Biografie

Said her husband could tell who she had been dancing with that day on an MGM set. If she came home covered with bruises, it was the very demanding Gene Kelly, if not, it was the smooth and agile Fred Astaire.

Although one of the greatest female dancers in the history of the movie musical, her singing in films was almost always dubbed, most notably by Carol Richards in Brigadoon (1954) and a young Vikki Carr in The Silencers (1966).

Her dark looks initially had her cast as ethnic beauties. She was cast as Ricardo Montalban's fiancée in Mexikanische Nächte (1947) and as a Polynesian in the Esther Williams musical Auf einer Insel mit Dir (1948).

Met first husband Nico Charisse, as a very young dancer. She had studied with him for a time in Los Angeles. They married in Paris in 1939 when she was still a teenager. When the Ballet Russe disbanded after World War II broke out, the newlyweds moved to Hollywood.

She and husband Tony Martin became a popular song-and-dance couple on television and in nightclubs/cabaret shows after their heyday in film.

[on Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly] I can watch Astaire anytime. I don't think he ever made a wrong move. He was a perfectionist. He would work on a few bars for hours until it was just the way he wanted it. Gene was the same way. They both wanted perfection, even though they were completely different personalities.

[on Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly] Fred could never do the lifts Gene did and never wanted to. I'd say they were the two greatest dancing personalities who were ever on the screen. Each has a distinctive style. Each is a joy to work with. But it's like comparing apples and oranges. They're both delicious.

[on explaining why she never tapped on-screen] I was pulled up as a ballet dancer and I wasn't used to pounding the floor with bent knees.

The censors were always there when I was on the set. When I was held up, in a lift [in Tief in meinem Herzen (1954)], they were up on ladders to see if I was properly covered.

Fred [Astaire] moved like glass. Physically, it was easy to dance with him. It was not as demanding on me. I didn't need the same vitality and strength.