She was 86; a heart attack got her. Story. But she sure didn’t look 86. The last photos I remember seeing of her showed she aged extremely well. She was a stunner.
Aw, damn. Eighty-six years is a good run, though, and the lady had class.
Maybe, just maybe, if I’m a really, really good person, when I die, I can come back as one of her legs.
The best legs the movie screen ever saw. RIP.
Cyd in action: Singin’ in the Rain , Party Girl , Silk Stockings , The Band Wagon , Brigadoon , Meet Me in Las Vegas , It’s Always Fair Weather
Most younger audiences would probably know her best from Janet Jackson’s Alright video, though they may not have known even then she was almost 70. I remember seeing her on an ET segment of some sort just a few years ago and she could still lift her leg above her head in her 80s.
RIP Cyd. At least we still have Rita Moreno to show us how great an old broad’s legs can still look.
And Tina Turner.
And Chita Rivera.
Preach it. The only other dancer from that era who comes even close was Ann Miller. She was supposed to have been with Kelly in An American in Paris but went and got pregnant. Leslie Caron got the part instead.
Cyd comes on at about 3 minutes in.
RIP Cyd.
I’ve always been mystified by her part in Singin’ in the Rain. She’s not *really *in SitR; she’s in the “Broadway Melody” number. The only connection between Broadway Melody and the rest of the movie is that Gene Kelly is in both. Always struck me as weird.
I only remember her from a clip with (I think) Gene Kelly in That’s Entertainment, but she sure impressed me.
Wow, what a class act she was. Didn’t Fred Astaire once say that she was his favorite dance partner?
Pardon the hijack, but…
When Cyd started dancing in movies Gene Kelly, Fred Astaire, the Nicholas Brothers, Ann Miller, Eleanor Powell, etc.- were all famous dancers. They were also actors and singers as needed, but primarily their fame came from their dancing.
Are there young celebrity dancers today? Baryshnikov’s 60 but he’s one of the few people I can think of who’s a household name for his dancing. Gregory Hines is dead, Ben Vereen is getting old and past his prime, ditto Joel Grey, Rita Moreno, etc.- they’re all at the end of their careers. Savion Glover’s one of the few people under 40 I can think of who’s famous primarily for dancing. Are there any others?
(I started to say Hinton Battle, but he’s not that famous outside of theater circles and Buffy fans, and he’s over 50.)
Nobody that I can think of, Sampiro - more’s the pity. I wonder if drama schools still encourage their students to take singing and dancing lessons as part of the curriculum.
There was some dancing in Moulin Rouge, but it has been awhile since I’ve seen it. Did Renee and Catherine do their own hoofing, I wonder?
But those people you list got famous for playing parts in musicals. Fred Astaire wasn’t famous when he did his first screen test. I think the lack of musical films and the birth of the music video has lead young people with musical talent and dancing moves to get famous primarily as pop icons who can dance. And frankly, Astaire et al were generally better showmen and women, their acting kinda lacked as compared to their temporary non-singing and dancing colleagues.
RIP Cyd; the Broadway ballet from “Singin’ in the Rain” and her dance solo from “Silk Stockings” are more than enough to justify her status as one of the great dancers of Hollywood.