2007.1.382

• photography

Black and white portrait photograph of actress/dancer Ann Miller. Miller is posed sitting on a chair sideways with her body facing the camera and her head posed over her left shoulder. Her right arm, not visible, is draped over the back of the chair while her left hand rests in her lap. She is wearing what appears to be a dark velvet dress with light colored lace overlay just at the bodice. She also has a bracelet on her left wrist and a ring on her left ring finger. The surface of the image has been outlined/highlighted in places for reproduction purposes. The caption affixed to back reads, "ANN MILLER / IN / 'YOU CAN'T TAKE / IT WITH YOU' / FRANKLIN."

Ann MillerFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ann_Miller (9/19/2007)Ann Miller (April 12, 19231 _ January 22, 2004) was an American dancer, singer and actress, who was christened Johnnie Lucille Collier. Born in Chireno, Texas (some sources cite Houston, where she was raised), her father insisted on the name Johnnie because he had wanted a boy, but she was often called Annie. She took up dancing to exercise her legs to help her rickets. She was considered a child dance prodigy. In an interview featured in a "behind the scenes" documentary on the making of the compilation That's Entertainment III, she said that Eleanor Powell was an early inspiration. Miller was given a contract with RKO at the age of thirteen (she had told them she was eighteen), and remained there until 1940.The following year, Miller was offered a contract at Columbia Pictures, where she bumped friend Lucille Ball from the throne as "Queen of the B-Movies". She finally hit her mark (starting in the late 1940s) in her roles in MGM musicals such as Kiss Me, Kate, Easter Parade, and On the Town. Miller was famed for her speed in tap dancing; she claimed to be able to tap 500 times per minute. She was known as well, especially later in her career, for her distinctive appearance, which reflected a studio-era ideal of glamor: massive black bouffant hair, heavy makeup with a slash of crimson lipstick, and fashions that emphasized her lithe figure and long dancer's legs.For her contribution to the motion picture industry, Ann Miller has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6914 Hollywood Blvd. She died at the age of 80 from cancer which had metastasized to her lungs, and was interred in the Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, California.

Used: Oakland Tribune