Born: February 16, 1921
Died: August 30, 1981
Aged: 60 years from Cancer
Real Name: Vera Ellen Westmeier Rohe
Married: 2 times
A dancing dynamo! She started off dancing because she was very sickly and this helped her gain her strength. From this, a passion for dance was formed and she became one the greatest dancers ever to grace the screen. Both Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly had nothing but the highest regards for her. She started in nightclub acts and was once part of the Rockettes as one of the youngest dancers. She was let go because she was "too original". She started appearing on the Great White Way which led to Hollywood. She starred with Danny Kaye in "Wonder Man" and did a show-stopping number called "Slaughter on 10th Avenue" with Gene Kelly in "Words and Music." She is to have had the smallest waist in Hollywood where some estimates put it at 17 inches round! I think my thigh is bigger than that! It is now thought that she suffered from the eating disorder Anorexia Nervosa or Bulimia or a combo of both. By the time she made "White Christmas" the costumes she wore were all turtlenecks since her neck and upper area showed the effects of not eating. By the way, she could not sing a note, all her singing was dubbed! When the musicals left Hollywood, so did Vera-Ellen's career. She retired by the time she was 40. She was dealt a harsh blow when her daughter died of SIDS in 1963. With her failed marriages, her frail body and arthritis setting in, she became a virtual recluse. She would still dance an hour a day but she left Hollywood behind her.
Films: "Wonder Man", "Words and Music", "Three Little Words", "On The Town", "The Belle of New York", "Call Me Madam", "White Christmas"
Quote: "I'm a dancer, and I can never really get away from my career. On the days I don't dance at the studio, I have to practise at least an hour in the evening to keep in shape. Dancing is like breathing-missing a day doing either is very bad."
The films in bold are ones I recommend seeing first. "Words and Music" is a compilation of musical works
It's funny--back then dancing and singing were essential to a movie career. Today, dancing rarely comes into play at all. Singing sometimes matters--especially if someone has a long career where eventually singing will be required in a movie.
ReplyDeleteI know and I miss the dancing-and not hip hop blah blah but the true blue dance of yesteryear-we need that back
DeleteMany rarely leave hollywood behind them. She sure had her fair share of health issues. White Christmas I have seen
ReplyDeleteShe did-a number of them and Hollywood probably did not help her wish to remain thin
DeleteIt's sad...I've been looking at the stats for each actor/actress you post about and a lot of them died from some kind of cancer. And were also married a few times...
ReplyDeleteI know! I have noticed this myself. Actually, I read a book recently about a # of stars-more like Obits and most died from Heart disease and cancer followed by accidental overdose! I would say many had issues
DeleteI had not heard of her. I agree, my thigh must be 17 inches :) It was interesting how she started dancing because she was sickly, but then had the trouble with the eating disorder. You would think dancing as much as she did would have burned off lots of calories.
ReplyDeletebetty
Yes and that is the problem as people with anorexia always see themselves as fat so she would have kept dancing no matter what
DeleteI see a lot of successful people were sick or had to overcome something as a child. Just goes to show the spirit of the human heart!
ReplyDeleteYup that is also true. I also found that some, who were sickly as a child, lived a nice long life
DeleteI saw White Christmas when I was in high school. Good movie!
ReplyDeleteIt is a real fun movie and so much a part of Christmas
DeleteWhite Christmas is one of my FAVORITE Christmas movies. Love her in it.
ReplyDeleteGood luck with the A to Z Challenge!
A to Z Co-Host S. L. Hennessy
http://pensuasion.blogspot.com/
Glad you know her-that is her best known film
DeleteBack to sad today! Poor woman.
ReplyDeleteAnabel's Travel Blog
Adventures of a retired librarian
You are making me laugh...ohoh you won't like Y:)
DeleteI wonder if anyone has done a study of how many actors and actresses died from cancer, and whether certain cancers are more prominent among them. And, if there is a prominent terminal disease with each generation of actors. After reading that Vera Ellen died from cancer at a young age, I went back to your other profiles. Rin Tin Tin and Gregory Peck are the only I could find who died of natural causes. I wonder if there's a correlation with having healthy self esteem.
ReplyDeleteYou might be on to something. I did my own "study" with a book of stars I read earlier this year and I made a list of what they all died from. The first 2 were cancer and heart disease. The 3rd was accidental overdose! There seemed to be quite a few throat and lung cancer which makes sense since many smoked. When you think of Bob Hope, Jimmy Stewart, Katherine Hepburn-they were all strong and had a good self-esteem.
DeleteI wonder if Marilyn Monroe would've eventually developed cancer had she lived because she worked on that movie that was made in Nevada desert where the atom bomb was tested.
DeleteWhat staggers me is how many of these stars you have written about died of cancer. What a sad ending to her life. I can see where she would have to wear turtle necks, her thighs were a lot thinner than most dancers.
ReplyDeleteI know-many did. When one is too thin one prematurely ages and the first area one can see this happen is in the neck and front area so I guess they meant to keep this covered. Poor thing was such an excellent dancer
DeleteI didn't realize she was anorexic or whatever. That had to have been terrible. Dancing takes so much energy, she was starved all the time and still working out.
ReplyDeleteYup and she was an excellent dancer but so thin. They always see themselves as too fat so they do need help. In her situation, they didn't even know about this type of disorder
DeleteFascinating. She looks so elegant and strong in the picture you showed. I can tell from looking at it what a riveting dancer she was.
ReplyDeleteShe was all this and more
DeleteShe needed a box of Twinkies. Wow, that is skinny.
ReplyDeleteNo kidding! She would probably throw it back up-ick
DeleteMy father loved to see musicals with the dancers! Another one gone to cancer. Sad.
ReplyDeleteYour father and I could talk:) I think it gives an indication how much cancer kills in general
DeleteWhat a great picture. She doesn't look anorexic there but very lithe and fit. Quite a sad story.
ReplyDeleteNo I picked a picture where she looks healthier but when you watch "White Christmas you can see how skinny she is and note that the camera adds 10lbs
DeleteThe tiniest waist ever! She was in a lot of favorite movies I still like to watch.
ReplyDeleteShe was known for her waist and when I see Danny Kaye dance with her in White Christmas very early in the film, you can see his whole hand covers her waist!
DeleteWow, I never heard of an adult having a 17 inch waist. I just looked up and saw your comment about Danny Kaye's hand. That's amazing! It's been so long since I've seen White Christmas. I'll have to look for her next time it's on TV. You've chosen a wonderful variety of stars, Birgit!
ReplyDeleteJulie
Oh thanks:) Yes Every year when I watch White Christmas I am astounded by how thin she is. I noticed Danny Kaye's hand around her waist and also near the end of the movie when they are all in a uniform she looks so painfully thin to me
DeleteThat is so sad. Dancing and having arthritis and just no being able to do it anymore. And losing a baby.
ReplyDeleteYes she did have a sad life and I don't know if anyone ever gets over the death of their child
DeleteShe lived a very long time for someone with anorexia. They usually have complications of some sort.
ReplyDeleteYes quite true. Everyone in our city knew of this girl who was so painfully thin due to her anorexia and she finally died when she was 45. We all commented that she lasted longer than we thought.
DeleteI'm amazed with all the people you've found to post about. I haven't heard of many of them. I'm surprised she lived that long too if she had anorexia. No wonder her waist was only 17 inches.
ReplyDeleteSunni
http://sunni-survivinglife.blogspot.com/
I could post on so many more:) Some of these people were really big stars in their day so that is how fickly fame is. Yes her waist has been written to be only 17 inches but I also heard 21 inches-still too small. Many felt she did have anorexia as we classify it now but back then, she just ate small amounts and was constantly active and very aware of her body. Shame
DeleteOn the Town is the only one I know.
ReplyDeleteKind of a sad life with the eating disorders, then losing her daughter.
Yes it was sad. I think when she made On the Town she was not as thin as when you see her in White Christmas. Her issues started getting worse
DeleteShe's a muse and her passion for dancing is admirable. I wish life treated her kinder.
ReplyDeleteI am so glad you wrote this-so true about her passion for dance
DeleteEating disorders seem to be common with professional dancers. Seems strange though, since you need strength to dance. Another sad behind the scenes life.
ReplyDeleteSo true and I wonder if she just ate just enough to keep her strength so she could dance. I have seen her in White Christmas many times and even her inner thigh, when she dances, looks wrong-one sees that muscle right through-ick
DeleteI knew the story about the eating disorders, such a shame that things turned out for her the way they did. White Christmas is a staple for us at Christmas time, it's not Christmas until I've seen that film.
ReplyDeleteCait @ Click's Clan
I love that movie also and am always surprised at how painfully thin she is.
DeleteVera was quite the foxy lass spinning around in her short mini skirts and such a fantastic dancer. I could watch her for hours.
ReplyDeleteShe is considered one of the best dancers ever to grace the screen
DeleteOh, my, another sad story. What price fame, huh?
ReplyDeleteOh yes there are so many. It would be harder to find someone who has lived a nice life than one who hasn't
DeleteWow, I didn't know that about her. I thought she was skinny from all the dancing she did. Professionals usually look like that.
ReplyDeleteI remember the movies, just don't recall the star, but she left Hollywood early so that explains it. Not too happy a life. Some people struggle their entire life it seems.
ReplyDeleteI LOVE Vera Ellen in White Christmas. For the Sisters number, Rosemary Clooney sang her part and then sang the other part. The two recordings were put together. Voila!
ReplyDeleteWhite Christmas is one of my favourite films. She was a fabulous performer.
ReplyDelete