
Ann Miller
Personal Info
Known for
Acting
Gender
Female
Birthday
1923-04-12
Day of Death
2004-01-22 (80 years old)
Place of Birth
Houston, Texas, USA
Ann Miller
Biography
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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.
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 that 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).
Miller was famed for her speed in tap dance. Studio publicists concocted press releases claiming she could tap 500 times per minute, but in truth, the sound of ultra-fast "500" taps was looped in later. Because the stage floors were waxed and too slick for regular tap shoes, she had to dance in shoes with rubber treads on the sole. Later she would loop the sound of the taps while watching the film and actually dancing on a "tap board" to match her steps in the film.
Her film career effectively ended in 1956 as the studio system lost steam to television, but she remained active in the theater and on television. She starred on Broadway in the musical Mame in 1969, in which she wowed the audience in a tap number created just for her. In 1979 she astounded audiences in the Broadway show Sugar Babies with fellow MGM veteran Mickey Rooney, which toured the United States extensively after its Broadway run. In 1983, she won the Sarah Siddons Award for her work in Chicago theatre. She appeared in a special 1982 episode of The Love Boat, joined by fellow showbiz legends Ethel Merman, Carol Channing, Della Reese, Van Johnson and Cab Calloway in a storyline that cast them as older relatives of the show's regular characters. Her last stage performance was a 1998 production of Stephen Sondheim's Follies, in which she played hardboiled Carlotta Campion and received rave reviews for her rendition of the song "I'm Still Here".
For her contribution to the motion picture industry, Miller has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6914 Hollywood Blvd. In 1998, a Golden Palm Star on the Palm Springs, California, Walk of Stars was dedicated to her. To honor Miller's contribution to dance, the Smithsonian Institution displays her favorite pair of tap shoes, which she playfully nicknamed "Moe and Joe".
Known For
Acting
(2021)
(2009)
(2005)
Easter Parade: On the Avenue
as Self
(2004)
Judy Garland: By Myself
as Self - Actor (voice)
(2003)
(2003)
Broadway's Lost Treasures
as Ann (segment "Sugar Babies")
(2003)
Rita
as Self
(2003)
Inside the Marx Brothers
as Self
(2003)
(2003)
(2002)
Gene Kelly: Anatomy of a Dancer
as Self (archive footage)
(2002)
Marlene Dietrich: Her Own Song
as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
(2001)
Mulholland Drive
as Coco
(2000)
Frank Sinatra Memorial
as Self
(2000)
Hollywood Musicals of the 40's
as Self (archive footage)
(1999)
Mulholland Dr.
as Coco
(1995)
Inside the Dream Factory
as Self
(1994)
That's Entertainment! III
as Self - Co-Host / Narrator
(1993)
Lucy and Desi: A Home Movie
as Self
(1987)
(1985)
(1982)
Night of 100 Stars
as Self
(1976)
Won Ton Ton: The Dog Who Saved Hollywood
as Presidents' Girl 2
(1976)
That's Entertainment, Part II
as (archive footage)
(1974)
That's Entertainment!
as (archive footage)
(1971)
Dames at Sea
as Mona
(1956)
The Opposite Sex
as Gloria Dahl
(1956)
The Great American Pastime
as Doris Patterson
(1955)
Hit the Deck
as Ginger
(1954)
Deep in My Heart
as Performer in Artists and Models
(1953)
Kiss Me Kate
as Lois Lane, "Bianca"
(1953)
Small Town Girl
as Lisa Bellmount
(1952)
Lovely to Look At
as Bubbles Cassidy
(1951)
Two Tickets to Broadway
as Joyce Campbell
(1951)
Texas Carnival
as Sunshine Jackson
(1950)
Watch the Birdie
as Miss Lucky Vista
(1949)
On the Town
as Claire Huddesen
(1949)
(1948)
Easter Parade
as Nadine Hale
(1948)
The Kissing Bandit
as Fiesta Specialty Dancer
(1946)
The Thrill of Brazil
as Linda Lorens
(1945)
Eadie Was a Lady
as Eadie Allen / Edithea Alden
(1945)
Eve Knew Her Apples
as Eve Porter
(1944)
(1944)
Hey, Rookie
as Winnie Clark
(1944)
Carolina Blues
as Julie Carver
(1944)
Jam Session
as Terry Baxter
(1943)
Reveille with Beverly
as Beverly Ross
(1943)
What's Buzzin', Cousin?
as Ann Crawford
(1942)
True to the Army
as Vicki Marlow
(1942)
Priorities on Parade
as Donna D'Arcy
(1941)
Time Out for Rhythm
as Kitty Brown
(1941)
Go West, Young Lady
as Lola
(1941)
(1941)
(1940)
Too Many Girls
as Pepe
(1940)
Melody Ranch
as Julie Shelton
(1940)
Hit Parade of 1941
as Anabelle Potter
(1938)
You Can't Take It with You
as Essie Carmichael
(1938)
Room Service
as Hilda Manny
(1938)
Having Wonderful Time
as Vivian (uncredited)
(1938)
Radio City Revels
as Billie
(1938)
Tarnished Angel
as Violet McMaster
(1937)
Stage Door
as Annie
(1937)
New Faces of 1937
as Ann Miller
(1937)
The Life of the Party
as Betty
(1936)
The Devil on Horseback
as Dancer (uncredited)
(1935)
The Good Fairy
as Girl in Orphanage (uncredited)