Ann Miller
| Ann Miller | |
|---|---|
in Easter Parade (1948)
|
|
| Born |
Johnnie Lucille Collier April 12, 1923 Houston, Texas, US |
| Died | January 22, 2004 (aged 80) Los Angeles, California, US |
| Cause of death | Lung cancer |
| Resting place | Holy Cross Cemetery, Culver City |
| Years active | 1934–2001 |
| Spouse(s) | Reese Milner (1946–1947) Bill Moss (1958–1961) Arthur Cameron (1961–1962) |
Johnnie Lucille Collier (April 12, 1923 – January 22, 2004), known professionally as Ann Miller, was an American dancer, singer and actress. She is best remembered for her work in the Classical Hollywood musical films of the 1940s and 1950s.
Johnnie Lucille Collier (other sources give other names, Johnnie Lucille Ann Collier, Lucille Collier, Lucy Ann Collier, due partly to the confusion of the fake birth certificate - see below) was born in Houston, Texas, to Clara Emma (née Birdwell) and John Allison Collier, a criminal lawyer who represented the Barrow Gang, Machine Gun Kelly, and Baby Face Nelson, among others.
Her maternal grandmother was Cherokee. Miller's father insisted on the name Johnnie because he had wanted a boy, but she was often called Annie. She began to take dance classes at the age of 5, after suffering from a case of rickets. Her mother believed that these classes would help strengthen her young daughter's legs.
She lived in Texas until she was 9, when her parents divorced (if indeed they were married) and her mother moved with her to Los Angeles. Because Birdwell was deaf, it was hard for her to find work; however, because Miller looked much older than she was, she began to work as a dancer in nightclubs and support both of them. About this time she adopted the stage name Ann Miller, which she kept throughout her entire career.
She was considered a child dance prodigy. In an interview in a "behind the scenes" documentary on the making of the compilation film That's Entertainment! Part III (1994), she said Eleanor Powell was an early inspiration.
At age 13 in 1936, Miller became a showgirl at the Bal Tabarin. She was hired as a dancer in the "Black Cat Club" in San Francisco (she reportedly told them she was 18). It was there she was discovered by Lucille Ball and talent scout/comic Benny Rubin (although some sources say this occurred at Bal Tabarin). This led Miller to be given a contract with RKO in 1936 at the age of 13 (she had also told them she was 18, and apparently provided a fake birth certificate, procured by her father - with the name "Lucy Ann Collier") and she remained there until 1940. In 1941, she signed with Columbia Pictures, where, starting with Time Out for Rhythm, she starred in 11 B movie musicals from 1941 to 1945. In July 1945, with World War II still raging in the Pacific, she posed in a bathing suit as a Yank magazine pin-up girl. She ended her contract in 1946 with one "A" film, The Thrill of Brazil. The ad in Life magazine featured Miller's leg in a large, red, bow-tied stocking as the "T" in "Thrill". She finally hit her mark in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer musicals such as Easter Parade (1948), On the Town (1949) and Kiss Me Kate (1953).
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