American musical star Miller dies

Ann Miller's dancing got her noticed by the studios

US musical actress Ann Miller, famed for her impressive tap dancing, has died of lung cancer at the age of 81.

Miller starred in more than 40 Hollywood films during her long career, notably Kiss Me Kate and Easter Parade, with Fred Astaire and Judy Garland.

Working for MGM studios during the heyday of the Hollywood musical of the 40s and 50s, she continued dancing into her 60s alongside Mickey Rooney.

She died at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles on Thursday.

Miller began her showbusiness career at the age of 11, having taken up dancing to help straighten her legs after suffering rickets as a child.

She eventually claimed the record of 500 taps a minute.

At just 13 she was given a seven-year contract with RKO studios, although she had said she was 18.

Big break

Her movie debut was in New Faces of 1937, going on to appear in a number of low-budget musicals and comedies.

Miller (R) performed with Debbie Reynolds in Sugar Babies

After eventually being signed to MGM, Miller replaced Cyd Charisse in Easter Parade after the actress broke her leg before filming.

But by the mid-1950s the popularity of the big screen musical waned and she moved into television and theatre.

One of her most successful projects was the touring show Sugar Babies with Mickey Rooney, a tribute to the burlesque era.

'Brassy showgirl'

"At MGM, I always played the second feminine lead; I was never the star in films," Miller once said.

"I was the brassy, good-hearted showgirl. I never really had my big moment on the screen.

"Sugar Babies gave me the stardom that my soul kind of yearned for."

Speaking after her death, Rooney called Miller "a great talent".

"She told me the last time I spoke to her she wasn't feeling too well, and I said, 'Keep your head up, kid.' I'm just very sad," he added.

Miller married three times but all ended in divorce.

Her last film role was in David Lynch's Oscar-nominated film Mulholland Drive in 2001.