Vera-Ellen
{{short description|American actress, singer and dancer (1921–1981)}}
{{About|the American dancer and actress|the New Zealand musician|Vera Ellen}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Vera-Ellen
| image = Vera-Ellen.JPG
| image_size =
| caption = Vera-Ellen in 1941
| birth_name = Vera-Ellen Rohe
| birth_date = February 16, 1921
| birth_place = Norwood, Ohio, U.S.
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1981|8|30|1921|2|16}}{{cite news| title=Vera-Ellen, Dancer in Movies| url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/09/02/obituaries/vera-ellen-dancer-in-movies.html| work=The New York Times| date=2 September 1980| page=17| access-date=2011-07-03}}
| death_place = Los Angeles, California, U.S.
| resting_place = Glen Haven Memorial Park, Sylmar, California
| occupation = {{hlist|Dancer|actress|singer}}
| party =
| years active = 1937–1959
| spouse = {{plainlist|
- {{marriage|Robert Hightower|1941|1946|end=divorced}}
- {{marriage|Victor Rothschild|1954|1966|end=div}}
}}
| children = 1
}}
Vera-Ellen (born Vera-Ellen Rohe; February 16, 1921{{Citation needed |date=December 2022}} – August 30, 1981) was an American dancer, actress, and singer. She is remembered for her solo performances as well as her work with partners Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly, Danny Kaye, and Donald O'Connor. She is best known for her starring roles in On the Town (1949) with Kelly and White Christmas (1954) with Kaye.
Early life
Vera-Ellen Rohe was born in Norwood, Ohio, to Martin F. Rohe, a piano dealer,{{cite news|last1=Handsaker|first1=Gene|title=Hollywood|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/2700187/altoona_tribune/| work= Altoona Tribune |date=March 22, 1946|page=14|via = Newspapers.com|access-date = June 27, 2015}} {{Open access}} and Alma C. Westmeier. Both were descended from German immigrants.{{cite book| last= Soren|first=David|title=Vera-Ellen: The Magic and the Mystery|publisher=Luminary Press|year=2003|isbn=978-1-887664-48-6 }} Her mother dreamed she would have a girl named Vera-Ellen, including the hyphen.{{cite news|last1=West|first1=Alice|title=Behind Scenes at Hollywood|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/215610/1/| work= The Ogden Standard-Examiner |date=April 12, 1953|page=20|via = Newspapers.com|access-date = June 27, 2015}} {{Open access}}
She began dancing at age 10 and quickly became proficient. One of her fellow dance students at Hessler Studio of Dancing was Doris Day.{{cite news|last1=Kiesewetter|first1=John|title=Vera-Ellen danced into hearts|url=http://archive.cincinnati.com/article/20101213/ENT02/12120375/Vera-Ellen-danced-into-hearts|access-date=27 June 2015|publisher= Cincinnati.com|date=December 13, 2012}} At age 13, she was a winner on the Major Bowes Amateur Hour{{cite news|title=Vera-Ellen dead at age 55| url= https://www.newspapers.com/clip/2700290/ukiah_daily_journal/| work= Ukiah Daily Journal |date=September 1, 1981|page=17|via = Newspapers.com|access-date = June 27, 2015}} {{Open access}} and embarked upon a professional career.
Career
file:Three Little Girls in Blue (1946) 1.jpg, Vera-Ellen, and Vivian Blaine in Three Little Girls in Blue (1946)]]
=Stage=
In 1939, she made her Broadway debut in the Jerome Kern/Oscar Hammerstein musical Very Warm for May. She became one of the youngest Rockettes at Radio City Music Hall. This led to roles on Broadway in Panama Hattie, By Jupiter, and A Connecticut Yankee, where she was spotted by Samuel Goldwyn, who cast her opposite Danny Kaye and Virginia Mayo in the 1945 film Wonder Man.
=Dubbing=
Starting in 1945 with Wonder Man, her first film, her singing was dubbed. However, the Decca Broadway Original Cast Album of 1943's revival of A Connecticut Yankee has two vocals by Vera-Ellen, "I Feel at Home with You" and "You Always Love the Same Girl," both duets with Chester Stratton. Her style is of a comic soubrette.{{Citation needed |date=December 2022}}
=Film=
She danced with Gene Kelly in the Hollywood musicals Words and Music and On the Town, while also appearing in the last Marx Brothers film, Love Happy. She received top billing alongside Fred Astaire in the musicals Three Little Words and The Belle of New York. She had a co-starring role with Donald O'Connor in the Ethel Merman vehicle Call Me Madam. She also starred in the 1951 musical comedy Happy Go Lovely alongside David Niven and Cesar Romero. Vera-Ellen's penultimate film role was the 1954 blockbuster hit White Christmas, co-starring with Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, and Rosemary Clooney. She starred in only one more film, the 1957 British production Let's Be Happy.
=Television=
Vera-Ellen was a frequent guest on US variety programming in the mid-to-late 1950s. Her final performances were on a November 22, 1958, television episode of The Perry Como Show{{cite news|title=Perry Como Show|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/2700828/the_decatur_daily_review/| work= The Decatur Daily Review |date=November 22, 1958| page= 6| via = Newspapers.com |access-date = June 27, 2015}} {{Open access}} and a February 14, 1959, broadcast of The Dinah Shore Show.{{cite news|title= TV Listings |url= https://www.newspapers.com/clip/2700806/the_oregon_statesman/| work= The Oregon Statesman |date=February 14, 1959|page=11|via = Newspapers.com |access-date = June 27, 2015}} {{Open access}} Following that, Vera-Ellen retired from performing.{{Citation needed |date=December 2022}}
Personal life
According to Hollywood chronicler Brian Cronin, what he describes as Vera-Ellen's "extremely thin" appearance led to rumors during her career that she had an eating disorder. A rumor that her neck was always covered during the filming of White Christmas because of wrinkling caused by supposed anorexia persists to this day. However, pictures and video taken at the same time show her neck appearing normal and undamaged.{{cite web|url= http://legendsrevealed.com/entertainment/2012/09/13/did-vera-ellens-neck-have-to-be-covered-during-the-filming-of-white-christmas-because-it-was-ravaged-by-the-effects-of-anorexia/|title= Did Vera-Ellen's Neck Have to be Covered During the Filming of White Christmas Because it was Ravaged by the Effects of Anorexia?|website=legendsrevealed.com|date=2012-09-13|access-date=2018-12-24}} A friend, Bill Dennington, who knew her during the last 20 years of her life, dismissed the story about her neck and added that he hated "that people think of her as 'the dancer with anorexia' and not just the fabulous dancer who has been so overlooked."
Her niece by marriage, Ileana Rothschild, born in 1967, remembered that her aunt "never stopped taking dance classes and maintained her slim figure always." She was also an "avid swimmer", who used a swimming program to recover from a mild stroke late in her life. According to Rothschild, she had no eating disorder.
Vera-Ellen was married twice. Her first husband was a fellow dancer, Robert Hightower, to whom she was married from February 1941 to November 1946.Cf. Soren, pp. 71–72: "The stable, happy marriage with Bob Hightower lasted from their wedding day on February 4, 1941 (some sources say February 1942 or March 17, 1943) to their official separation in 1946 ... Photos of ... Vera Ellen hit the newspapers on November 28, 1946, when a default divorce was granted in Los Angeles" Her second husband was oilman Victor Bennett Rothschild. They were married from 1954 to 1966 when they divorced. While married to Rothschild, she gave birth to a daughter, Victoria Ellen, who died in 1963 at three months from SIDS. Following the death of her only child, she withdrew from public life.{{Citation needed |date=December 2022}}
Death
Vera-Ellen died at the Los Angeles County General Hospital on August 30, 1981, of ovarian cancer. She was 60 years old.{{citation |work= The New York Times | title= Vera-Ellen, Dancer in Movies| agency= Associated Press| date= September 2, 1981| location= Hollywood |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/09/02/obituaries/vera-ellen-dancer-in-movies.html}}
Filmography
| class="wikitable" | |||
| Year
! Title ! Role ! Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1945 | Wonder Man | Midge Mallon | Singing voice dubbed by June Hutton |
| rowspan=2 | 1946 | The Kid from Brooklyn | Susie Sullivan | Singing voice dubbed by Suzanne Ellers |
| Three Little Girls in Blue | Myra Charters | Singing voice dubbed by Carol Stewart | |
| 1947 | Carnival in Costa Rica | Luisa Molina | Singing voice dubbed by Pat Friday |
| 1948 | Words and Music | Herself | |
| rowspan=2 | 1949 | Love Happy | Maggie Phillips | |
| On the Town | Ivy Smith | ||
| 1950 | Three Little Words | Jessie Brown | Singing voice dubbed by Anita Ellis |
| 1951 | Happy Go Lovely | Janet Jones | Singing voice dubbed by Eve Boswell |
| 1952 | The Belle of New York | Angela Bonfils | Singing voice dubbed by Anita Ellis |
| rowspan=2 | 1953 | Call Me Madam | Princess Maria | Singing voice dubbed by Carol Richards |
| Big Leaguer | Christy | ||
| 1954 | White Christmas | Judy Haynes | Singing voice dubbed by Trudy Stevens |
| 1957 | Let's Be Happy | Jeannie MacLean | Singing voice dubbed by Joan Small (final film role) |
Stage work
- Very Warm for May (1939)
- Higher and Higher (1940)
- Panama Hattie (1940)
- By Jupiter (1942)
- A Connecticut Yankee (1943)
Radio appearances
References
{{Reflist}}
Further reading
- Oderman, Stuart, Talking to the Piano Player 2: Stars, Writers, and Bandleaders Remember. BearManor Media, 2009. {{ISBN|1-59393-320-7}}.
- Soren, David, Vera-Ellen: The Magic and the Mystery. Luminary Press, Baltimore, 2003. {{ISBN|1-88766-448-3}}.
External links
{{Archival records|title=Ralstin/Murphy collection relating to Vera-Ellen and the Hessler Dance Studio, 1929-2010|location= Library of Congress|description_URL=https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.music/eadmus.mu018007}}
{{Commons}}
- {{IMDb name|0893584}}
- {{IBDB name}}
- {{Find a Grave|4037}}
- [http://www.virtual-history.com/movie/person/5415/vera-ellen Vera-Ellen] at Virtual History
- [http://www.vera-ellen.com Vera-Ellen] Tribute
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vera-Ellen}}
Category:20th-century American actresses
Category:American female dancers
Category:American film actresses
Category:American jazz dancers
Category:California Republicans
Category:American musical theatre actresses
Category:American people of German descent
Category:Deaths from ovarian cancer in California
Category:People from Norwood, Ohio
Category:20th-century American singers
Category:20th-century American women singers