Zina Bethune

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Zina Bianca Bethune (born February 17, 1945 in New York City , New York - † February 12, 2012 in Los Angeles , California ) was an American actress , ballet dancer and choreographer .

Life

Bethune was born as the only daughter of the Russian-born actress Ivy Bethune . She began her acting career at the age of six with a small role in an off-Broadway production of Monday's Heroes . She trained at the George Balanchines School of American Ballet and made her Broadway debut at the age of eleven as a dancer in Frank Loesser's musical The Most Happy Fella ; from the age of 14 she danced with the New York City Ballet .

In 1956 she was first seen on television in the soap opera Springfield Story ; her first appearance on the big screen followed in 1960 in the biopic Sunrise at Campobello . She portrayed Anna Roosevelt, the only daughter of Franklin Roosevelt , played by Ralph Bellamy . However, feature films were to remain the exception in her career, overall she was only seen in three. In addition to Sunrise at Campobello , these were the directorial debut of Martin Scorsese , Who is knocking on my door? as well as the drama The Price of Success by Harold Becker .

In addition to numerous guest appearances in television series such as Invasion von der Wega , Rauchende Colts and CHiPs , she was best known to the US audience for the role of Gail Lucas in the hospital soap opera The Nurses , which she played in 98 episodes between 1962 and 1965. From 1965 to 1971 she was Barbara Sterling in the soap opera Love of Life . In 1992 she returned to Broadway again; she took on the role of prima ballerina Elizaveta Grushinskaya in the musical Grand Hotel, initially portrayed by Liliane Montevecchi .

In 1980 she founded in Los Angeles , the non-profit - Theater Ensemble Theater Bethune , which they subsequently as artistic director in charge and choreographer and also next international appearances at the White House guest appearances. She was also the founder of the Infinite Dreams program , with which she gave mentally or physically handicapped children access to dance; Infinite Dreams subsequently received recognition from the National Endowment for the Arts as well as US Presidents Ronald Reagan , George HW Bush and Bill Clinton .

In the mid-1980s, Bethune suffered from arthritis of the hip joints so severe that she was advised never to dance ballet again. She then turned to the orthopedic surgeon Charles Engh, who used a new technique for hip prosthesis and replaced both joints. A year later she was able to dance again. Your medical history was later in that of Leonard Nimoy told Episode by Miracles design of the PBS - documentary series Infinite Voyage The processed.

Bethune died at the age of 66 years in a road traffic accident followed by hit and run . She had stopped at the shoulder to tend an injured animal; this turned out to be a dead possum during the police investigation . When she approached the animal, she was first hit by an oncoming vehicle; Another vehicle caught them and dragged them along for almost 200 meters. She was pronounced dead at the scene of the accident.

Bethune was childless with since 1970 Pixar - a film technician for Visual Effects married Sean Feeley.

Filmography (selection)

Movie

watch TV

Broadway

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Biography of Ivy Bethune at Filmreference (English)
  2. ↑ a b Zina Bethune Dies at 66; Actress, Dancer and Choreographer in The New York Times (English)
  3. ↑ a b Zina Bethune dies in hit-and-run at 66 in Variety (English)
  4. ^ A b Harris M. Lentz III: Obituaries in the Performing Arts, 2012 , McFarland 2013, ISBN 978-0-7864-7063-1
  5. ↑ Liliane Montevecchi s profile in the Internet Broadway Database (English)
  6. ↑ a b c Zina Bethune dies at 66; dancer, choreographer and actress in the Los Angeles Times (English)
  7. ↑ Materials To Make Your Life Better in The Washington Post (English)
  8. ↑ Biography of Zina Bethune at Filmreference (English)
  9. ↑ Former dancer Zina Bethune killed in road accident on BBC.com (English)
personal data
SURNAME Bethune, Zina
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Bethune, Zina Bianca (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION US-american actress
DATE OF BIRTH February 17, 1945
PLACE OF BIRTH New York City , New York
DATE OF DEATH February 12, 2012
Place of death Los Angeles , California