CYD CHARISSE: 1922-2008 Actress danced into heart of Hollywood; Mary Rourke, Los Angeles Times Wednesday, June 18, 2008 (06-18) 04:00 PDT Los Angeles - -- Cyd Charisse, who brought sizzle and sophistication to dance in classic movie musicals such as "Singin' in the Rain" and "Silk Stockings," died Tuesday. She was 86. Ms. Charisse died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles after suffering an apparent heart attack Monday, publicist Gene Schwam said. Ms. Charisse captured moviegoers' attention in a quick succession of films, starting with "Singin' in the Rain" in 1952, in which she partnered with dancer and actor Gene Kelly in a steamy ballet. She was strong, lithe and "drop-dead gorgeous to look at," said Larry Billman, a dance/film historian and author of her breakthrough performance. She teamed with Kelly again in "Brigadoon" in 1954 and "It's Always Fair Weather" the next year. Ms. Charisse also danced with Fred Astaire, the premier dancer of his age, in major production numbers in the '50s. In "The Band Wagon" (1953), they danced to the music of "Dancing in the Dark" on a set that looked like New York City's Central Park. Four years later, Ms. Charisse and Astaire were partners in "Silk Stockings." Astaire said that Ms. Charisse was "beautiful dynamite" on screen. Ms. Charisse's other starmaker roles of the 1950s included "Deep in My Heart" (1954), in which she danced a sexy duet with James Mitchell. Unlike many top female dancers in the era of movie musicals, Ms. Charisse was trained as a ballerina in the Russian tradition. Earlier in her movie career, Ms. Charisse's dark hair and eyes led to some unlikely roles as "ethnic-exotic" characters in B movies such as "Fiesta" (1947), in which she played the Latina fiancee of actor Ricardo Montalban. She was cast as Polynesian in "On an Island With You," a song, dance and swim film starring Esther Williams in 1948. She was born Tula Ellice Fink- lea on March 8, 1922, in Amarillo, Texas. Her older brother nicknamed her Sid, a variation on Sis. In Hollywood, she changed the spelling to Cyd. She began ballet lessons at 6, encouraged by her father, Ernest, after she developed a mild case of polio that left her with a slight atrophy on her right side. During a family vacation in Los Angeles when she was 12, her parents enrolled her in ballet classes at a school in Hollywood. One of her teachers was Nico Charisse. As a teenager, she returned to the school as a full-time student. Not long afterward, Col. W. de Basil, the director of the Ballet Russe dance company, visited the school and saw her dance. He invited her to join his company, and she toured with it. In 1939, while she was in France on tour with the ballet company, she and Nico Charisse eloped. They had one son, Nico, before their marriage ended in divorce in 1947. Ms. Charisse then married singer and nightclub entertainer Tony Martin in 1948. The couple had one son, Tony Martin Jr., and her sons survive her, along with two grandchildren. Martin and Ms. Charisse settled in Hollywood soon after their marriage. One of her earliest movies was "Something to Shout About" (1943), in which she performed in a ballet. She captured wider attention three years later in "Ziegfield Follies," when she had a brief featured moment with the film's star, Fred Astaire. It led to her signing a seven-year contract with MGM Studios in 1946. In the '60s, Ms. Charisse performed cabaret shows while she continued working in Hollywood in films such as "Two Weeks in Another Town" (1962). She made frequent guest appearances on popular television series, including "Hawaii Five-O" and "The Love Boat" in the 1970s and "Murder She Wrote" in the 1980s. She also worked in theater, performing in "Charlie's Girls" in London in the 1980s and making her Broadway debut as an aging Russian ballerina in "Grand Hotel" in 1992. She was 70 when she first appeared on Broadway. PHOTO SOURCE: www.doctormacro.info