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).
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 three 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).
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