1. Joan McCracken was considered an innovator in combining dance with comedy, and branched into dramatic roles on Broadway and early television.
38 Facts About Joan McCracken
1. 2.
Joan McCracken was noted for unconventional behavior and was one of a number of real-life counterparts to inspire the character of Holly Golightly in her friend Truman Capote's novella Breakfast at Tiffany's.
3.
Joan Hume McCracken was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on December 31,1917, the daughter of Mary Humes and Franklin T McCracken, a prominent sportswriter at the Philadelphia Public Ledger who was an authority on golf and boxing.
4.
Joan McCracken dropped out of West Philadelphia High School in the tenth grade to study dance in New York with choreographer George Balanchine at the opening of the School of American Ballet in 1934.
5.
In 1935, Joan McCracken returned to Philadelphia to join Littlefield's new ballet company, the Littlefield Ballet.
6.
Joan McCracken had been recently diagnosed with type I diabetes, which was difficult to treat with the medical technology at the time, and the European tour made it even harder for her to stay in compliance with her treatment regimen.
7.
Joan McCracken kept her diabetes a secret throughout her life to prevent damage to her career.
8.
At first, neither failed to obtain employment, and Joan McCracken danced in Radio City Music Hall's ballet company.
9.
Joan McCracken became known as "The Girl Who Fell Down".
10.
Joan McCracken has said the idea was hers, while de Mille and others recall it as being the choreographer's.
11.
Joan McCracken appeared in a specialty dance routine called "Ballet in Jive".
12.
Joan McCracken was initially enthusiastic about working in films, but she was discouraged by her experiences working on Hollywood Canteen.
13.
Joan McCracken broke her Warner Brothers contract and went back to Broadway to appear in the musical Bloomer Girl, set during the US Civil War, which is widely considered to be the first Broadway musical about feminism.
14.
Joan McCracken received rave reviews for her performance, which combined comedy acting with dance.
15.
Joan McCracken subsequently starred in Billion Dollar Baby, which opened on Broadway in December 1945, winning positive reviews for her performance.
16.
Joan McCracken's starring role in the play failed to further her career, for the show received only lukewarm reviews.
17.
Joan McCracken received good reviews playing the vivacious Babe Doolittle.
18.
Joan McCracken's song-and-dance number, "Pass That Peace Pipe", was a standout, but MGM did not renew her contract and her movie career never took off.
19.
Joan McCracken had limited range as a singer, which prevented her from getting some Broadway parts.
20.
That fall, at Lewis' invitation, Joan McCracken became one of the Studio's charter members.
21.
Joan McCracken studied acting with Sanford Meisner and Herbert Berghof at the Neighborhood Playhouse.
22.
Joan McCracken plays a call girl, Dixie Evans, who was involved in the incident and threatens to talk about it.
23.
Joan McCracken starred with Eddie Dowling, a veteran Broadway actor, in the play Angel in the Pawnshop, in a 1950 tour and on Broadway in 1951.
24.
Joan McCracken played a young woman seeking to escape from her marriage to a homicidal thief, in a pawnshop owned by Dowling's character.
25.
At that time, Joan McCracken gave an interview disparaging what she described as the "over-commercialization" of television, which might have hurt her career in the new medium.
26.
Joan McCracken starred in the title role in a touring company production in 1951, succeeding Jean Arthur.
27.
Joan McCracken next appeared on Broadway in the 1953 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical Me and Juliet.
28.
Joan McCracken suffered a severe heart attack in 1955, followed by a possible second attack, and then developed pneumonia which required an extended stay in the hospital.
29.
Joan McCracken hid the severity of her health problems, but some details became public.
30.
Joan McCracken was uninhibited, and at times seemed to enjoy behaving outrageously.
31.
Joan McCracken met Jack Dunphy, then a dancer with the Littlefield company, in 1937.
32.
Joan McCracken met dancer-choreographer Bob Fosse while both were appearing in the 1950 Broadway musical Dance Me a Song, in which she had a starring role and he was a specialty dancer.
33.
Joan McCracken was married to him from December 1952 to 1959.
34.
Joan McCracken worked actively to advance his career and encouraged his work as a choreographer.
35.
Joan McCracken died in her sleep from a heart attack brought on by her diabetes, on November 1,1961.
36.
Joan McCracken was one of the real-life counterparts of Holly Golightly in Truman Capote's popular novella Breakfast at Tiffany's.
37.
Joan McCracken reacted violently when she heard the news, tearing up her dressing room.
38.
Joan McCracken told Capote of the incident, and he used it in the novella.