Movie Dancer Cyd Charisse Dies At 86

Movie dancer Cyd Charisse, an MGM ballet dancer at the height of Hollywood's golden era, has died of an apparent heart attack. She was 86.

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According to her rep, the dancer died early Tuesday at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. Charisse wooed Fred Astaire in such classic '50s musicals as "The Band Wagon" and "Silk Stockings" and Gene Kelly in "Singin' in the Rain" and "Brigadoon." Even though she was a glamorous dancer, her coworkers adored her and often called her by her real name, Tula Finklea, from Amarillo, Texas.

Kelly was a huge fan of his beautiful brunette costar and often said that MGM didn't really know what to do with her. Once the studio system collapsed, Charisse made only the occasional appearance, often on TV or in nightclubs. She would appear with her husband singer Tony Martin, whom she married in 1948.

Martin, who earlier this year, at the age of 95, performed a well-received live performance at Feinstein's cabaret in New York, survives her.