Vera-Ellen
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Vera-Ellen Westmeyer Rohe (February 16, 1921 - 30 August, 1981) was an American actress and dancer known best by just her hyphenated first name.
Vera-Ellen was born in Norwood, Ohio. She began dancing when she was nine and quickly developed into a very proficient dancer. When she was 16, she won a competition on the Major Bowes Amateur Hour and began dancing professionally.
In 1939, Vera-Ellen made her Broadway debut in the Jerome Kern/Oscar Hammerstein musical Very Warm For May. She became one of the youngest Rockettes at Radio City Music Hall. This led to a career on broadway, where she was spotted by Samuel Goldwyn, who cast her opposite Danny Kaye and Virginia Mayo in the film "Wonder Man."
Never a major star, she appeared in several films including White Christmas, On the Town, and Call Me Madam. Vera-Ellen was also one of the stars in the last Marx Brothers movie, Love Happy.
Although she suffered from anorexia earlier in her life, she died of cancer.
Filmography
- Wonder Man (1945)
- The Kid from Brooklyn (1946)
- Three Little Girls in Blue (1946)
- Carnival in Costa Rica (1947)
- Words and Music (1948)
- Love Happy (1949)
- On the Town (1949)
- Three Little Words (1950)
- Happy Go Lovely (1951)
- The Belle of New York (1952)
- Call Me Madam (1953)
- Big Leaguer (1953)
- White Christmas (1954)
- Let's Be Happy (1957)sv:Vera-Ellen