32 Facts About Ann Miller

Ann Miller is best remembered for her work in the classical Hollywood cinema musicals of the 1940s and 1950s.

Ann Miller later starred in the musical classics Easter Parade, On the Town and Kiss Me Kate.

In 1960, Miller received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Ann Miller was the only child of mother Clara Emma and father John Alfred Collier, a criminal lawyer who represented the Barrow gang, Machine Gun Kelly, and Baby Face Nelson.

Ann Miller was put in dance classes at the age of five in an attempt to strengthen her legs after suffering from rickets.

Ann Miller came to be considered a child dance prodigy.

Ann Miller adopted the stage name Ann Miller, which she kept throughout her career.

In 1936, at age 13, Ann Miller was hired as a showgirl at the Bal Tabarin.

Ann Miller had small appearances for RKO in New Faces of 1937 and The Life of the Party.

In 1938 and 1939, Ann Miller was a supporting actress in many of the studio's films, such as Radio City Revels, Having Wonderful Time, Room Service, Tarnished Angel, and most notably as the quirky Essie Carmichael in Frank Capra's You Can't Take It With You.

In 1939, Ann Miller made her Broadway debut in George White's Scandals of 1939.

In later life, Ann Miller claimed to have invented pantyhose in the 1940s as a solution to the continual problem of torn stockings during the filming of dance-production numbers.

Ann Miller asked a hosiery maker to produce a single combined garment.

Ann Miller made two films for Republic, Hit Parade of 1941 and Melody Ranch with Gene Autry.

In 1941, Ann Miller signed with Columbia Pictures starring in 11 B musicals from 1941 to 1945, beginning with Time Out for Rhythm with Rudy Vallee.

In July 1945, Ann Miller posed in a bathing suit as a Yank pin-up girl.

Ann Miller ended her contract in 1946 with one A film, The Thrill of Brazil.

Ann Miller's last MGM film was a flop non-musical comedy The Great American Pastime.

Ann Miller became known later for her distinctive appearance, which reflected a studio-era ideal of glamour - large, black, bouffant hair, heavy makeup with a splash of crimson lipstick, and fashions that emphasized her figure and long legs.

In May 1969, Ann Miller made a comeback on Broadway when she took over the title role in the musical Mame, dancing a tap number created for her.

Ann Miller remained in the role until the show closed in January 1970.

Ann Miller appeared in an iconic television commercial for "The Great American Soup", in which she rose through the floor atop an eight-foot-high cylinder designed to resemble a giant soup can.

In 1983, she won the Sarah Siddons Award for her work in Chicago theatre, On May 1,1989, at the age of 66, Ann Miller sang and tap-danced to "42nd Street" at the opening of the Disney MGM Studios, her last live dance performance.

Ann Miller's first was an autobiography, Miller's High Life.

Ann Miller's second was Tapping into the Force, a book about her experiences in the psychic world.

Ann Miller was the subject of This Is Your Life on British television in 1993, when she was surprised by Michael Aspel at the studios of CBS Television City.

Ann Miller's last stage performance was a 1998 Paper Mill Playhouse production of Stephen Sondheim's Follies, in which she played hard-boiled Carlotta Campion and received rave reviews for her rendition of the song "I'm Still Here".

In 2001, Ann Miller played her last role as landlady Coco in director David Lynch's critically acclaimed Mulholland Drive.

Ann Miller was married three times, to Reese Llewellyn Milner from 1946 to 1947, to William Moss from 1958 to 1961, and to Arthur Cameron from 1961 to 1962.

Ann Miller died from lung cancer at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles on January 22,2004, at the age of 80.

Ann Miller's remains were interred near her infant daughter in Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, California.

On February 8,1960, Ann Miller received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6914 Hollywood Blvd.