MovieChat Forums > The Gang's All Here (1943) Discussion > Acrobatic dancer in black bathing suit

Acrobatic dancer in black bathing suit


Hurrah! We have here in France "The Gang's all here" as DVD (under the title "Banana Split"!). Wonderful! I'm happy: I see for the first time in my life Alice Faye, Carmen Miranda - and a great acrobatic dancer in black bathing suit - is her name Miriam LaVelle? I've find the name here, in the IMDb cast list, but is it sure? Somebody knows her?

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Oui, c'était Miriam Lavelle.

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Yeah, who was that acrobatic brunette in The Gang's All Here? My jaw dropped to the floor as I watched her do somersaults in the film!

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Thank you for verifying that.

Her all-too-brief acrobatic routine fascinated the heck out of me. I was lucky enough to see The Gang's All Here twice on the Silver Screen on Saturday and was blown away by her performance.

It's not the sort of thing you'd expect to see in a standard song and dance-type film. I wonder who got her into this movie?

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That information was actually incorrect. The fantastic dancer in the black bathing suit is Ola Cole (although I do not know what her stage name at that time was). She is now 84 years old, a very good friend of mine, and living in Evansville, Indiana. Here is a link to a story that our local newspaper ran last year featuring Ola: http://www.courierpress.com/news/2009/oct/14/queen-of-the-carnival/

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I've just read that wonderful piece on Ola Cole in the Evansville newspaper and she is an inspiration to everyone - especially those of us who are beginning to think "nearly 70" is old! Forcing people to retire at 60/65, as they do on this side of the Atlantic, is crazy.

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