Ann Miller

At 80 years old, Ann Miller has this physical status:

Career

Miller became a showgirl at the Bal Tabarin at the age of 13. She was hired as a dancer in San Francisco's "Black Cat Club" (she reportedly told them she was 18 years old). Lucille Ball and Benny Rubin, a talent scout/comic, were among her findings (although some sources claim this happened at Bal Tabarin). Miller began working with RKO in 1936 at the age of 13 (he had also told them she was 18, but she reportedly gave them a fake birth certificate that was apparently obtained by her father, branded "Lucy Ann Collier") and she continued there until 1940. In 1937, she appeared in Gregory La Cava's Stage Door as Ginger Rogers' dancing partner. In 1938, she appeared in the best-picture Oscar-winner, Frank Capra's You Can't Take it With You. She appeared in 11 B movie musicals from 1941 to 1945, starting with Time Out for Rhythm. She posed in a bathing suit in July 1945, when World War II was still raging in the Pacific. She was a Yank magazine pin-up girl. She ended her career in 1946 with one "A" film, The Thrill of Brazil. Miller's leg was shown in a stocking tied with a large red bow as the "T" in "Thrill" in Life magazine. She made her name in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer musicals such as Easter Parade (1948), On the Town (1949), and Kiss Me Kate (1953).

Miller claimed to have invented pantyhose in the 1940s as a solution to the persistent issue of tearing stockings during the filming of dance production numbers. The common custom was to sew hosiery to briefs. If torn, the entire garment must be removed and resewn with a new pair. Miller ordered a hosiery maker to make a single combined garment.

Miller was known for her tap dancing skills. Studio publicists screamed press reports that she could tap 500 times per minute, but in truth, the sound of ultra-fast "500" taps was looped in later. Since the stage floors were waxed and too slick for standard tap shoes, she had to dance in sandals with rubber treads on the sole. Later, she'll loop the taps while watching the movie and actually dancing on a "tap board" to match her steps in the film.

Later in life, she was known for her unique appearance, which reflected a studio-era glamour: massive black bouffant hair, heavy makeup with a splash of crimson lipstick, and fashions that emphasised her youth and long dancer's legs.

She came to an end in 1956 as the film industry gave way to television, but she stayed active in theater and on television. In 1969, she appeared in the Broadway musical Mame, in which she shocked the audience in a tap number reserved solely for her. Miller climbed out of the floor on top of an eight-foot high cylinder built to look like a giant soup can in 1971. She appeared in a classic television commercial for "The Great American Soup" (created by Stan Freberg). The ad was a hit song and dance number in the style of the film extravaganzas, which were her specialties in trade. With fellow MGM veteran Mickey Rooney, the Broadway show Sugar Babies, which toured the United States extensively after its 1979 revival, she astounded audiences in 1979. She was given the Sarah Siddon Award in 1983 for her work in Chicago's theatre.

In a storyline that casts them as older relatives of the show's regular characters, she appeared in a special 1982 episode of The Love Boat, alongside fellow showbiz legends Ethel Merman, Carol Channing, Della Reese, Van Johnson, and Cab Calloway. Her last stage appearance was a 1998 Paper Mill Playhouse production of Stephen Sondheim's Follies, in which she played hard-boiled Carlotta Campion and received rave reviews for her rendition of the song "I'm Still Here." Miller, who was 63, performed and tap danced to "42nd Street" at the opening of the Disney MGM Studios on May 1, 1989. This will be her last live dance performance.

In 1993, she was greeted by Michael Aspel at the CBS Television City, Hollywood studios, and she appeared on This Is Your Life on British television.

Miller appeared on Home Improvement's "Dances With Tools" (1993) a dance instructor. (1996): Molly Shannon parodied Miller several times on Saturday Night Live in a recurring sketch called "Leg-Up." She appeared in director David Lynch's critically acclaimed Mulholland Drive in 2001, playing "Coco" in his last role.

She has written two books outside of acting. Miller's High Life (1972), her first book, was an autobiography. Tapping into the Force (1990), about her psychic experiences, was her second book.

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