Tamara Toumanova


Movie actress and internationally acclaimed #92;ballet star Tamara Toumanova is said to have been born on a Russian train heading for Paris. At the time, her parents were fleeing the Bolshevik Revolution. Once safely relocated, Toumanova studied #92;ballet in Paris and in 1924 became a professional ballerina. As a young woman, she performed with a number of highly regarded troupes beginning with a starring performance with the Paris Opera Ballet in 1929. Three years later Toumanova joined George Balanchine's Ballets Russes de Monte Carlo. She would continue on to dance with equally prestigious troupes for the next four decades. But Toumanova did not allow herself to be cast only as a #92;classical dancer; she also wanted to act and to sing a wide variety of music. She made her Broadway debut in the 1939 #92;musical Stars in Your Eyes. Toumanova made her feature film debut in the pre-WWII epic tribute to the Soviet Union opposite another debuting actor, Gregory Peck, in Days of Glory (1943). Though the picture didn't fare well at the box office, both Peck and Toumanova received favorable reviews. The same year the picture came out the dancer married its producer, Casey Robinson. The marriage didn't last. Toumanova continued to dance for 40 more years while also working on-stage and appearing occasionally in feature films. She made her final screen appearance in The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes (1970). ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

  • Born:
    March 22, 1919 in Toumen, Russia
  • Died:
    May 29, 1996.
  • Job Titles:
    Actor, Ballet dancer
Milestones
  • 1929 Danced first principle role with the Paris Opera Ballet
  • 1932 Joined choreographer George Balanchine s Ballet s Russes de Monte Carlo
  • 1939 Starred in Broadway musical Stars in Your Eyes
  • 1943 Film debut, Spanish Fiesta , with the Massine-Denham Ballet Russe Company
  • 1944 First major film role in Days of Glory , opposite Gregory Peck
  • 1953 Played the role of Anna Pavlova in Tonight We Sing , a film based on the life of Sol Hurok
  • 1954 Appeared in Doom In My Heart
  • 1956 Appeared in Invitation to the Dance , starring Gene Kelly
  • 1966 Appeared in Alfrd Hitchcock s Torn Curtain
  • 1970 Last screen credit in Billy Wilder s The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes playing the role of Petrova

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