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This is a one stop place to find news and stories about the greatest singer of all-time, Bing Crosby. From his days with Paul Whiteman to his final performances in 1977, we will examine this remarkable entertainer’s life and times! Vera-Ellen was married twice. Her first husband was a fellow dancer, Robert Hightower, to whom she was married from February 1941 to November 1946. Her second husband was oilman Victor Rothschild. They were married from 1954 to 1966 when they divorced. While married to Rothschild, she gave birth to a daughter, Victoria Ellen, who died in 1963 at three months from SIDS. Following the death of her only child, she withdrew from public life. She danced with Gene Kelly in the Hollywood musicals Words and Music and On the Town, while also appearing in the last Marx Brothers film, Love Happy. She received top billing alongside Fred Astaire in the musicals Three Little Words and The Belle of New York. She had a co-starring role with Donald O’Connor in the Ethel Merman vehicle Call Me Madam. She also starred in the 1951 musical comedy ‘Happy Go Lovely’ alongside David Niven and Cesar Romero. Vera-Ellen’s penultimate film role was the 1954 blockbuster hit White Christmas, co-starring with Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, and Rosemary Clooney. She starred in only one more film, the 1957 British production Let’s Be Happy.In 1939, she made her Broadway debut in the Jerome Kern/Oscar Hammerstein musical Very Warm for May. She became one of the youngest Rockettes at Radio City Music Hall. This led to roles on Broadway in Panama Hattie, By Jupiter, and A Connecticut Yankee, where she was spotted by Samuel Goldwyn, who cast her opposite Danny Kaye and Virginia Mayo in the 1945 film Wonder Man.Her niece by marriage, Ileana Rothschild, born in 1967, remembered that her aunt “never stopped taking dance classes and maintained her slim figure always.” She was also an “avid swimmer,” who used a swimming program to recover from a mild stroke late in her life. According to Rothschild, she had no eating disorder.Vera-Ellen died at the Los Angeles County General Hospital on August 30, 1981, of ovarian cancer. She was 60 years old. She is buried at Glen Haven Memorial Park in Sylmar, Los Angeles.

Vera-Ellen (born Vera-Ellen Rohe; February 16, 1921 – August 30, 1981) was an American dancer and actress. She is remembered for her solo performances as well as her work with partners Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly, Danny Kaye, and Donald O’Connor. She is best known for her starring roles in On the Town (1949) with Gene Kelly and White Christmas (1954) with Danny Kaye.
Vera-Ellen was a reasonably frequent guest on US variety programming in the mid-to-late 1950s. Her final performances were on a November 22, 1958, television episode of The Perry Como Show and a February 14, 1959, broadcast of The Dinah Shore Show. Following that, Vera-Ellen retired from performing.Starting in 1945 with Wonder Man, her first film, her singing was dubbed. However, the Decca Broadway Original Cast Album of 1943’s revival of A Connecticut Yankee has two vocals by Vera-Ellen, “I Feel at Home with You” and “You Always Love the Same Girl,” both duets with Chester Stratton. Her style is of a comic soubrette. She began dancing at age 10 and quickly became proficient. One of her fellow dance students at Hessler Studio of Dancing was Doris Day. At age 13, she was a winner on the Major Bowes Amateur Hour and embarked upon a professional career. Vera-Ellen Rohe was born in Norwood, Ohio, to Martin F. Rohe, a piano dealer, and Alma C. Westmeier. Both were descended from German immigrants. Her hyphenated first name originated in a dream that her mother had and that her mother saw it in the “Lights.”According to Hollywood chronicler Brian Cronin, what he describes as Vera-Ellen’s “extremely thin” appearance led to rumors during her career that she had an eating disorder. A rumor that her neck was always covered during the filming of White Christmas because of wrinkling caused by supposed anorexia persists to this day. However, pictures and video taken at the same time show her neck appearing normal and undamaged. A friend, Bill Dennington, who knew her during the last 20 years of her life, dismissed the story about her neck and added that he hated “that people think of her as ‘the dancer with anorexia’ and not just the fabulous dancer who has been so overlooked.”

Vera-Ellen (Vera Ellen Westmeier Rohe) was born on 16 February, 1921 in Norwood, Ohio, USA, is a Soundtrack, Actress. Discover Vera-Ellen’s Biography, Age, Height, Physical Stats, Dating/Affairs, Family and career updates. Learn How rich is She in this year and how She spends money? Also learn how She earned most of Vera-Ellen networth?
On March 3, 1963, she gave birth to a daughter named Victoria Ellen Rothschild, who died of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome on June 20th of that same year. All of this took place in Los Angeles County.She danced with Fred Astaire in Three Little Words (1950) and with Gene Kelly in On the Town (1949). Blonde, slim of build, and a dancing sensation, she appeared in a string of light-hearted but successful films. Her net worth has been growing significantly in 2022-2023. So, how much is Vera-Ellen worth at the age of 60 years old? Vera-Ellen’s income source is mostly from being a successful Soundtrack. She is from USA. We have estimated Vera-Ellen’s net worth , money, salary, income, and assets. She was originally slated to star in Excuse My Dust (1951) with Red Skelton, however she had to be replaced as she was in London filming Happy Go Lovely – Color – 1951 (1951) and would not finish that film in time.Vera-Ellen began dancing at the age of 10, and a few years later became one of the youngest Rockettes. She appeared in several Broadway musicals until she was spotted by film producer Samuel Goldwyn in 1945.

We recommend you to check the complete list of Famous People born on 16 February. She is a member of famous Soundtrack with the age 60 years old group.
Discover today’s celebrity birthdays and explore famous people who share your birthday. View popular celebrities life details, birth signs and real ages.It shouldn’t be used for commercial use which includes advertising, marketing, promotion, packaging, advertorials, and consumer or merchandising products. You can only use this image in editorial media and for personal use. Editorial media includes use as a visual reference to support your article, story, critique or educational text. Personal use allows you to make a single personal print, card or gift for non-commercial use. Not for resale. Victor Rothschild and Vera-Ellen were married for 11 years. They dated for 1 year after getting together in 1953 and married on 13th Nov 1954. 11 years later they divorced in 1966.Vera-Ellen and Victor Rothschild – Dating, Gossip, News, Photos list. Help us build our profile of Vera-Ellen and Victor Rothschild! Login to add information, pictures and relationships, join in discussions and get credit for your contributions.

Goldwyn teamed her with Danny Kaye in ”Wonder Man.” She also did ”The Kid From Brooklyn” with Mr. Kaye. She and and Mr. Kelly danced a famous sequence to ”Slaughter on Tenth Avenue” in the film ”Words and Music.”
She was bor n Vera-Ellen Rohe in Cincinnati, with a hyphen in her name because her mother ”had a dream and saw that name in lights,” according to A.C. Lyles, a Paramount producer and longtime friend. ”When she wa s a small girl she was rather frail and studied dancing to build up h er body.” Toured With Ted Lewis Band Vera-Ellen was married in 1954 to Victor Rothschild, an oilman; they were divorced in 1966. Since then she had lived in secl
usion in the Hollywood Hills. 
Vera-Ellen, who danced across the screen with such stars as Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly during the golden era of Hollywood musicals, died of cancer at the University of California at Los Angeles Medical Center on Sunday. She was 55 years old.With Mr. Astaire she did ”Three Little Words” and ”The Belle of New York.” She also appeared in ”Call Me Madam.” Her last picture, in 1957, was ”Let’s Be Happy,” with Tony Martin.

Vera-Ellen’s career began in her teens, when she won a radio talent competition. She went on to star on Broadway and in such classic films as ”White Christmas” with Bing Crosby and ”On the Town” with Mr. Kelly and Frank Sinatra.

As a teen-ager she won the Major Bowes Amateur Hour and toured New York theaters, dancing for $50 a week in the late 1930’s. She also toured with the Ted Lewis Band and eventually broke into Broadway musicals, dancing with Ray Bolger in ”By Jupiter” in 1942 and in the revival of ”A Connecticut Yankee” in 1943. She was noticed in 1943 by Samuel Goldwyn, who started her on her film career. Last Film in 1957During the 1950s, she was reputed to have the “smallest waist in Hollywood”, probably because she suffered from anorexia, which contributed to her premature aging [1]. She retired from the screen in 1957. Shortening and hyphenating her name to “Vera-Ellen” in the early 40s, this little lady became one of the greatest dancers of her generation on Broadway and Hollywood. Vera-Ellen (1921-1981), appeared in “White Christmas” (1954) and”On the Town” (1949) During her early career, she appeared in nightclub acts, as one of the youngest Rockettes, and a Broadway dancer. In 1936 Vera Ellen’s dance studio employers took her to a dance teacher’s convention in New York City. Vera was intrigued by the opportunities for dance education and employment in New York and wanted to return. Vera’s mother Alma apparently thought so too, but her father was reluctant. He relented when Alma agreed to accompany Vera, and that she agree not to accept any employment in establishments that served liquor. In 1939, Vera-Ellen made her Broadway theatre debut in the Jerome Kern/Oscar Hammerstein musical Very Warm For May at the age of 18. She became one of the youngest Rockettes at Radio City Music Hall, although she was not tall. This led to roles on Broadway in Panama Hattie, By Jupiter, and A Connecticut Yankee, where she was spotted by Samuel Goldwyn, who cast her opposite Danny Kaye and Virginia Mayo in the film Wonder Man (1945). Vera-Ellen in Happy Go Lovely (1951)She appeared in several films, including White Christmas (1954), On the Town (1949), the “Slaughter on Tenth Avenue” dance in Words and Music (1948) — the last two with Gene Kelly. Vera-Ellen was also one of the stars in the last Marx Brothers film, Love Happy (1949). She took top billing alongside Fred Astaire in Three Little Words (1950) and The Belle of New York (1952), with Donald O’Connor in Call Me Madam (1953), and in Let’s Be Happy (1957).

Vera Ellen auditioned for and then won a competition on the “Major Bowes Amateur Hour”. She then went on the road with one of Bowes’ touring companies, the “All Girl Unit”. Alma accompanied Vera on this tour. After the tour Vera Ellen enrolled in the Sonia Serva School of Dancing. Alma took a secretarial job to pay for the lessons. Vera auditioned for a part in a Broadway show but was rejected because of her small stature. As a result of this, Vera Ellen embarked on a campaign to try to increase her height. At age sixteen Vera Ellen was only four feet six inches tall (135 cm). and weighed just 76 pounds(37kg). She did begin to grow ,though, and by age twenty-one she had reached her adult height of 5 feet 4 inches(160 cm). Vera Ellen believed all her life that her growth was due entirely to the diet and exercise regime she followed in her late teens, but the growth was more likely due to an overdue natural growth spurt.

During 1937, she was able to land a dancing job with the Ted Lewis band in 1937. Just after her eighteenth birthday, Vera Ellen tried out for a spot in Billy Rose’s Casa Manana club show. Vera refused to audition for a chorus position though, instead opting to audition for a specialty dance spot to the annoyance of Rose. She did get the spot though. After the Casa Manana closed Vera Ellen went on to Broadway.
Vera-Ellen was married twice. Her first husband was fellow dancer Robert Hightower, whom she was married to from 1945 to 1946. Her second husband, from 1954 to 1966, was millionaire Victor Rothschild. Both marriages ended in divorce. While married to Rothschild, she gave birth to a daughter, Victoria Ellen Rothschild, who died of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome in 1963. Following this traumatic event Vera-Ellen further withdrew from public life.

She was born Vera Ellen Westmeier Rohe in Norwood, Ohio to Martin Rohe and Alma Catherine Westmeier, both descended from German immigrants. She began dancing at the age of 9 and quickly became very proficient. At 16, she was a winner on the Major Bowes Amateur Hour, and entered upon a professional career.

Vera-Ellen (February 16, 1921 – August 30, 1981) was an American actress and stage and film dancer, principally celebrated for her filmed dance partnerships with Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly and Donald O’Connor.
During her early career, she appeared in nightclub acts, as one of the youngest Rockettes, and a Broadway dancer. Her movie career began in 1945, when she appeared with Danny Kaye in “Wonder Man”. She was known as “Twinkle toes”. She appeared in many movies, almost all of them musicals, until the late 1950’s.Films include: Wonder Man, Three Little Girls in Blue, Kid from Brooklyn, Carnival in Costa Rico, Words and Music, On the Town, Love Happy, Three Little Words, Happy Go Lovely, Belle of New York, Call Me Madam, Big Leaguer, White Christmas and Lets Be Happy.

Vera-Ellen (born Vera-Ellen Westmeier Rohe; February 16, 1921 – August 30, 1981) was an American dancer and actress. She is remembered for her solo performances as well as her work with partners Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly, Danny Kaye, and Donald O’Connor. She is best known for her starring roles in On the Town (1949) with Kelly and White Christmas (1954) with Kaye.

Excelente Vera Ellen… no me gusto que RossMery Cloony no hablara de Vera Ellen en el cd de Blanca Navidad y reconociera el profesionalismo de la Bellisima Vera Ellen y que Vera fue mejor que esta Cloony en muy opinio personal… para mi fue mejor Vera Ellen que Rossmery cloony en Blanca Navidad
Who is Vera-Ellen dating? Vera-Ellen boyfriend, husband list. Help us build our profile of Vera-Ellen! Login to add information, pictures and relationships, join in discussions and get credit for your contributions.Robert Hightower and Vera-Ellen were married for 1 year. They dated for 5 years after getting together in Feb 1940 and married on 4th Feb 1945. 1 year later they divorced on 28th Nov 1946.“I thought she was so adorable, this bouncy and joyous and slightly plump little person. She wasn’t so pencil thin as she got later on. She was wonderful in that show.”Though it’s unclear why Alma believed a diet rich in pink bananas would accomplish this goal, the act is indicative of the extreme measures Alma was willing to implement in order to keep her daughter small and trim.When Gene Kelly selected Vera-Ellen to dance with him in the now classic Slaughter on Tenth Avenue sequence in the 1948 film, Words and Music, Vera was determined to be a success, and make her new studio happy. During long hours of rehearsals, the weight seemed to drip off, and Vera’s costumes had to be taken in drastically.

The most eccentric habit to manifest during Vera-Ellen’s MGM years was the practice of wrapping her legs in saran wrap. She’d wrap her legs after performing, and before exercise and dance classes. Vera-Ellen believed that the extra sweating caused by the saran wrap would help reduce the size of her legs. She sought opportunities to exercise with her legs wrapped, and at one point became an avid lawn mower. With her saran-wrapped legs,Vera-Ellen would volunteer to mow the lawns of her neighbors.
“Vera-Ellen worked so hard on that picture [White Christmas] that as the pic progressed Edith had to revamp the wardrobe by continuing to take her costumes in because she lost a lot of weight.”It was one of many diets that Alma put Vera-Ellen on throughout her pre-teen and teenage years. A classmate at Norwood High School remembered that Mrs. Rohe was desperate to keep her daughter small, and insisted on feeding her pink bananas.

Vera-Ellen did wear high necklines off-camera, but her second husband, Victor Rothschild, insisted that Vera never enjoyed wearing them. As Rothschild put it:By this time, the Hightower marriage was in trouble. Divorce would follow in 1946, but in the meantime, Vera-Ellen and her mother left the Broadway stage for Hollywood movies. By the time Vera-Ellen and her mother arrived in Hollywood to film 1945’s Wonder Man, Vera’s weight had dropped again. Now at her full height of 5 feet 4 and one-half inches, Vera estimated that at the time she weighed 95 pounds: the stress of Broadway, coupled with her crumbling marriage, had taken a toll. But once in California, it didn’t take long for Vera’s weight to rebound. “That regimen [of coffee all day and only a steak and a vegetable at night] started Vera-Ellen on the road to deeper, more intractable psychological problems. Her life eventually turned into a tragedy, and the diet killed her.”By age 12, the petite, adorably pudgy Vera was a star student at Hessler’s Dance Studio in Cincinnati, where young Doris Mary Ann Kappelhoff—who’d one day become Doris Day—was a classmate. Vera’s talent and skill were extraordinary, and her mother knew it. But when the 12 year-old was selected to be chief majorette of her school’s band, Alma decided that Vera’s baby fat was unacceptable: Alma Rohe put her pre-teen daughter on an extreme diet. When Vera-Ellen signed with MGM, she was told in no uncertain terms to slim down. In particular, the studio cruelly named Vera’s thighs as a “problem area.” Fellow MGM star Debbie Reynolds remembered how brutal MGM was to Vera-Ellen about her body: Thanks for reading Jeff, and for your kind words! It’s tragic to see Vera-Ellen’s transformation onscreen from athletic and healthy to shockingly thin. The standards of MGM (and her own mother) were so unhealthy.

One of six dancers to partner with both Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly on screen, Vera-Ellen’s ability to adapt to the style of her partner, while still holding her own, was unrivaled. None of Vera’s contemporaries could quite match her versatility, grace, charisma, power, and energy on the dance floor.
Almost to the day she died, Vera-Ellen continued dancing, attending classes at Michel Panaieff’s prestigious ballet academy in Los Angeles. Classmates remember her as a sweet, kind, emaciated woman who often wrapped her body in saran wrap before class.

“Vera-Ellen was told that she was too fat, that her top thighs were too heavy. No matter how she exercised, the fat remained. Vera-Ellen was never fat, but she was insecure and wanted to please so she believed them which was the worst thing she could have done. She cut back on her food intake. After that she drake coffee all day and ate only a steak and a vegetable at night.”

Fan magazines also began taking note of Vera-Ellen’s slighter than ever frame. As Screen Life offered,Vera’s quest for artistic perfection had caused her “to lose too much weight.”Hi Judy, thanks for reading! I agree, Vera is spectacular in White Christmas, particularly in the Mandy sequence. And greetings to Edinburgh, I love your beautiful city! That lovely photo is from filming of Vera-Ellen’s last movie, Let’s Be Happy (1957), which was shot on location in Edinburgh. It’s a cute, typical 1950’s musical that’s worth a watch. Vera’s dancing, as always, elevates the film.

“As you know she was a private type of individual, with several idiosyncrasies. It was her habit to eat one soda cracker and drink coffee during the day. Then she would eat at night. She was concerned about her legs appearing heavy…Between her willingness to work and self-destructive diet she ran herself into the ground. Because of fatigue, one section of the dance took 26 takes; five or six are normally more than enough.”
While Vera-Ellen’s weight would rebound slightly for her next film, the 1953 non-musical Big Leaguer, by the time filming of White Christmas [aff. link] began in September of 1953, Vera-Ellen was once again alarmingly thin.In 1936, 15 year-old Vera-Ellen and her mother left Ohio for Broadway. Alma, it seemed, was just as set on a successful dancing career for her daughter as Vera was.

Fans of White Christmas offer strong opinions as to whether or not Vera-Ellen was anorexic during filming. While it cannot be definitively said that Vera was anorexic at the time, her figure is shockingly slim in the film.
Whether taping a mile a minute in the ‘Choreography’ number, kicking her legs to unbelievable heights in ‘Mandy,’ dancing with passionate energy in the ‘Abraham’ number, or looking impossibly graceful in pink chiffon as she sweeps Danny Kaye off his feet, Vera-Ellen’s legacy from White Christmas should be her dancing.

The unhealthy emphasis Alma Rohe placed on being thin, and the extreme diets she prescribed her daughter at a young age, shaped Vera-Ellen’s eating habits and body image for the rest of her life.
1953’s Call Me Madam was the first film in which Vera-Ellen appears unhealthily slim. Some call her spare figure in the film emaciated. Vera’s extreme weight loss before and during the picture may have been triggered by the disappointing failure of her previous film, 1952’s The Bell of New York. It may also be that, after years of implementing the practices observed by her MGM peers, Vera’s beautiful face and body were beginning to show signs of strain. Whatever the reason, the contrast between Vera-Ellen’s appearance in Call Me Madam and her earlier MGM films, is startling.“I used to be skinny when I was working on the stage. Then I gained weight after arriving here [Hollywood]. It must have been the California climate. I’ve trimmed down since. When I gain weight there is the threat that I may grow muscle bound in my legs and I won’t have that. I’ve learned that the best prevention is to raise your feet to a high level whenever you’re not working. Even when I go to a picture theater, I rest my feet in my escort’s lap.”

What an amazing lady, a wonderful dancer, and a good actress, too. My wife and I have recently watched two of her her early movies with Danny Kaye, “Wonder Man” and “The Kid From Brooklyn.” Her dancing is so amazing, and almost unbelievable! I told my wife “She is not only a great dancer, but also seems to be an excellent gymnast.” I had seen her previously in “White Christmas” and, as your article brought out, she looks so different only eight years later (in “White Christmas”) due to weight loss, blonde hair, etc. She was beautiful (a ‘girl next door’ beauty) and so athletic and healthy looking in her earlier movies, and it’s sad that she felt she had to adopt others (studios) standards of what they wanted her appearance to be. Thank you for your informative and caring website and tribute to this accomplished and fabulous woman. Sincerely, Jeff
Debbie Reynolds believed that the extreme diet and exercise habits Vera-Ellen formed at MGM at least in part contributed to her early death. According to Reynolds:It seems that, away from her mother’s constant presence, Vera-Ellen was comfortable allowing her body to attain and maintain a healthy weight. Indeed, Vera maintained a healthy size until her husband went into the military service.The two women lived together in New York until 1941, when Vera married fellow Broadway dancer, Robert Hightower. With the marriage, twenty-year-0ld Vera lived in a home separate from her mother for the first time. Photos of Vera during her marriage to Hightower show a young woman of a slim, but healthy size. Actress Betty Garrett, who’d later star with Vera in 1949’s On the Town, saw Vera-Ellen perform in her fifth Broadway play, 1943’s The Connecticut Yankee. Garrett remembered how different the dancer on stage was from the dancer she’d work with six years later:

Call Me Madam director, Walter Lang, noticed a 10 pound weight loss in Vera-Ellen during dance rehearsals. Lang attempted to help Vera gain weight by providing her with high caloric snacks on set.
By her next film, 1946’s The Kid From Brooklyn, Vera had reached a curvaceous, healthy weight. Vera maintained this size for her next two pictures, Three Little Girls in Blue (1946) and Carnival in Costa Rica (1947). Watching the curvaceous Vera-Ellen in her early films, it’s hard to imagine the shockingly svelte star she’d become by 1954’s White Christmas.

But Vera-Ellen’s talent is often overshadowed by questions about her, at times, seemingly emaciated figure. In her later films and television appearances, Vera’s spare frame distracts from her beautiful dancing.
I think now that she may have been suffering from anorexia. She was obsessed with her bone structure and kept trying to change herself somehow. She was different from the person I remember on the stage from Connecticut Yankee.”I loved Vera’s dancing, she was amazing to watch and her Mandy dance is simply iconic. It was a lovely surprise to see the second to last picture, the black and white photo as it is in Princes Street Gardens with Edinburgh Castle in the background. I live in Edinburgh and never knew she’d been here. I hope she liked our city.“She was doing this (poking her cheeks in with her fingers) all day long. She’d bend over to let the blood flow to her head. She had certain ideas about how she wanted her face to look. I thought she looked pretty good.” “I was called a bookish child. Mother sent me to a ballet teacher in Cincinnati when I was nine years old…When I found out I liked to dance and people seemed to like to watch me, I was determined to go places.” The incredibly strict code of eating that young Vera was now expected to follow called for the avoidance of salt, bread, cereals, pasta, grapefruit, and lemon. Foods Vera was permitted to consume included stewed fruit, overcooked lima beans, sour milk, and a cocktail of water, apple cider vinegar, and honey.

“She was darling sweet and dedicated and yet a strange gal. She did little socialization and had an obsession about her weight. When I knew her she was determined to lose weight and there was no necessity for her to diet. She worked hard all day. And she got so thin.
Gene Kelly shared that Vera-Ellen “always lost weight during a big production number because she
drove herself relentlessly.” Choreographer David Lober, who danced with Vera in 1951’s Happy Go Lovely, seconded Kelly’s observations.Vera-Ellen’s mother, Alma Rohe, was perhaps the greatest influence in her daughter’s life. Vera Ellen Rohe was born on February 16, 1921. The Ohio native was a small child: by age nine, Vera-Ellen was a full head shorter than her peers. Alma believed that exercise would help strengthen her diminutive daughter, and enrolled Vera-Ellen in dance lessons. It soon became apparent that young Vera was a natural. As Vera-Ellen later remembered:

“Although she [Vera-Ellen] insists it’s delightful dancing when you’re light, some viewers of both Call Me Madam and White Christmas are inclined to believe she has carried slimness to the point of skinniness.”
As a glamorous Hollywood movie star, the pressure Vera-Ellen put on herself to be thin would grow stronger each year. But in her early Broadway career and film work, Vera-Ellen maintained a healthy, and at times even plump, figure.

Despite the dramatic weight loss, Vera-Ellen’s size was not unhealthy. She’d more or less maintain this slim, but not overly slim size in her next five films: Love Happy (1949), On the Town (1949), Three Little Words (1950), Happy Go Lovely (1951), and The Belle of New York (1952).
By the time Vera-Ellen entered 10th grade in 1936, she was near emaciated. At age 16, she was four feet six inches tall and underweight, at 76 pounds. Alma’s diets had achieved the desired effect.

Vera-Ellen retreated from public life after the tragic loss of her 3 month old daughter to SIDS in 1963. After divorcing Victor Rothschild in 1966, it’s telling that, despite Alma Rohe’s pleadings, Vera-Ellen chose not to live with her mother again.Still, MGM’s weight loss demands made Vera-Ellen acutely aware of the size of her thighs. Vera’s own words at the time indicate that MGM started, or at least exacerbated, a self-consciousness about her legs. As Vera said in the late 1940s:

From the influence of her mother, to Vera-Ellen’s own words and documented habits, to the observations of her friends, family, and co-workers, here’s what we know about Vera-Ellen’s sometimes shockingly slender frame.
After White Christmas, Vera-Ellen made one more feature film, and performed in a handful of television shows. In each, she is extremely thin, and her neck and chest are always at least partially covered.Broadway actor Jim Schlader was a neighbor of the Hightowers in 1944. Similar to Garrett, Schlader recalled that, at the time, Vera-Ellen wasn’t overly slim. Unlike most of the dancers Schlader encountered, Vera was:

I agree, Vera’s talents extended beyond dance. Her acting and the acrobatics in her routines—she was fearless and loved heights!—are commendable, yet often overlooked. That’s great that you and your wife are enjoying Vera-Ellen’s early films! White Christmas is a wonderful classic, but Vera’s performances throughout her career are stellar, and should be enjoyed. Thanks again for reading Jeff!
“I work to keep my energy. I can keep this [energy] up until sunrise….You don’t need fat for endurance. It’s so nice to be thin. My feet scarcely seem to touch the ground when I dance.”“She liked to be as light as possible when dancing. Normally she weighed about 108 and when she danced she wanted to be at a lighter weight, under 100 pounds.”

There’s no record of Vera-Ellen’s exact weight during production of White Christmas. But considering Vera’s frail appearance in the film, coupled with her preference to be as light as possible when dancing, it’s reasonable to estimate that Vera-Ellen weighed under 100 pounds during White Christmas filming.
“I was so thin in New York, about 95 pounds. Since coming to Hollywood I have gained to the point where I have to be on the careful side. Picture work is easier on the nerves I guess than the stage.”

Indeed, at the times in her life when Vera-Ellen maintained a healthier size, her neck and chest were often exposed, as they are in the 1953 film, Big Leaguer, and at the September 1954 premiere of A Star Is Born, about nine months after White Christmas filming wrapped. As Vera-Ellen herself shared at the time,
Vera-Ellen was never treated or observed by a medical professional for the disorder during her lifetime. But analysis of Vera-Ellen’s life reveals a woman whose relationship with food and body image was complicated. Hopefully, by presenting the facts, fans of Vera-Ellen, and of White Christmas in particular, can lay questions about her figure to rest, and instead focus on Vera-Ellen’s beautiful dancing.Head’s primary goal as the costume designer on White Christmas was to make the stars, particularly the female stars, look their glamorous best. Edith designed costumes that would flatter Vera-Ellen and Rosemary Clooney; clothes that would accentuate their assets, and hide their flaws. With Vera-Ellen being so slight during filming of White Christmas, Edith Head would have sought to highlight Vera’s legs—her healthiest-looking feature at the time, and to cover her upper body, which audiences may have found uncomfortably slim if left exposed.

Rumors abound as to why Vera-Ellen’s neck and chest are covered throughout White Christmas. It’s been claimed that White Christmas costume designer, Edith Head, kept Vera-Ellen’s neck and chest covered to hide Vera’s prematurely aging décolletage. I fall in love with Vera-Ellen every time I watch “White Christmas” She was so beautiful, a great actress and fabulous dancer with the greatest legs ever! Wish I could’ve met and known her; she was the best; my fantasy love! I have just watched Vera-Ellen in “White Christmas”. She had total control of what her body did, & those kicks. I loved her performance. I did notice how her legs looked & then realized she did wear turtle necks. She looked just as I looked when I was dysmorphia, & was experiencing disordered eating. I was very lucky, however, & I never moved on to Anorexia; that is why I googled her because I knew. It is easier to recognize when one has experienced it themselves.Constant exercise is one of the characteristics of an eating disorder. Yes, the lady was a wonderful an overlooked dancer. And yes, some people are naturally slender. But usually their proportions are in keeping with that natural tendency. Vera-Ellen’s waist size was that of a child’s, while her head, hands and feet were those of an average-sized woman. Unless any of her friends were with her 24/7, none can know for sure what she ate and if she kept it down since bulimia often accompanies anorexia. Of course, none of us can either. But to those who throw out the tired “you other women are just jealous” saw, give it a rest. Most of us want to be healthy and work at it. But we don’t find extreme thinness attractive and wonder about men who do.

In so true it is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen from any woman in my entire life and I am over 80 years old next week which will be August 30th the date Vera became an angel I am going to visit her grave site in Sylmar California

Just saw her in THREE LITTLE WORDS with Fred Astaire. What a talent. I always thought Cyd Charise was Fred’s best partner until I saw her dance, OMG! Funny that I looked at my wife’s 1952 Barbie and it is a double for Vera_Ellen.Hi, does anyone have the poster of Vera Ellen as Miss Turnstiles from On The Town? I’d love to have one? Thanks, Joyce Granville – Northern California. You can email me at:[email protected] No-one has mentioned her ravishing solo dance in “The Bell of New York” – ‘Naughty But Nice’. Just Vera in a black corset (neck visible), then in a wonderful black dress with flashes of yellow under-frills. This, I think, is her best solo number, and the movie – despite its silly story – has her best dances with Astaire. I’m watching it right and she is painfully thin in that choreography number. You don’t need a ‘fat mirror’ to see it – you can simply look at the other female dancers in the scene who all have normal-sized legs! And you just wonder if that bustle thing on her costume is to try to make her look a little bigger/wider. She is adorable but it’s sad to see. I love this movie but my sister is anorexic and it’s painful to see someone so lovely and with so much talent who also succumbed to this terrible disease.Why do you assume every woman who thinks Vera Ellen may have been anorexic is overweight? Also remember the camera adds 10 pounds. I think she looks alarming and I’m accused of being too skinny!

I too fell in love with Vera at a very early age and I don’t know if it has ever gone away. She had a rare talent both as a dancer and as an actress. I have watched “White Christmas” today and it all came back. Such a pity that she retired from public life at such an early age and her early death. I really don’t understand the reference to Freemasonry
I BEG YOUR PARDON!! There was ABSOLUTELY NOTHING AWFUL About Vera’s Legs! Nor ANY Other part of her! She was absolutely GORGEOUS! AND, A SPECTACULAR Dancer AND, a TERRIFIC Actress! Don’t but into all that Horrible Hollywood Gossip! OK, She was thin BUT, she was in absolutely Terrific Shape! She EXERCISED regularly! She was Physically Fit! I am ALWAYS moved when I watch her dance in those Awesome outfits! WOWZA! Absolutely Gorgeous Woman! It IS a shame what those assholes at the studios did to these poor gals! But, there was NOTHING wrong with Mz. Vera!!! Love Always! Respect Too!

Not sure if Vera suffered from a eating disorder or if she danced her ass off and that made her thin but I don’t understand the comment that Anorexia is a spirit that dominates the person. Does anyone know what type of cancer she died from? I read somewhere it was Lung. I can not imagine she was a smoker and danced the way she did. Beautiful woman and her dancing still leaves me breathless.
100% in agreement. i am an ‘UNLIKER’ of rumors [‘anorexic this, depressed that’…] she was beautiful, a breathtaking dancer, and i must repeat; ‘..the greatest legs’