Talk:Ann Miller

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Name and other matters

Various names are given

Colliers (1939) says

Eventually three things happened: (1) Miss Bird- well married Mr. J. A. Collier, an attorney originally from Georgia, (2) they went to live in Houston, and (3) a daughter named Lucy Ann was born. Lucy Ann Collier became Lucile Collier and is now Ann Miller.

Shake A Leg. Crowell-Collier Publishing Company. October 1939. p. 20. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)

I Forgot To Remember To Forget, Norman Johnson gives a different story.

"Clarence[?} Emma Birdwell and John Alfred Collier" were her unmarried parents. Collier was a lawyer who represented various well known gangsters, including Bonnie and Clyde, Babyface Nelson and Machine Gun Kelly. He goes on to say that the abused and neglected "Johnnie Lucille Ann Collier" ran away aged 12 and hitch-hiked to California, getting a job in The Black Cat Club, where she was spotted by Lucille Ball and scout Benny Rubin. In 1936 Ball got her a contract with RKO.

Norman Johnson (26 July 2012). I Forgot To Remember To Forget. Xlibris Corporation. p. 177. ISBN 978-1-4771-3704-8.

Ann Miller: Tops in Tap gives Johnnie Lucille Collier but also says

Ann's father arranged for a phony birth certificate so that Ann appeared to be eighteen years old

"Her name on this birth certificate was Lucy Ann Collier (in honor of Lucille Ball and Ann's new name), and Chireno, Texas, the home of her grandparents, was listed as her place of birth. Clara felt the studio heads would be ill-disposed toward ..."

Jim Connor (1 January 1981). Ann Miller, Tops in Taps: An Authorized Pictorial History. Watts. ISBN 978-0-531-09949-0.

That's Dancing 1984 says of the birth certificate

"It invented a new name, Lucy Ann Collier; a new date, April 12, 1919; and a new birthplace, Chireno, Texas. Now there was no stopping the suddenly four-year-older Ann Miller. In early 1937 her mother took her to RKO Radio Studios for her test. She was a full five-foot-seven with stunning legs, although her bust was aided by pads"

Tony Thomas (1984). That's dancing!. Abrams. p. 202.

Turning Points (1992) says

"A three-year-old named Lucy Ann Collier was startled one afternoon in 1926 when she heard a man's voice within her head. "Lucille . . . Luciiiiiille," it said. "Listen to me . . . I'll be with you always." "That was my guiding spirit," remembers Ann Miller..."

Glenn Plaskin (1 October 1992). Turning point: pivotal moments in the lives of celebrities. Carol Pub. Group. ISBN 978-1-55972-138-7.

So it seems there is no definitive tale.

All the best: Rich Farmbrough, 15:01, 29 September 2016 (UTC).[reply]

Black Cat Club

Not clear if this is the (then) gay club at 710 Montgomery Street, aka the Black Cat Bar.

All the best: Rich Farmbrough, 16:06, 29 September 2016 (UTC).[reply]

Heinz Great American Soup Commercial

Ann Miller starred in a classic television commercial for H.J. Heinz Company's "Great American Soup" line in 1970. The commercial was produced by comedian and advertising great Stan Freberg, and was the most expensive commercial ever produced at that time. The commercial may be viewed on YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5jU2pl7bqKg

Birth certificate

A birth certificate from the Texas Dept. of Vital Statistics, accessible via Ancestry.com, shows a Johnnie Lucille Collier born on April 12, 1923 in Houston. That coincides with Ann Miller. But the certificate gives the name of her father as Thornton Skeen (Collier?), an automobile mechanic, and her mother as Hulda Francis Wallis. This contradicts the information in the article for Miller. So either her father wasn't a criminal defense lawyer and her mother wasn't Clara Emma Birdwell or this is not the right person. Per WP:PRIMARY I am omitting. However, the preexisting 1930 Census entry, used as a source for the birth date, does give her age as 7 and her father's occupation as lawyer and her mother as Clara. So that is usable I think and should be retained. Figureofnine (talk • contribs) 14:34, 10 August 2022 (UTC)[reply]