Thursday, April 12, 2012

Birthday Girl: Miss Showbiz


Many, many happy returns to the late, great Miss Ann Miller, who in kinder circumstances would be turning 89 today.

Ann Miller is just plain fun.  Has anyone ever gotten such joy out of fame as the little girl from Texas who came into this world with the unprepossessing moniker Johnnie Lucille Collier?  From start to finish, she was perhaps Hollywood's purest product, a whirlwind of energy that she channelled, of course, into her legendary tap dancing, but that also fueled her tireless tending of her own stardom.  Not for Our Annie the "woe is me" approach to celebrity of Garbo; unlike Crawford, she never showed how much effort it takes to be MGMalicious 24/7.  And certainly, she must have been puzzled by the decades of stars after her, with their slapdash scandals and sweatpants in airports.

Here we see her doing the full Blackglama; unlike some other editions in that cherishable series of adverts, you get the impression that it didn't take all that much to get her camera ready.

Sharing the day?  Not a bad haul, actually, taking in opera divas svelte and not-so Lily Pons and Montserrat Caballe, creator-of-Ramona Beverly Cleary, big band thrush Helen Forrest, TV curiosity Tiny Tim, and teen heartthrob/botox victim David Cassidy.  Of them all, though, I'll take Ann...

7 comments:

  1. i just LOVE that it's monsterfats birthday too!

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    1. She and Annie did share a penchant for jet-black bouffants...

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  2. I will never forget seeing Miss Miller sashaying down the sidewalk in downtown Chicago (while Sugar Babies was there, which it was for many months), her hair lacquered back, her mega-watt smile blessing all in her path.

    I also get a kick out of the fact that her final film was directed by David Lynch.

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  3. This is the clip that brightens my day whenever I'm blue and need a boost from a couple of MGM pros.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yF0K6_AVnHY

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    1. And they did that eight times a week. For years. Every place from Broadway to the back of beyond, while stopping by local TV shows and Rotary lunches and whatever it took to fill the house.

      These days, pop stars collapse from exhaustion after a grueling eight-city lipsynch tour.

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  4. What becomes a legend most?
    I saw her in Follies in New Jersey. You know, when she was pregnant her husband pushed her down the stairs and she miscarried :( Read it in The Times.

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