Harry Rigby

Harry Rigby, the theatrical producer who conceived of and co-produced the long-running show ''Sugar Babies,'' was found dead yesterday in his Manhattan apartment. He was 59 years old. Henry Luhrman, Mr. Rigby's press agent, said a secretary had discovered Mr. Rigby's body after he failed to appear for a lunch appointment at the Russian Tea Room. The cause of death, Mr. Luhrman said, was not known. Mr. Rigby's forte was persuading actors and actresses whose careers had long passed their prime to come out of the twilight and appear in Broadway shows. The shows were invariably hits. He persuaded Ruby Keeler, the star of the movie ''42d Street,'' to appear in a revival of ''No, No, Nanette'' in 1971. He persuaded Debbie Reynolds and then Jane Powell to take on the revival of ''Irene,'' which opened in 1973. And he persuaded Mickey Rooney and Ann Miller to star in ''Sugar Babies'' in 1979. Valentine to Burlesque ''Sugar Babies,'' a valentine to burlesque, is still touring the country with its original stars and is scheduled to open next week in Norfolk, Va. The show's co-producer, Terry Allen Kramer, said yesterday that it will continue to tour for another year as a memorial to Mr. Rigby. ''Producing is a marvelous refuge for the inept,'' Mr. Rigby told an interviewer in 1980. ''It's a last resort. It's the only thing I could do.'' Mr. Rigby, who was born in Pittsburgh on Feb. 21, 1925, began raising money and assembling personnel for shows in 1951, at a relatively tender age for a producer. The shows he co- produced included ''Make a Wish,'' ''John Murray Anderson's Almanac,'' ''Half a Sixpence,'' ''Hallelujah, Baby,'' the revival of ''Good News'' with Alice Faye and John Payne, ''Knock, Knock,'' ''I Love My Wife'' and ''Gorey Stories.'' At least once, he tried his hand at acting. He played a penguin in Robert Downey's film ''Pound'' in 1970. He is survived by his sister, Anne Pierce of Clinton, S.C. Funeral services will be held Monday at 2:30 P.M. at the Frank E. Campbell Funeral Chapel at 1076 Madison Avenue, near 81st Street. January 17, 1985

Ann Miller Born April 12, 1923 in Chireno, Texas, USA Died January 22, 2004 in Los Angeles, California, USA (lung cancer) Birth Name Johnnie Lucille Ann Collier Nickname Annie Height 5' 7" Ann Miller was born Johnnie Lucille Ann Collier on April 12, 1923 in Chireno, Texas. She lived there until she was nine, when her mother left her philandering father and moved with Ann to Los Angeles, California. Even at that young age, she had to support her mother, who was hearing-impaired and unable to hold a job. After taking tap-dancing lessons, she got jobs dancing in various Hollywood nightclubs while being home-schooled. Then, in 1937, RKO asked her to sign on as a contract player, but only if she could prove she was 18. Though she was really barely 14, she managed to get hold of a fake birth certificate, and so was signed on, playing dancers and ingénues in such films as Stage Door (1937), You Can't Take It with You (1938), Room Service (1938) and Too Many Girls (1940). In 1939, she appeared on Broadway in "George White's Scandals" and was a smash, staying on for two years. Eventually, RKO released her from her contract, but Columbia Pictures snapped her up to appear in such World War II morale boosters as True to the Army (1942) and Reveille with Beverly (1943). When she decided to get married, Columbia released her from her contract. The marriage was sadly unhappy and she was divorced in two years. This time, MGM picked her up, showcasing her in such films as Easter Parade (1948), On the Town (1949) and Kiss Me Kate (1953). In the mid-1950's, she asked to leave to marry again, and her request was granted. This marriage didn't last long, either, nor did a third. Ann then threw herself into work, appearing on television, in nightclubs and on the stage. She was a smash as the last actress to headline the Broadway production of "Mame" in 1969 and 1970, and an even bigger smash in "Sugar Babies" in 1979, which she played for nine years, on Broadway and on tour. She also appeared in the Paper Mill Playhouse production of Stephen Sondheim's "Follies" in 1998, in which she sang the song "I'm Still Here", a perfect way to sum up the life and career of Ann Miller. On January 22, 2004, Ann Miller died at age 80 of lung cancer and was buried at the Holy Cross Cemetary in Culver City, California. Spouse (3) Arthur Cameron (25 May 1961 - 10 May 1962) ( annulled) William Moss (22 August 1958 - 11 May 1961) ( divorced) Reese Llewellyn Milner (16 February 1946 - 28 January 1948) ( divorced) ( 1 child) She made herself four years older, when she began working in Hollywood. She became an excellent tap dancer after her mother told her while watching Broadway Melody of 1936 (1935) starring Eleanor Powell if she would practice a little with that same quality. When she was in her early teens, she was advised to pretend she was 18 in order to get a job in the movies. Her father wanted a boy, so Ann was named Johnnie Lucille Collier, and she later went by Lucille. In 1937, in order to keep her contract with RKO Pictures, she got a fake birth certificate, which said she was Lucille Ann Collier, born on April 12, 1919 in Chireno, Texas. Famous for her big hair in the later years of her career. Discovered by Lucille Ball while doing a show at a nightclub in San Francisco, California. Lucille Ball helped her career immensely. Refusing to do movies for years because she disliked nudity and sex, she finally relented and returned to films after nearly four decades with David Lynch's Mulholland Drive (2001), which contained nudity and explicit sex. At the end of her MGM contract, she flew overseas to Morocco to entertain on the Timex TV Hour for Bob Hope. She sang and danced "Too Darn Hot" in 120-degree heat, entertaining 5000 soldiers. In her tap shoes, she claimed to be able to dance at 500 taps per minute. Her tap shoes were called Moe and Joe and were exhibited in the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. On an interview on Turner Classic Movies, she told a story about how each time she needed to dress for a dance on screen, the tops of her stockings needed to be sewn to the costume she was wearing. This was a tedious process and needed to be repeated each time there was a run, etc. One day, she suggested to the man supplying the stockings that he add a top to the stockings so they could be worn as one piece... and that's how pantyhose was born. Inducted into the International Tap Dance Hall of Fame in 2004. On her tax returns, she listed her occupation as "Star Lady". She donated a pair of her gold colored tap shoes to the National Museum of American History in the Smithsonian Institute. Nominated for the 1980 Tony Award (New York City) for Best Actress in a Musical for "Sugar Babies". During an interview with Robert Osborne for Turner Classic Movies, Ann Miller said that when she was 9 months pregnant with Reese Milner's child, he got drunk one night, beat Ann up and threw her down a flight of stairs. Ann broke her back and had to give birth with a broken back. Had to audition for Easter Parade (1948) in a steel back brace after breaking her back. Was very good friends with: Linda Darnell, Rita Hayworth, Lucille Ball, Ginger Rogers, Kathryn Grayson, Marie MacDonald and Linda Cristal. At just 15-years-old, she played the wife of Dub Taylor - who was 16 years her senior - in You Can't Take It with You (1938). She was buried next to her miscarried daughter, which reads "Beloved Baby Daughter Mary Milner November 12, 1946". She was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6914 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California on February 8, 1960. She was awarded a Golden Palm Star on the Palm Springs Walk of Stars on January 10, 1998. Personal Quotes " I have worked like a dog all my life, honey. Dancing, as Fred Astaire said, is next to ditch-digging. You sweat and you slave and the audience doesn't think you have a brain in your head." [Fred Astaire] was a perfectionist. At rehearsal when you thought you'd got it perfect he would say, "Go on, Annie, just one more time!" What I wouldn't give to do it just one more time. At MGM, I always played the second feminine lead. I was never the star in films. I was the brassy, goodhearted showgirl. I never really had my big moment on the screen. Broadway gave me the stardom that my soul kind of yearned for.