Cyd Charisse was born to be a dancer. She spent her early childhood taking ballet lessons and joined the Ballet Russe at 13. In 1939 she married Nico Charise, her ex-dance teacher. In 1943 she appeared in her first film, Something to Shout About, billed as Lily Norwood. The same year she played a Russian dancer in Mission to Moscow, directed by Michael Curtiz. In 1945 she was hired to dance with Fred Astaire in Ziegfeld Follies, and that uncredited appearance got her a seven-year contract with MGM. She appeared in a number of musicals over the next few years, but it was Singin' in the Rain with Gene Kelly that made her a star. That was quickly followed by her great performance in The Band Wagon. As the 1960s dawned, musicals faded from the screen, as did her career. She made appearances on television and performed in a nightclub revue with her second husband, singer Tony Martin.



She danced with the Ballet Russe using the names Maria Istomina and Felia Sidorova. Although one of the greatest female dancers in the history of the movie musical, her singing in films was almost always dubbed, most notably by Carol Richards in Brigadoon (1954) and a young Vikki Carr in The Silencers (1966). Measurements: 34 1/2B-22-37 (in 1953), (Source: Celebrity Sleuth magazine) In 1952 she had a $5-million insurance policy accepted on her legs. When casting the film Damn Yankees! (1958), the studio was initially interested in pursuing Cyd as Lola and Cary Grant as Applegate. In the end, Gwen Verdon won the right to recreate her stage role with Ray Walston the devilish Applegate. Cyd was supposedly unavailable but later played the role on the legit stage. Was offered the lead role of Jo Stockton in Funny Face (1957) but declined. The role was eventually played by Audrey Hepburn. Daughter-in-law, Sheila Charisse, killed in the May 25, 1979 crash of American Airlines flight 191 shortly after takeoff from Chicago's O'Hare International Airport. Son Nicholas was born May 7, 1942. Unlike many top female dancers in the era of movie musicals, she was trained as a ballerina in the Russian tradition. During a family vacation in Los Angeles when she was 12, her parents enrolled her in ballet classes at a school in Hollywood. One of her teachers was Nico Charise. Her father, Ernest Enos Finklea, Jr., was a jeweler. Her mother was Lela Norwood Finklea. Was 70 years old when she made her Broadway debut in "Grand Hotel". First started taking lessons at the encouragement of her father, Ernest. She was frail and sickly at the time and had a bout with polio. Dance lessons were encouraged to build up her strength and she took to it quickly. First gained notice with the famed Ballet Russe, becoming a member of the corps de ballet at age 14 and touring the U.S. and Europe. The company requested that their members use Russian-sounding names so she was billed at different times Natacha Tulaelis, Celia Siderova and Maria Istromena. She and husband Tony Martin became a popular song-and-dance couple on TV and in nightclubs/cabaret shows after their heyday in film. Has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. One of the few actresses to have danced with both Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly in the movies, other actresses that have also done this includes Judy Garland, Rita Hayworth, Vera-Ellen, Debbie Reynolds, and Leslie Caron.