Leslie Caron

Leslie Caron (born July 1, 1931) is an Academy Award-nominated, Golden Globe-winning film actress and dancer. Caron has said of herself: "I'm not a ballerina. I'm a hoofer". She was born Leslie Claire Margaret Caron in Boulogne-Billancourt, France to Claude Caron (French chemist) and Margaret Petit (American dancer). Caron was prepared for a performing career from childhood by her mother. Caron's mother briefly made it to Broadway, but gave up her career for marriage, and eventually took her own life. After dancing in the Ballets de Champs Elysses for three years, her talent as a dancer had been already noticed (in 1946) by Gene Kelly in Roland Petit's ballet on the theme of Orpheus. But neither Kelly or Petit could meet with her at the end of the show because Caron's mother used to take her immediately away. The famed dancer chose her to appear opposite him in the classic 1951 musical film An American in Paris. This led to a long-term MGM contract and a string of films: The Glass Slipper (1954), Gaby (1956). She went on to star in Daddy Long Legs with Fred Astaire, Gigi with Louis Jourdan and Maurice Chevalier, and Lili. She wanted to create her costumes for Daddy Long Legs (1955) by herself. Fred Astaire told her: "OK, but no feather, please", remembering the troubles he had gotten because of some too complicated dresses worn by Ginger Rogers. In 1953, she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress for her starring role in Lili. In 1963, she was also nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in The L-Shaped Room. She made numerous Hollywood musicals, and also worked often in European films. Her later film assignments included; slapping Cary Grant (who slapped her back) in Father Goose, Ken Russell's Valentino (1977), in the role of silent-screen legend Alla Nazimova; and Louis Malle's Damage (1992). She continues to act, appearing in the acclaimed film Chocolat. She is one of the few leading ladies (or actors of any type for that matter) from the classic era of MGM musicals who is still active in film. Her recent films include Funny Bones with Jerry Lewis and Oliver Platt and Le Divorce with Kate Hudson and Naomi Watts.