavic]

additional comment: Several celebrities from my dad's youth era are dying (Heston, Charisse, etc..). This is affecting him more since mom passed away 2 years ago.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Actress and dancer Cyd Charisse, the impossibly long-legged movie musical star who gained fame for her on-screen pairings with Hollywood dance greats Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly, died on Tuesday at age 86.

Charisse, a sinuous, athletic performer once described by Astaire as "beautiful dynamite," died early in the morning of a heart attack at a Los Angeles-area hospital, according to her agent, Scott Stander.

Publicist Gene Schwam said she had only recently celebrated her 60th wedding anniversary with her second husband, singer Tony Martin, whom she married after a romance with millionaire Howard Hughes

Charisse cemented her status as an MGM star as Kelly's dance partner in their provocatively memorable "Broadway Melody Ballet" routine in the finale to the 1952 classic "Singin' in the Rain."

[TrueFaith77]

Well, this is sad news -- I just found out coming to this page.

I can't believe this wasn't more prominently covered, since she was such an icon of dance (note the way Janet Jackson used her in the "Alright" music video).

For those who want to remember or even to discover Cyd, my favorite of her movies are:

Singin' In Rain
The Band Wagon
Brigadoon
It's Always Fair Weather

Movies get no better. And for those who doubt Cyd's acting chops, don't forget that dancing is acting too. No actress expressed falling in love better than Cyd did with that first leg extension in Central Park in The Band Wagon. And "Dancing In The Dark" commenced. . .

[David]

I was just telling my movie cohorts online that I was watching THE HARVEY GIRLS the night before her death, & once again enjoying Cyd's winsome young waitress.

[Steviefan49]

Originally Posted by Villavic

additional comment: Several celebrities from my dad's youth era are dying (Heston, Charisse, etc..). This is affecting him more since mom passed away 2 years ago.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Actress and dancer Cyd Charisse, the impossibly long-legged movie musical star who gained fame for her on-screen pairings with Hollywood dance greats Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly, died on Tuesday at age 86.

Charisse, a sinuous, athletic performer once described by Astaire as "beautiful dynamite," died early in the morning of a heart attack at a Los Angeles-area hospital, according to her agent, Scott Stander.

Publicist Gene Schwam said she had only recently celebrated her 60th wedding anniversary with her second husband, singer Tony Martin, whom she married after a romance with millionaire Howard Hughes

Charisse cemented her status as an MGM star as Kelly's dance partner in their provocatively memorable "Broadway Melody Ballet" routine in the finale to the 1952 classic "Singin' in the Rain."

Very saddened to hear about this, this morning... RIP Cyd..