Actress Cyd Charisse, 86, danced into the spotlight

LOS ANGELES — Cyd Charisse, who with her long-legged beauty brought sizzle and sophistication to dance in classic movie musicals such as "Singin' in the Rain" and "Silk Stockings," died Tuesday. She was 86.

Ms. Charisse died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles after suffering an apparent heart attack Monday, publicist Gene Schwam said.

Ms. Charisse captured moviegoers' attention in a quick succession of films, starting with "Singin' in the Rain" in 1952, in which she partnered with Gene Kelly in a steamy ballet.

She was strong, lithe and "drop-dead gorgeous to look at," said Larry Billman, a dance/film historian and author of her breakthrough performance. She partnered with Kelly again in "Brigadoon" in 1954 and "It's Always Fair Weather" the following year.

Fred Astaire, who danced with her in "The Band Wagon" and "Silk Stockings," said of Ms. Charisse in 1983: "She wasn't a tap dancer, she's just beautiful, trained, very strong in whatever we did. When we were dancing, we didn't know what time it was."

Ms. Charisse's other star-maker roles of the 1950s included "Deep in My Heart" (1954), in which she danced a sexy duet with James Mitchell.

Unlike many top female dancers in the era of movie musicals, Charisse was trained as a ballerina in the Russian tradition.

In interviews, Ms. Charisse said her acting roles were like a vacation compared with the hard work of dancing, but she was not tempted to change her priorities. "If I had to give up either acting or dancing, I'd choose to keep dancing," she said in a December 1952 interview with the Saturday Evening Post.

In the '60s, Ms. Charisse performed cabaret shows while she continued working in Hollywood in films such as "Two Weeks in Another Town" (1962). She made frequent guest appearances on popular television series, including "Hawaii Five-O" and "The Love Boat" in the 1970s and "Murder She Wrote" in the 1980s.

She also worked in theater, performing in "Charlie's Girls" in London in the 1980s and making her Broadway debut as an aging Russian ballerina in "Grand Hotel" in 1992.

She had one son, Nicky, with her first husband, dancer Nico Charisse, before their marriage ended in divorce in 1947. Ms. Charisse then married singer and nightclub entertainer Tony Martin in 1948; they had one son, Tony Jr.

She is survived by her husband, sons and two grandchildren.

Information from The Associated Press is included in this report.