About Zizi Jeanmaire
Renée Marcelle "Zizi" Jeanmaire (29 April 1924 – 17 July 2020) was a French ballet dancer, actress and singer. She became famous in the 1950s after playing the title role in the ballet Carmen, produced in London in 1949, and went on to appear in several Hollywood films and Paris revues. She was the wife of dancer and choreographer Roland Petit, who created ballets and revues for her. == Career == Jeanmaire was born in Paris to Olga Renée (née Brunus) and Marcel Jeanmaire. She later wrote in her autobiography: "When I was little my mother called me 'mon Jésus' which transformed into 'mon Zizi'." She met her future husband and long-time collaborator Roland Petit at the Paris Opera Ballet when they were both aged nine. She danced in 1944 in the Soirées de la danse at the Theater Sarah Bernhardt. She became a ballerina of the Nouveau Ballet de Monte Carlo in 1946, and danced during the last season of Colonel de Basil's Ballets Russes de Monte Carlo in London in 1947. In 1949, she became the star of the Ballets de Paris directed by Petit, where she was known for her energy and passion. She created her most famous role, Carmen, to a musical arrangement of Bizet's opera. For the role, she had her hair cut to boyish shortness, which was copied by many women.
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