Tamara Toumanova
Tamara Toumanova
From Wikipedia Tamara Toumanova (March 2, 1919 – May 29, 1996) was a prominent Russian American prima ballerina and actress. A child of exiles in Paris after the Russian Revolution of 1917, she made her debut at the age of 10 at the children's ballet of the Paris Opera. She became known internationally as one of the Baby Ballerinas of the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, after being discovered by her fellow émigré, ballet master and choreographer George Balanchine. She was featured in numerous ballets in Europe. Balanchine also featured her in his productions at Ballet Theatre, New York, making her the star of his performances in the United States. While most of Toumanova's career was dedicated to ballet, she appeared as a ballet dancer in several films, beginning in 1944. She became a naturalized United States citizen in 1943 in Los Angeles, California. Toumanova appeared in six Hollywood films between 1944 and 1970, always playing dancers. She made her feature film debut in 1944, in Days of Glory, playing a Russian dancer being saved from the invading Germans in 1941 by Soviet partisan leader Gregory Peck (who also made his debut in that film). In 1953 she played Russian prima ballerina Anna Pavlova in "Tonight We Sing", and in 1954 she appeared in the biographical musical, "Deep in My Heart", as the French dancer Gaby Deslys. In 1956 she did a dance scene with Gene Kelly in his dance film, Invitation to the Dance.
