Movie dancer
Cyd Charisse – whose elegant legwork wooed
Fred Astaire in such classic '50s musicals as
The Band Wagon and
Silk Stockings and
Gene Kelly in
Singin' in the Rain and
Brigadoon – died early Tuesday at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center after suffering an apparent heart attack, says her rep. She was 86. The resident MGM ballet dancer at the height of Hollywood's golden era of musicals had danced in the Ballet Russes before landing at the studio – though for all the glamour she exuded, Charisse, who was adored by her coworkers, was often referred to by her real name, Tula Finklea, from Amarillo Texas. (
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