Danse Sexy Dans Le Club
Demi Kemmeries
Ann Miller, the raven-haired, long-legged, sexy dancer with the machine-gun taps, was born Johnnie Lucille Collier in Chireno, Texas, in 1923. Her father was a criminal lawyer, and her mother, Clara Birdwell, a Cherokee. At age three, when the Colliers moved to Houston, Texas, she was enrolled her in dancing school, partly to build up her legs, which had been affected by rickets. Ballet was not her forte, and after seeing Bill Robinson in a personal appearance in Houston at the age of eight, she set her sights on tap dance. Robinson gave her a first tap lesson, and she soon was performing in clubs and local theaters. At age nine, she moved with her mother to Los Angeles, where she enrolled in the Fanchon and Marco dance school.\u00a0 Calling herself Annie and adopting the stage name of Ann Miller, she performed dance routines at meetings of local civic organizations, earning $5 a night, plus tips. After watching Eleanor Powell in Broadway Melody of 1936 she turned her attention to sharpening her tap dance skills. Appearances in vaudeville theaters led to nightclub bookings and a sixteen-week engagement at the Bal Tabarin in San Francisco, where she was spotted by an RKO talent scout.\u00a0 He arranged a movie audition, which led to her first film, a non-speaking part in New Faces of 1937. With her vibrant personality, great legs, and dazzling style of tap dancing, RKO awarded her a seven-year contract when she was only thirteen (she claimed to be eighteen); and would later insure her legs for one million dollars.
Ann Miller, the raven-haired, long-legged, sexy dancer with the machine-gun taps, was born Johnnie Lucille Collier in Chireno, Texas, in 1923. Her father was a criminal lawyer, and her mother, Clara Birdwell, a Cherokee. At age three, when the Colliers moved to Houston, Texas, she was enrolled her in dancing school, partly to build up her legs, which had been affected by rickets. Ballet was not her forte, and after seeing Bill Robinson in a personal appearance in Houston at the age of eight, she set her sights on tap dance. Robinson gave her a first tap lesson, and she soon was performing in clubs and local theaters. At age nine, she moved with her mother to Los Angeles, where she enrolled in the Fanchon and Marco dance school. Calling herself Annie and adopting the stage name of Ann Miller, she performed dance routines at meetings of local civic organizations, earning $5 a night, plus tips. After watching Eleanor Powell in Broadway Melody of 1936 she turned her attention to sharpening her tap dance skills. Appearances in vaudeville theaters led to nightclub bookings and a sixteen-week engagement at the Bal Tabarin in San Francisco, where she was spotted by an RKO talent scout. He arranged a movie audition, which led to her first film, a non-speaking part in New Faces of 1937. With her vibrant personality, great legs, and dazzling style of tap dancing, RKO awarded her a seven-year contract when she was only thirteen (she claimed to be eighteen); and would later insure her legs for one million dollars.