December 23
Born Today:
Buzz Miller
Dancer Buzz Miller (1923-1999) was equally at home on Broadway and in Hollywood musicals. Following his service in WWII, he began studying ballet with teacher Mia Slavenska (1916-2002) at the age of 23 and began performing with Jack Cole (1911-1974).
He danced in Fosse shows The Pajama Game (1954), Redhead (1960), and in Funny Girl (1964), staged by Carol Haney (1924-1964). Along with Haney, Miller reprised the Steam Heat dance in the movie version of The Pajama Game in 1957. Miller was a founding member of the project The American Dance Machine (1978), dedicated to reconstructing and preserving seminal Broadway dance numbers.
Also Born Today: Early 20th century Broadway dancer Ann Pennington (1893-1971), performed in The Ziegfeld Follies and George White’s Scandals. Jose Greco (1918-2000) was perhaps the best known flamenco dancer of the 20th century. His company began touring internationally in 1949 and he appeared in a few films, including Around the World in 80 Days (1956). Dancer Debora Chase-Hicks (1957-2021) performed with both Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre and was the rehearsal director at Philadanco for the remainder of her career. She was instrumental in preserving some of the work of choreographer Talley Beatty (1918–1995).
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Movies: Guys and Dolls released in 1955 and Pina released in 2011