Ann Miller

Ann Miller was the perennial bridesmaid of the Howard Keel musicals. Usually the loose showgirl with a heart of gold, she was always the girlfriend but never the one who “got the hero.” That was a shame, because they played well together and she provided an unusual foil for him- she was tall. At 5’7”, she was as tall as the average man of that day and measured up quite well against Howard, unlike the very petite actresses he usually was paired with. Her bubbly screen persona and “naughty good girl” sex appeal lightened his more restrained manner the same way Ginger Rogers had once “given Fred Astaire sex while he gave her class.” Beautiful and professional, she could play working class girls or refined snobs. And she could dance! Once clocked as the fastest tapper in Hollywood- a record that still remains unbroken- her legs were insured by RKO {ala’ Betty Grable} for $1,000,000. Almost as famous as her dancing were her off-screen marriages and romances with some of the richest and most glamorous men of the day. Ever the trooper, she made her triumphant comeback to show business with huge successes on the stage, establishing her as a great actress and singer as well as a dancer. A classic Golden Age Star, her charismatic energy and talent are eternal.

Ann Miller was born Johnnie Lucille Collier in Houston, Texas on April 12, 1923. Her father was a big criminal lawyer, having defended the likes of Baby Face Nelson and Bonnie and Clyde. Her mother, who was hearing impaired, could not stand her father’s philandering and took Ann to California. Unable to hold down a job in the handicapped-unfriendly depression days, supporting them fell to Ann. Doing her schooling by correspondence courses during the day, she got work dancing in clubs at night. Her height and brunette good looks gave the impression she was older than her years and the clubs were not too particular.

In 1937, she was discovered by Lucille Ball and an RKO casting agent while doing a show in a San Francisco nightclub. RKO offered her a contract if she could prove she was 18. Her father provided her with a fake birth certificate proclaiming her 4 years older and 14-year-old Ann was signed. She was introduced in “New Faces of 1937”. That year, she made “Stage Door” with Ginger Rogers, one of her idols. Ginger gave her the nickname ‘Stringbean” and it was used in the film. In 1938, she appeared with James Stewart and an all-star cast in Frank Capra’s Oscar winning “You Can’t Take It With You” and several other lesser pictures. Studio politics brought about the end of her RKO contract and she went to New York to do “George White’s Scandals of 1939.” She literally stopped the show and won rave reviews. She did the show and its tour for two years, then returned to Hollywood.

She was signed by Columbia and they put her in a string of morale boosting WWII.films and a long string of B-picutures. She was even nicknamed “Queen of the B’s”! It was also during this time that the young and beautiful Ann began dating the most powerful movie mogul of all-time, L.B. Mayer. He proposed, but Ann did not want to marry such an older man, a father figure to her. She also became aware of a plot by her own studio’s boss, the notorious Harry Cohn, to set her up in a big, star-making movie to up her value in anticipation of her marrying Mayer and he wanting to buy her contract. Furious and confused, she took a radical way out- she married a recent boyfriend, steel heir Reese Milner.

He refused to let her continue her career, but compromised to let her finish a movie she had started filming before her marriage. Shortly after marrying the hard-drinking Milner, Ann discovered she was pregnant…and that her husband was a wife-beater. After a particularly bad beating, she held up production of the movie to recover, then finished under heavy make-up to hide her wounds. Unwilling to have a baby without a father, she made excuses for the violence and stayed with Milner. Columbia released her, as she requested, from her contract. Shortly before her baby was due, the couple had another fight. Ann fell down a long flight of stairs. Her spine was severely injured and she miscarried her baby. A daughter, the baby lived only 3 hours. She filed for divorce from her hospital bed.

Back supporting herself, Ann swallowed her pride and asked L.B. Mayer to let her test for “Easter Parade” with Fred Astaire and Judy Garland, in 1948. With no help from the now-cold Mayer, she won the part and got an MGM contract. It would be here that she made some of her most famous films, including the 3 she made with Howard Keel. Co-star Kathryn Grayson became a close, life-long friend.

During the 50’s, Ann began a lengthy relationship with Bill O’Connor, a powerful California politician. Unable to remarry because of his Catholicism and his first wife, Ann finally ended the relationship, but always felt he had been the love of her life. On the rebound, she married oil-tycoon Bill Moss, despite O’Connor’s last minute offer to leave the Catholic Church to marry her. He died of a heart attack a year later. Moss didn’t want her to continue in show business, so she again gave up her career to promote his as a society wife. Unable to tolerate his heavy drinking and womanizing and still in love with O’ Connor, their marriage soon fell apart. The couple divorced in 1961.

During their separation, she began dating a longtime friend, another Texas oilman named Arthur Cameron. The flamboyant Cameron determinedly set about sweeping her off her feet. The couple went to Mexico to obtain divorces from their respective estranged spouses and were married. After their European honeymoon was over, he soon tired of her. Upon their return to the US, they maintained separate residences for propriety’s sake. Ann soon learned her was seeing several other women and had no intention of marrying her in a legally binding California ceremony. Heartbroken and afraid her reputation would be damaged if people thought she had been “living in sin” with him for nearly a year, she took him to court. He finally agreed to an annulment of their Mexican wedding, thereby acknowledging it. The two managed to repair their relationship and remained friends the rest of his life.

Again, Ann was faced with having to go back to work. She disliked the nudity and sex in films and realized she could not return to movies. She accepted an offer to do a musical number on a popular television show. Ex-husband Cameron funded it and it was a big success. Three others followed. Second husband Bill Moss, also still a friend, had encouraged her to take singing lessons. These stood her in good stead when she started her stage career.

She did Cole Porter’s “Can Can” in her old hometown of Houston, then tried a none musical, straight dramatic role in “Glad Tidings” in Chicago. After that, she signed on to do the musical version of “Mame” in Florida. She was such a hit that she was signed to do it on Broadway. A new tap dance was added just for her and she sped up the tempo of some of the numbers. After a bumpy beginning with the show’s long-standing cast, Ann was able to revitalize the flagging show. They opened on Broadway and the show was a hit all over again. Ann Miller had finally become the successful singer and actress- as well as dancer- she had always wanted to be. She was with the show on Broadway and on tour for two years until pneumonia and exhaustion forced her to quit.

In 1971, she danced atop a Heinz soup can in the famous Stan Freberg commercial, starred in a stage version of “Hello Dolly!” and in the Ann-Margaret TV special “Dames At Sea.” “Miller’s High Life”, her autobiography, came out in 1972. She appeared in “Won Ton Ton, the Dog Who Saved Hollywood” in 1976 and was featured in “That’s Entertainment” in 1974 and as a host in its second sequel in 1994. By 1979, she starred in Broadway’s “Sugar Babies” for which she was nominated for a Tony in 1980. She stayed with the show and toured it for 9 years, including a performance for the Royal Family in Britain. Though she loved making movies, Ann said that her heart belonged to the stage. Sadly, it was during the run of “Sugar Babies” that Ann’s mother died. They had always been together.

Ann did the requisite episode of “The Love Boat” in 1982 and A&E did her life story on an episode of “Biography” called “I’m Still Here” in 1987. She was on TV again in 1991 with a guest spot on the sitcom “Home Improvement.” In 1994, she was featured in two films about Hollywood, “Century of Cinema” and “That’s Dancing.” Ann was awarded the Women’s International Living Legends Award in 1996. Recently, she appeared on TV in “Stan Freberg’s Commercials” and on the stage again in Stephen Sondheim’s “Follies,” in which she sang what has become he r theme song, “I’m Still Here.” She returned to the silver screen in a supporting role in David Lynch's convoluted thriller "Mulholland Drive" in 2001 and also continued to make occaisional TV appearances.

In her personal life, Ann was devoutly spiritual. She believed in and studied psychic phenomena, Eastern spiritualism, and astrology, and often discussed her own psychic experiences. She was fascinated with the Middle East and has traveled there, once believing she had been Queen Hathshepsut of Egypt. In 1990, Ann and Dr. Maxine Asher wrote about her psychic experiences and personal philosophies in her second book “Tapping Into the Force.” Though her home was in Beverly Hills, for some time, she owned a second home in Sedona, Arizona, a popular New Age area. She was a very social, outgoing person, enjoying going out or in traveling with her assistant Debbie and her dogs.

In later years, her health began to fail. She overcame breast and colon cancer, only to struggle with lung cancer for several years. In January 2004, Ann fell and was admitted to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, where she succumbed to cancer Jan. 22. She was 81.

Ann left no survivors, but she did leave a rich legacy of work for her devoted fans. Ann was more than just a dancer or an actress- she was the definition of “movie star.” She had an indomitable taste for glamour and society, a sense of humor and lust-for-life attitude that ignored the years. She also felt a deep appreciation for her fans and always tried to fulfill her role as their star. Her wonderful talent and larger-than-life personality will be an inspiration forever.

There are increasing numbers of sites about Ann Miller. I suggest these:

Ann Miller Online- A nice, new page, with a great early Ann gallery. Still being added to.

Reel Classics- Ann Miller- a nice site with bio, gallery, and an extensive listing of links

Famous Texans- A good bio and fun cartoon of proud Texan Ann

WIC Biogragphy- A fine bio highlighted by a complete listing of her awards

Only Legends- A nice gallery of Ann Miller

Turner Classic Movies- With over 350 movies a month featuring the biggest stars of all time, Turner Classic Movies truly is Movie Heaven”- A lengthy September 1998 on-line interview that is quite interesting

E-Bay- Look for Ann merchandise for auction

Barnes and Noble Booksellers- They have” Miller’s High Life” and the only biography, “Tops in Taps” by Jim O’Connor in their out-of-print section. You can search their out-of-print booksellers links for “Tapping Into the Force.”

Amazon Books- They can order the autobiography from their out-of-print section

Internet Movie Database- Includes a bio and filmography

TV Now- Get a listing of this actress’ movie and TV appearances this month

Obituary- Self explanatory, includes comments by her friends Mickey Rooney and Debbie Reynolds