Isabel Mirrow Brown

Isabel Brown
Born	June 9, 1928 New York City, New York, United States
Died	August 2014
Spouse(s)	(Kelly Brown, divorced)

Isabel Mirrow Brown (June 9, 1928 - August 2014) was an American ballerina. A fictionalized version of her life was documented in the 1977 film The Turning Point, in which she was portrayed by Shirley Maclaine, who was nominated for an Academy Award for her performance.

She was born in New York City, United States, the daughter of Jewish-Russian immigrant parents Sonia and Alexander "Sasha" Mirrow (1893-1977).

She married dancer Kelly Kingman Brown (1928-1981) and had four children, dancers Leslie Browne and Elizabeth, and sons Kelly Brown II, a film producer, and Ethan Brown, who was a principal dancer with ABT until 2004. Kelly Brown was from Mississippi and started dancing at a young age, his mother Sue was a dance instructor. He later moved to Chicago to train at the Stone-Camryn School of Ballet. He then moved to New York City to dance with ABT, where he met Isabel. At ABT he worked with Agnes de Mille.

Her husband, Kelly Brown, also was a featured dancer in several Hollywood musical films, including Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, Daddy Long Legs, The Girl Most Likely, and Oklahoma!. On Broadway he was the dance captain for I Can Get It for You Wholesale which starred Barbra Streisand. Nora Kaye, Arthur Laurents, and Herbert Ross also worked on that show and would later collaborate on The Turning Point.

In the 1960s after Kelly and Isabel had aged out of being principal dancers, they moved to Phoenix, Arizona to operate a dance studio. When their daughters auditioned for School of American Ballet in New York, Leslie was chosen, and her sister Elizabeth a year later. The move to Arizona caused a strain in the marriage when Isabel became homesick for her native New York. They divorced a year later and Isabel moved back to New York to watch over her daughters who had begun training there.

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