Tamara Toumanova

Biography

Tamara Toumanova was a prima ballerina and actress, Russian-born and Georgian-American, who grew up in Paris as a child of exiles after the Russian Revolution. She studied ballet with Olga Preobrajenska, performed in an Anna Pavlova gala at six, and made her Paris Opera debut at ten. In 1931 George Balanchine engaged her for the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, where she became known as one of the Baby Ballerinas. He created roles for her in ballets including Cotillon, La Concurrence, and Le Palais de Cristal, later renamed Symphony in C, while Léonide Massine also created parts for her. Turning to film, she played dancers in six Hollywood features from 1944 to 1970, among them Days of Glory (1944), Deep in My Heart (1954), Invitation to the Dance (1956), Torn Curtain (1966), and The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes (1970).

77years old at death

Born March 2, 1919Tyumen
Died May 29, 1996Santa Monica
Star sign: PiscesThe sign runs February 19 to March 20
Тамара Владимировна Хасидович (birth name)

Movie Career

Films: 5
Career span: 26 years1944 to 1970

Every film, newest first

1970The Private Life of Sherlock HolmesIMDb rating 7.0
1966Torn CurtainIMDb rating 6.6
1956Invitation to the DanceIMDb rating 6.4
1954Deep in My HeartIMDb rating 6.4
1944Days of GloryIMDb rating 6.1

Genres

Photos

Did you know?!

First role
When she was six, Anna Pavlova invited Toumanova to dance in one of Pavlova's gala concerts in 1925. Toumanova performed a polka that Preobrajenska had choreographed.
First role
At 10 years old, Tamara Toumanova debuted at the Paris Opera as a child etoile in L'Eventail de Jeanne, a ballet whose music came from 10 French composers.
First role
In 1944 Toumanova appeared in her first feature film, Days of Glory. She played a Russian dancer rescued from the invading Germans by Gregory Peck, a Soviet partisan leader, who also made his screen debut in that film.