It's probably a bit weird for me that I'm writing a send off to an actress from the "Golden Age of Hollywood." But it's even weirder that I've thought she's been dead on and off for probably 10-15 years now, and then I'd wonder and discover that she was still alive.
Well, this time, when I read the news this afternoon, it was to say that, this time around, Cyd Charisse has "finally" died for real this time, and it's an end of an era, in more than one respect. For one, it's bittersweet to think of someone as dead for a large chunk of your life, only to continually realize that they're still alive. But secondly, Cyd's (eventual and now actual) death has symbolized for me the nearly conclusive death of that oddly naive "golden" period in Hollywood, where every actor and actress had an iron-clad image of wholesomeness, even if the reality was far from it. And, perhaps appropriately, her dance performance with Gene Kelly in "Singin' in the Rain" (1952) will always be one of the more iconic moments of this era.
So goodbye, Cyd, and farewell to old Hollywood. It was nice knowing both of you.
Well, this time, when I read the news this afternoon, it was to say that, this time around, Cyd Charisse has "finally" died for real this time, and it's an end of an era, in more than one respect. For one, it's bittersweet to think of someone as dead for a large chunk of your life, only to continually realize that they're still alive. But secondly, Cyd's (eventual and now actual) death has symbolized for me the nearly conclusive death of that oddly naive "golden" period in Hollywood, where every actor and actress had an iron-clad image of wholesomeness, even if the reality was far from it. And, perhaps appropriately, her dance performance with Gene Kelly in "Singin' in the Rain" (1952) will always be one of the more iconic moments of this era.
So goodbye, Cyd, and farewell to old Hollywood. It was nice knowing both of you.
