DCS: cyd charisse

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Young Tula Finklea enrolled in ballet lessons to strengthen her legs after a bout of polio. At 14, she auditioned for and danced with Ballet Russe de Monte-Carlo . During a European tour, 22 year-old Tula met a former dancing partner, Nico Charisse, and the couple were married in Paris in 1939.

Now using the name “Cyd,” based on a nickname her brother had given her when he had difficulty pronouncing “Sis,” she made her film debut in an uncredited role in the 1941 film noir Escort Girl. From that point forward, Cyd danced in numerous Hollywood musicals. She performed alongside Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire (offering praise upon both). Cyd danced and danced and danced.

Until she stopped.

In the late 1950s, as movie musicals began to fall out of favor, Cyd hung up her dancing shoes. However, she continued to act in films and, later, television.

Not wishing to rest on her laurels, Cyd made her Broadway debut in 1992 at 70 years old.

In 2008, Cyd suffered a heart attack and passed away at the age of 86. Following a traditional Methodist funeral service, she was interred at a Jewish cemetery in California, at the request of her husband, singer Tony Martin.

My mom loved Cyd Charisse. Whenever she would see a Cyd Charisse movie on TV, my mom would proudly assert that “Cyd Charisse had legs that went all the way up her ass!”

Indeed she did!

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