Tony Award Winner Liliane Montevecchi Dies at 85
Montevecchi is best known to Broadway audiences for her acclaimed appearances in two Maury Yeston-Tommy Tune collaborations: Nine and Grand Hotel.
She was not on the list.
Tony winner Liliane Montevecchi—the Paris-born dancer,
actor, and singer—passed away June 29 at her Manhattan home at the age of 85
following a battle with colon cancer, according to The New York Times.
Born October 13, 1932, the triple threat, who had a zest for
life and the stage, started her ballet studies when she was nine; by the time
she was 18 she had joined Roland Petit's dance company, Les Ballets de Paris,
where she eventually became a prima ballerina.
By the mid-50s, Hollywood had beckoned, and Montevecchi
became a contract player for MGM, appearing in such films as The Glass Slipper,
Daddy Long Legs, Moonfleet, Meet Me in Las Vegas, The Living Idol, The Sad
Sack, The Young Lions, and more. Montevecchi returned to dancing in 1964 when
she joined the Folies-Bergère in Las Vegas. She spent nine years working with
that troupe and the Paris company.
Although she had made her Broadway debut in 1958 in La Plume
de Ma Tante and appeared in the 1964 musical revue Folies Bergère,
Montevecchi's breakthrough role was playing producer Liliane La Fleur in Maury
Yeston and Arthur Kopit's Nine, which was directed and choreographed by Tommy
Tune and won the 1982 Tony Award for Best Musical. Montevecchi, who stopped the
show with the appropriately titled “Folies Bergeres,” was also honored with the
Tony for Best Featured Actress in a Musical—a category that included two of her
Nine co-stars, Karen Akers and the late Anita Morris.
Montevecchi would return to Broadway one more time, in 1989
in Grand Hotel—another musical that featured a score by Yeston (half of the
score was by Robert Wright and George Forrest) and direction and choreography
by Tune. Montevecchi, who was cast as prima ballerina Elizaveta Grushinskaya,
earned a Tony nomination for Best Actress in a Musical.
She also starred in the 1998 Broadway-aimed Paper Mill
Playhouse production of Follies, appeared in concerts at Carnegie Hall and
Lincoln Center, and toured internationally with her semi-autobiographical shows
On the Boulevard and Back on the Boulevards. She last appeared on the New York
cabaret stage in 2016 at Feinstein's/54 Below.
Montevecchi took her first dance classes at 8 with Pierre
Duprez, primo ballerino of the Opera in Paris, France. She entered the
Conservatoire and completed her training of two years, with Jeanne Schwarz and
Mathilde Kschessinska, on the stage of the Opéra Comique. She appeared for the
first time on a stage at the Champs Elysées theater in a ballet by David
Lichine. She then worked with Léonide Massine and danced in Monte Carlo for the
coronation of Rainier III, Prince of Monaco in 1949. She also danced her first
steps at the Casino de Paris with Jean Guélis.
Montevecchi began her international career as a prima
ballerina in Roland Petit's dance company. She appeared in The Glass Slipper
with Michael Wilding and Daddy Long Legs (with Fred Astaire), in both of which
she was acting with leading lady Leslie Caron. In the mid-1950s, she was signed
to a contract by MGM, which cast her in various roles in such films as
Moonfleet with Stewart Granger and Meet Me in Las Vegas with Cyd Charisse and
John Brascia. She then played in the Jerry Lewis vehicle The Sad Sack, King
Creole with Elvis Presley, and The Young Lions with Montgomery Clift, Dean
Martin and Marlon Brando. She knew Gene Kelly, Elizabeth Taylor and Clark
Gable, and she took classes at the Actors Studio in New York.
Montevecchi replaced Colette Brosset in the 1958 Broadway
revue La Plume de Ma Tante. After some television work in series such as
Playhouse 90 and Adventures in Paradise at the end of the decade, Montevecchi
opted to leave Hollywood for a star spot in the Folies Bergère in Las Vegas,
toured with the company for nine years before appearing at the Folies Bergère
in Paris from 1972 to 1978. In 1982, she drew the attention of critics and
audiences for her performance in Nine, with Raúl Juliá, for which she won both
the Tony and Drama Desk Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical. Seven
years later, she starred in Grand Hotel, earning a Tony nomination for Best
Actress in a Musical.
On TV, she guest–starred in more than 20 shows. Montevecchi
also appeared in the films Wall Street and How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days with
Matthew McConaughey. She appeared in concert at Carnegie Hall and Lincoln
Center and toured internationally with her semi-autobiographical shows On the
Boulevard and Back on the Boulevard. Her solo album On the Boulevard is
available from Jay Records. She is featured in the recording of the 1985
concert version of Follies staged at Avery Fisher Hall, and she has starred in
musicals such as Irma La Douce, Gigi and Hello Dolly!.
In 1998, she replaced Eartha Kitt as The Wicked Witch of The
West in Radio City Entertainment's touring production of The Wizard of Oz,
co-starring Mickey Rooney as The Wizard and Jessica Grové as Dorothy. She
continued with the show until the spring of 1999 and was succeeded by Jo Anne
Worley.
In 2001, Montevecchi appeared as Mistinguett at the Théâtre
National de l’Opéra Comique in Paris.
In Seattle, Washington, D.C., and San Francisco, Montevecchi
had a very successful turn as Madame ZinZanni at Teatro ZinZanni beginning with
the production at its opening, with Frank Ferrante, Michael Davis (juggler),
Les Castors, Dreya Weber, and Mat Plendl. She took part in the recording of the
album The Divas with Joan Baez, Thelma Houston, Sally Kellerman, Christine
Deaver, Debbie de Coudreaux, Francine Reed, Juliana Rambaldi and Kristin
Clayton in 2006.
Montevecchi, who is survived by longtime companion Claudio
Saponi, was honored by the French Minister of Culture in 2013 as an Officer of
Arts and Culture to France and the world. She will be buried in a private
ceremony in Paris; a New York memorial service is expected.
Filmography and roles
Montevecchi along with Sara García in The Living Idol (1957)
Women of Paris
(1953) as Une Femme de Paris (as Montevecchi)
The Glass Slipper
(1955) as Tehara
Daddy Long Legs
(1955) as College Girl (uncredited)
Moonfleet (1955)
(as Liliane Montevecchi of the Ballet de Paris) as Gypsy
Meet Me in Las
Vegas (1956) (a.k.a. Viva Las Vegas!) (UK) as Lilli
The Living Idol
(1957) (a.k.a. El Ídolo viviente) (Mexico) as Juanita
The Sad Sack
(1957) as Zita
The Young Lions
(1958) as Françoise
King Creole (1958)
as Forty Nina
Me and the Colonel
(1958) as Cosette
77 Sunset Strip
(1959, TV series) as Tosca
Behind Closed
Doors (1959, TV Series) as Marcella
Playhouse 90
(1959, TV series) as Estrella / Carla
Adventures in
Paradise (1959, TV Series) as Therese Privaux
The Tab Hunter
Show (1960–1961, TV series) as Andrea / Maria
Mr. Broadway
(1964, TV series) as Vici
T.H.E. Cat (1967,
TV series) as Countess De Laurent
It Takes a Thief
(1969, TV Series) as Madame Tanya Varhos
39° Gala de
l'Union des Artistes at the cirque d'hiver in Paris (1972)
La vie rêvée de
Vincent Scotto (1973, TV movie) as Gay Deslys
Musidora (1973, TV
movie) as Musidora
Au théâtre ce soir
(1974, TV series) as Francine
Chobizenesse
(1975) (a.k.a. Show Business, English title) as Gigi Nietzsche
Wall Street (1987)
as Woman at 'Le Cirque'
The Funny Face of Broadway (1997, documentary
by Rémy Batteault)
Of Penguins and
Peacocks (2000, TV movie) as Sarah Bernhardt
Mistinguett, la
dernière revue (2001, TV movie) as Mistinguett
An Evening with
Rosanne Seaborn (2001, TV movie) as Mrs. Mannering
L'Idole (2002)
(a.k.a. The Idol, English title) as Nicole
How to Lose a Guy
in 10 Days (2003) as Mrs. DeLauer
Comment j'ai
accepté ma place parmi les mortels (2008, short) as Mirna
Jours de France
(2016) (a.k.a. 4 Days in France, English title) as Judith Joubert (final film
role)
Stage work
La Croqueuse de
Diamants (1952), Théâtre de l’Empire, Paris, France
La Plume de Ma
Tante, original Broadway production (1958), Broadway
La Grosse Valse
(1962-1963), Théâtre des Variétés, Paris, France as Nana
Folies Bergère,
original Broadway production (1964), Broadway
Nine, original
Broadway production (1982), Broadway as Liliane La Fleur
Gotta Getaway!
(1984) Radio City Music Hall, New York
Irma La Douce
(1986) with Robert Clary, Atlantic City
Star Dust, concert
reading (1987), New York
On the Boulevard
(1988), Kaufman Theatre, New York
Nymph Errant,
London concert revival (1989), West End, London, UK
Grand Hotel,
original Broadway production (1989), Broadway as Elizaveta Grushinskaya
Grand Hotel,
national tour (1992), US Tour
Nine, London
concert revival (1992), West End, London, UK as Liliane La Fleur
Grand Hotel,
London production (1992), West End, London, UK as Elizaveta Grushinskaya
Hello, Dolly!
(1995), Opéra Royal de Wallonie, Liège, Belgium
Gigi (1996) with
Gavin MacLeod, Paper Mill Playhouse, Millburn, New Jersey
Back on the
Boulevard (1996), Kaufman Theatre, New York
Divorce Me,
Darling!, Regional Revival (1997), UK
Gigi (1998) with
Gavin MacLeod, TX's Theatre Under the Stars, Houston, Texas
Follies, Paper
Mill Playhouse Revival (1998), Millburn, New Jersey as Solange Lafitte
The Wizard of Oz,
Radio City Entertainment's touring production (1999) as The Wicked Witch of the
West
Mistinguett, la
dernière revue (2001), Opéra Comique, Paris, France as Mistinguett
Love, Chaos and
Dinner (2002-2003), Teatro ZinZanni, San Francisco, California as Madame
ZinZanni
The Boy Friend,
regional revival (2003), UK as Madame Dubonnet
Love, Chaos and
Dinner (2007), Teatro ZinZanni, Seattle, Washington as Madame ZinZanni
A La Folie! (2008)
with Michael Davis (juggler), Teatro ZinZanni, San Francisco, California
Back on the
Boulevard (2009), Pizza on the Park, London, UK
Bottega ZinZanni :
All Dressed Up with Some Place to Go (2009), Teatro ZinZanni, Seattle,
Washington as Dina Monte
Majestic (2009)
with Les Castors, Palazzo, Vienna, Austria
From Broadway With
Love (2010) with Kaye Ballard & Donna McKechnie, Lensic Theater, Santa Fe,
New Mexico
Tigerplast Varieté
Show (2011), Tigerpalast, Frankfurt, Germany
Bonsoir Liliane!
(2011), Teatro ZinZanni, Seattle, Washington
Doin' It For Love
(2012) with Kaye Ballard & Lee Roy Reams, Austin, TX & Wilshire Ebell Theatre,
Los Angeles, California
Broadway Babes ONE
NIGHT ONLY (2014) with Kaye Ballard & Donna McKechnie, Albuquerque, New
Mexico
Zazou (2014), The
York Theatre, New York
Tigerplast Varieté
Show (2014), Tigerpalast, Frankfurt, Germany
Paris on the
Thames (2015), Brasserie Zédel, London, UK
54 Sings Grand
Hotel: The 25th Anniversary Concert (2015), Feinstein's/54 Below, New York as
Elizaveta Grushinskaya
An intimate
evening with Liliane Montevecchi (2015), The Mansion Inn, Rock City Falls, New
York
Steve Ross on
Broadway (2015), Birdland Jazz Club, New York
A Classic Night: A
Tribute to Liliane Montevecchi (2015), Alvin Ailey Theatre, New York
Tigerplast Varieté
Show (2015), Tigerpalast, Frankfurt, Germany
Aller-Retour,
musical review (2015), Vingtième Théâtre, Paris, France
Concert les
Funambules (2015), Sunset/Sunside, Paris, France
Be My Valentine
(2016), Feinstein's/54 Below, New York
Liliane
Montevecchi Live at Zédel (2016), Brasserie Zédel, London, UK
Tigerplast Varieté
Show (2016), Tigerpalast, Frankfurt, Germany
Hotel l'Amour
(2016) with Frank Ferrante, Teatro ZinZanni, Seattle, Washington
Ziegfeld Follies
of the Air: The New 1934 Live from Broadway Broadcast Revue (2017), Birdland
Jazz Club, New York
We'll Take a Glass
Together: The Songs of Wright & Forrest from MGM to Grand Hotel (2017) with
Karen Akers, Ida K. Lang Recital Hall at Hunter College, New York
Francesca Capetta
sings Dean Martin: A Centennial Celebration (2017), Carnegie Hall, New York
Other works
The Hollywood
Palace as Herself - Singer / ... (3 episodes, 1965–1966) - Episode #4.10 (1966)
TV episode as Herself - Singer - Episode #3.19 (1966) TV episode as Herself -
Singer/Dancer - Episode #2.29 (1965) TV episode as Herself - Singer/Dancer
The 36th Annual
Tony Awards (1982) (TV) as Herself - Winner : Best Performance by a Featured
Actress in a Musical
The 37th Annual
Tony Awards (1983) (TV) as Herself - Presenter
Follies in Concert
(1986) (TV) as Solange Lafitte
The 44th Annual Tony
Awards (1990) (TV) as Herself - Nominee: Best Actress in a Musical
NBC's "The
Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson" with Jay Leno - Season 29 (1991) (TV)
as Herself - Guest
Tout le monde en
parle as Herself (1 episode, dated 28 April 2001)
Broadway The
Golden Age, by the Legends Who Were There (2003) as Herself a.k.a. Broadway
(USA: short title) a.k.a. Broadway: The Golden Age (USA: short title) a.k.a.
Broadway: The Movie (USA: short title)
