Liliane Montevecchi

Liliane Dina Montevecchi, born on October 13, 1932, in the 15th arrondissement of Paris, was a French actress, dancer, and singer whose Broadway career spanned four decades, from 1958 to 1998. Her father, Franco Montevecchi, was an Italian painter, and her mother, Janine Trinquet, worked as a hat designer. Her parents separated shortly after her birth, and she was raised primarily by her mother. She died on June 29, 2018, at the age of 85, and was buried in Gambais, France.

Montevecchi began studying ballet at age eight under primo ballerino Pierre Duprez, later completing her training at the Conservatoire de Paris with Jeanne Schwarz and Mathilde Kschessinska. She performed at the Opéra Comique and made her professional debut at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées in a ballet by David Lichine. In 1949, she performed at the coronation of Monaco's Prince Rainier III, and she also danced at the Casino de Paris with Jean Guélis. Her international career took shape when she joined Roland Petit's dance company as a prima ballerina.

Her film work brought her to Hollywood in the mid-1950s, when MGM signed her to a contract. She appeared alongside Michael Wilding and Leslie Caron in The Glass Slipper, and with Fred Astaire and Caron again in Daddy Long Legs. Her MGM credits included Moonfleet with Stewart Granger and Meet Me in Las Vegas with Cyd Charisse and John Brascia. She subsequently appeared in The Sad Sack with Jerry Lewis, King Creole with Elvis Presley, and The Young Lions alongside Montgomery Clift, Dean Martin, and Marlon Brando. During this period she took classes at the Actors Studio in New York and was acquainted with Gene Kelly, Elizabeth Taylor, and Clark Gable. She later appeared in the films Wall Street and How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days with Matthew McConaughey.

Montevecchi made her Broadway debut in 1958 when she replaced Colette Brosset in the revue La Plume de Ma Tante. Following television appearances in series including Playhouse 90 and Adventures in Paradise, she left Hollywood to headline the Folies Bergère in Las Vegas, touring with the company for nine years before performing at the Folies Bergère in Paris from 1972 to 1978. She returned to Broadway in the original 1964 production of Folies Bergère.

Her most celebrated Broadway achievement came in 1982 with the original production of Nine, in which she played Liliane La Fleur opposite Raúl Juliá. The performance earned her both the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical and the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical. Seven years later, she starred in the original Broadway production of Grand Hotel as Elizaveta Grushinskaya, a role that brought her a Tony nomination for Best Actress in a Musical. In March 2015, she recreated the role of Grushinskaya at the Grand Hotel: The 25th Anniversary Reunion Concert at 54 Below in New York City. Her final Broadway credit came in 1998, when she replaced Eartha Kitt as the Wicked Witch of the West in Radio City Entertainment's touring production of The Wizard of Oz, co-starring Mickey Rooney as the Wizard and Jessica Grové as Dorothy, continuing in the role through spring 1999 and succeeded by Jo Anne Worley.

Beyond Broadway, Montevecchi performed in West End productions including a 1989 London concert revival of Nymph Errant, a 1992 London production of Grand Hotel as Grushinskaya, and a 1992 London concert revival of Nine reprising her role as Liliane La Fleur. Her stage work also included Irma La Douce in Atlantic City with Robert Clary, Gigi at the Paper Mill Playhouse and Theatre Under the Stars with Gavin MacLeod, and the 1998 Paper Mill Playhouse revival of Follies, in which she played Solange Lafitte. She appeared in the 1985 concert version of Follies staged at Avery Fisher Hall, and that recording documents her participation. She performed her semi-autobiographical solo shows On the Boulevard and Back on the Boulevard at the Kaufman Theatre in New York and at venues internationally, and released a solo album, On the Boulevard, on Jay Records.

Montevecchi appeared in concert at Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center, and guest-starred in more than twenty television programs. She portrayed Mistinguett at the Théâtre National de l'Opéra Comique in Paris in 2001. Beginning with its opening production, she played Madame ZinZanni at Teatro ZinZanni in San Francisco, Seattle, and Washington, D.C., alongside Frank Ferrante, Michael Davis, Les Castors, Dreya Weber, Mat Plendl, and the Steben Twins. She returned to Teatro ZinZanni in June 2009 and again in September 2011 for Bonsoir Liliane!, directed by Tommy Tune and choreographed by Tobias Larsson, with Kevin Kent. In December 2010, she starred alongside Kaye Ballard and Donna McKechnie in From Broadway with Love, directed by Richard Jay-Alexander at the Lensic Theater. In 2012, she joined Ballard and Lee Roy Reams in Doin' It for Love, directed by David Geist. In November 2015, she brought her solo show Aller-Retour to Paris for the first time, at the initiative of producer Patrick Niedo. In 2006, she participated in the recording of the album The Divas with Joan Baez, Thelma Houston, Sally Kellerman, and others. On July 12, 2017, she performed at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall in a birthday salute to Dean Martin alongside Francesca Capetta and Stacy Sullivan.

In 2013, the French Minister of Culture honored Montevecchi as Officer of Arts and Culture. In January 2017, the Ziegfeld Society of New York City presented her with its Lifetime Achievement Award. A memorial service was held on July 6, 2018, at Gotham Hall in New York City.