Week 4/6-4/10 Vera-Ellen Notes

I. Intro to Vera-Ellen
A. American dancer and actress
B. Performed solo, and alongside the greats like Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly, and
Donald O’Connor
C. Astaire said she was the “most talented and dedicated dancer he ever worked
with”
D. Likely the greatest female dancer in history
1. Most polished, precise, and versatile
2. A ballerina, but also did all types of dance
E. She matched Astaire in her versatility, ability, and work ethic
1. The only woman to be considered Astaire, Kelly, and O’Connor’s peer
F. She performed in Hollywood’s Golden age of the 40s-50s
1. Danced routines that have never been duplicated
G. Despite her talent, she was doomed from the start because of the men in her path
1. Studio heads, timing, and oversights of her abilities
2. Many believe she was anorexic
a) The family says that she was not and that she was thin bc she was
threatened by producers and directors to remain thin
b) Just because she was threatened does not mean that she was not
anorexic, or that their threats induced anorexia
3. She was abused and thrown out by MGM
a) Led to her sacrificing her health, private life for her career
b) Brought her pain, loneliness, and an early death
4. Her perfectionism helped her become brilliant but ultimately hurt her later
on
II. Birth and childhood
A. Born in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1921
B. Painfully shy and frail as a young girl
1. Had severe health issues by the age of nine
C. She loved books as a child
D. Used dance as emotional and physical therapy
III. Early Career
A. As a teenager, she would perform in nightclub acts
B. Became a Rockette and was their youngest member
1. She was fired two weeks later for being too individual onstage
C. Then moved on to Broadway
1. “Very Warm for May” was her debut at 18 years-old
2. Then performed in “higher and higher”
 3. Then “Panama Hattie”
4. “By Jupiter”
5. A revival of “A Connecticut Yankee” (1943)
D. Movie career started in 1945
IV. The big break
A. Sam Goldwyn a film producer spotted her in 1945
1. 24 years old when Goldwyn cast her in ​Wonder Man ​(1945)
2. Next cast in ​The Kid from Brooklyn ​(2946)
3. Both movies were hits and people fell in love with Vera-Ellen’s
fresh-faced innocence
B. Paired famously with Gene Kelly in MGM’s ​Words and Music ​(1948)
1. Number “Slaughter on Tenth Avenue” was a critical highlight
C. Danced with Astaire in ​Three Little Words (​ 1950)
1. Also danced with Astaire in ​The Belle of New York​ (1952)
a) Their dances in the film made up for the lack of strong storyline
D. Danced with Kelly in ​On the Town (​ 1949)
1. Pinnacle of her dancing work on a film
2. She became the woman of a thousand dance moves
3. She could do any genre of dance, solo or partnered, with or without props
E. She was blonde, slim, and a great dancer
1. She was a hit
F. Retired from acting in the late 1950s
G. 1953 danced with Donald O’Connor in ​Call Me Madam
1. Performed the famous “Something to dance about”
H. White Christmas ​(1945) is usually considered her most-remembered movie
V. Decline of Movie Musicals
A. Movie musicals went out of style in the late 1950s
B. At the same time, she was synonymous with movie musicals
C. Due to this and outside influences, she steered away from Hollywood
D. Leaving Hollywood in combination with unhappiness and poor health would take
their toll
E. The final movie was a lame British musical ​Let’s Be Happy ​(1957)
1. In this movie, she appeared gaunt and unhealthy
VI. Suffering
A. Her compulsive dieting obsession was discovered to be anorexia
B. She battled anorexia throughout the 50s
1. This was a time before doctors had named anorexia or developed
treatment options
C. She also had severe arthritis, forced her into early retirement
 1. She went back to dance lessons again
D. Horrific personal life
1. Two failed marriages
2. Lost her only child to SIDS in 1963
VII. Friends and Relatives Speak Out
A. Bill Dennington a friend of hers said that “people think of her as ‘the dancer with
anorexia’ and not just the fabulous dancer who has been so overlooked”
B. Ileana Rothschild her niece by marriage said she “never stopped taking dance
classes and maintained a slim figure always”
C. It is entirely possible that Hollywood forced her to be stick thin to keep her job
and that she had an eating disorder
VIII. Death
A. Died at the age of 60 following a long battle with cancer
B. She is not remembered in history mostly because of the shame/stigma around her
anorexia
C. She was likely the best female dancer of all time
IX. Dances Notes