Cyd Charisse Biography

Fast Facts

• Was awarded the National Medal of the Arts by President George Bush in 2006
• Made her acting debut in the 1943 film "Something to Shout About," using the pseudonym Lily Norwood
• Began taking dance lessons as a child and later joined the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo after moving to California to receive professional dance training
• Quote: "I think that in all my dancing I play a role․ To me, that's what dancing is about․ It's not just steps․"
• Quote: "(In response to Gene Kelly on what she wanted engraved on her tombstone): "People sometimes had a problem placing her face, but they never forgot her pins․""
• Quote: "(On how her husband, Tony Martin, knew who she'd been filming dance scenes with): "If I was black and blue, it was Gene [Kelly]․ And if it was Fred [Astaire], I didn't have a scratch․""
• Made her Broadway debut as an aging ballerina living in 1920s Berlin in "Grand Hotel" in 1992
• Best known as an actress and dancer who frequently appeared in musical films like "The Band Wagon," "Brigadoon," and "Singin' in the Rain․"
• Was considered to have the "World's Most Valuable Legs" after rumors circulated that MGM had taken out an insurance policy on them for anywhere from $1 to $5 million
• Was nicknamed "Sid" by her younger brother, who couldn't yet pronounce the word "sis," and the spelling was later changed to "Cyd" by MGM because it sounded more mysterious