Liliane Montevecchi

b. 13 October 1932, Paris, France, d. 29 June 2018, New York, New York. After studying ballet as a child, in her late teens Montevecchi danced with Roland Petit’s ballet company. In the 50s she was in Hollywood, usually playing minor roles. With the Folies Bergère she toured internationally for many years. On Broadway, Montevecchi was a replacement cast member in La Plume De Ma Tante (1958), 835 performances at the Royale Theatre, and was in Folies Bergère (1964), 191 performances at the Broadway Theatre, with music and lyrics by Henri Betti, Georges Ulmer, and Philippe Gerard. In 1982 Montevecchi played Liliane La Fleur in the very successful Nine, music and lyrics by Maury Weston, choreographed and directed by Tommy Tune. Montevecchi’s performance brought her a Best Featured Actress In A Musical Tony Award and a similar Drama Desk Award. Montevecchi’s highly successful one-woman show, On The Boulevard (1988), was followed a few years later by Back On The Boulevard. She took the role of ageing ballerina Elizaveta Grushinskaya in Grand Hotel (1989), which ran for more than two years. With book by Luther Davis, music and lyrics by Robert Wright and George Forrest, and choreography and direction by Tune, the show’s many nominations for Tony Awards included Montevecchi as Best Actress In A Musical. Among her late 90s and early 00s appearances she played repeatedly in the Love, Chaos And Dinner show at San Francisco’s Teatro ZinZanni. Montevecchi’s film appearances include Daddy Long Legs (1955), King Creole (1958) and Wall Street (1987). On television in the USA and France she appeared in individual episodes of series such as 77 Sunset Strip and Playhouse 90 (both 1959), The Tab Hunter Show (1960-61), It Takes A Thief (1969), Au Théâtre Ce Soir (1974) and Of Penguins And Peacocks (2000), in which she portrayed Sarah Bernhardt. She followed this by playing Mistinguett in Mistinguett, La Dernière Revue (2001).