LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Leslie Caron: American
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An endearing French leading lady with attractively unconventional "funny face" looks, Leslie Caron was a classically trained dancer who, after being discovered by Gene Kelly for "An American in Paris" (1951), starred successfully in other English-language movies over the next decades. She did make several other musicals in the early 50s, including a retelling of Cinderella, "The Glass Slipper" (1954), and "Daddy Long Legs" (1955), opposite Fred Astaire, but she seemed to prefer relying on her warmth and considerable talent as an actress, spending most of her career in straight comedy and drama. A number of her early starring films (e.g., "Gaby" 1956) were, in fact, not musicals and her last musical, the charming, multi-Oscar winning "Gigi" (1958), featured no dancing.
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Leslie Caron's mother was an American dancer who briefly made it to Broadway, but gave up her career for marriage, and eventually took her own life. She nudged her daughter toward dancing almost as soon as she could walk, and by the age of 16 young Leslie was chosen to dance with France's prestigious Ballet de Champs Elysees. After three years as a professional dancer, Caron was "discovered" by Gene Kelly, and at the age of 19 she starred with him in the classic An American in Paris.
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Caron owes her very un-French first name to her American mother, a one-time ballet dancer from Seattle, who gave up her career to marry a French pharmacist. It was her mother, says Caron, who "pushed" her into a dancing career. Before she was 18, Caron was dancing lead parts with the famous Roland Petit ballet company. By chance, Gene Kelly saw her perform in Paris one night and immediately signed her up to go to Hollywood and co-star with him in "An American in Paris." "I didn't want to go to Hollywood," says Caron. "I was very happy where I was." But she went, largely at her mother's urging, and was an instant sensation.
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A two-time Academy Award nominee, Leslie Caron's story is a Hollywood fairy tale that came true. A Paris native and daughter of a French father and an American mother, Caron was dancing in the Ballets des Champs-Elysees when she was discovered by Gene Kelly, who was scouting Paris for a leading lady to appear in Vincente Minnelli's AN AMERICAN IN PARIS. Her stunning film debut would make her an overnight star and bring her a contract with MGM.
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Caron had been dancing with the Ballet des Champs-Elysees since she was sixteen when she was cast opposite Gene Kelly in An American in Paris (1951). Her other early movie roles such as those in Lili (1953) and Gigi (1958) ... included much dancing. As she matured from gamine to sophisticate, her dramatic opportunities increased, although she is still considered primarily a dancer. Among her recent credits are roles in Damage (1992), Jean Renoir (1993), The Reef (1997), Chocolat (2000), and Le Divorce (2003).
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Caron starred as Gigi in the film of the same name, which was later adapted into a Broadway musical (a rare film-to stage transfer). She ... starred in "An American in Paris," for which Lerner wrote the screenplay.
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