Moira Shearer Pics

Moira

Shearer

17 January 1926

65

Capricorn

31 January 2006

Slim

Red

Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland, UK

Oxford, Oxfordshire, England, UK

Natural Causes

White

The Red Shoes (1948)

Scottish

Female

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Moira Shearer, Lady Kennedy (17 January 1926 – 31 January 2006), was an internationally famous Scottish ballet dancer and actress.

Moira Shearer, Lady Kennedy (17 January 1926 – 31 January 2006), was an internationally famous Scottish ballet dancer and actress. She was born Moira Shearer King in Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland, the daughter of actor Harold V. King. In 1931 her family relocated to Ndola, Northern Rhodesia where she received her first dancing training under a former pupil of Enrico Cecchetti. She returned to England in 1936 and trained with Flora Fairbairn in London for a few months before she was accepted as a pupil by the Russian teacher Nicholas Legat. After three years with Legat, she joined the Sadler`s Wells Ballet School, however after the outbreak of the World War II her parents took her to Scotland. She made her debut with the International Ballet in 1941 before moving on to Sadler`s Wells in 1942. She rose to international fame in 1948 after starring in her first film, as Victoria Page in the ballet-themed film The Red Shoes, directed by Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger. With hair that matched the titular footwear, the role and film were so powerful that even though she went on to star in other films and worked as a dancer for many decades, she is primarily known only for playing "Vicky". In 1972, she was chosen by the BBC to present the Eurovision Song Contest when it was staged at the Usher Hall in Edinburgh. According to author and historian John Kennedy O`Connor`s The Eurovision Song Contest - The Official History, Moira accepted the role of hostess as her children wanted something to tease her with in the future. She wrote for The Daily Telegraph newspaper and gave talks on ballet worldwide. The choreographer Gillian Lynne persuaded her to return to ballet in 1987 to play L. S. Lowry`s mother in A Simple Man for the BBC. In 1950, Moira Shearer married Sir Ludovic Kennedy. They were married at in the Chapel Royal in London`s Hampton Court Palace. The couple had a son Alastair, and three daughters, Ailsa, Rachel and Fiona. Moira remained at Sadler`s Wells until 1953, when she retired from ballet. She continued to act, appearing as Titania in A Midsummer Night`s Dream at the 1954 Edinburgh Festival and working again for Powell on the controversial film Peeping Tom, which damaged Powell`s own career. She died at the Radcliffe Infirmary, Oxford, England at the age of 80.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moira_Shearer

Moira Shearer King

Actor/Actress, Soundtrack

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