Barrie Chase

Barrie Chase (born October 20, 1933) is an American former actress and dancer originally from Kings Point, New York.

Barrie Chase
Chase performing with Fred Astaire on the Astaire Time television special in 1960.
Born (1933-10-20) October 20, 1933
Kings Point, New York, U.S.
OccupationActress, dancer
Years active1952–72
Spouse(s)Gene Shacove
(m. 19??; div. 19??)
​
​
(m. 1966; div. 1968)​

James Kaufman
(m. 19??)
Children1

Early life

Chase began formal dance lessons at age 3, studying with the New York City Opera's ballet mistress.[1] When she was six, her father, writer Borden Chase, moved the family to California so he could begin a career as a screenwriter. She grew up in Encino and studied ballet, first with Adolph Bolm and later with Maria Bekefi.[1] She abandoned her intention to become a ballerina in New York to stay in Los Angeles and help support her mother, pianist Lee Keith, after her parents' divorce. She is the sister of screenwriter Frank Chase.[2]

Performing career

During the early 1950s, Chase danced on such live TV programs as The Colgate Comedy Hour and The Chrysler Shower of Stars. It was while she was working as Jack Cole's assistant choreographer at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer that Fred Astaire asked her to be his dancing partner on An Evening with Fred Astaire. She made four television appearances as Astaire's partner in his television specials between 1958 and 1968. The two danced on Hollywood Palace in 1966. During this period, she dated Astaire, a widower.[3]

She appeared on the syndicated talk show version of The Donald O'Connor Show. Chase worked in the chorus of many Hollywood musicals, including Hans Christian Andersen (1952), Call Me Madam (1953), Deep in My Heart (1954), Brigadoon (1954), Kismet (1955), Pal Joey (1957), Les Girls (1957), and two Fred Astaire films, Daddy Long Legs (1955) and Silk Stockings (1957). She appeared in White Christmas (1954) as the chorus girl who speaks the line, "Mutual, I'm sure."[4]

Chase's other film roles included The George Raft Story (1961); the beating victim of a sadistic Robert Mitchum in the thriller Cape Fear (1962); and the dancing, bikini-clad paramour (restored footage revealed her character was in reality married) of Dick Shawn's maniacal character, Sylvester Marcus, in the 1963 comedy It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (the death of Carl Reiner in June 2020 left Chase as the film's last surviving credited cast member). Subsequently, she played Farida in the film The Flight of the Phoenix (1965), starring James Stewart and Richard Attenborough, in a dream sequence. In 1965 she appeared in the episode "The Ballerina" on the Bonanza television series, playing saloon dancer Kellie Conrad, who longed to be a ballerina. In 1967 she appeared as a Soviet ballerina in the episode "Fly, Ballerina, Fly" of the television series Mr. Terrific.

Personal life

Chase was first married and divorced from Gene Shacove, then married Swedish actor Jan Malmsjö in 1966, divorcing in 1968. She next married medical doctor Richard Kaufman, and left show business in 1972 to focus on her family. The couple has one child.

References
  1. Hirt-Manheimer, Aron (2008). The Dancer Within: Intimate Conversations with Great Dancers. Wesleyan University Press. p. 10. ISBN 978-0-8195-6880-9. Retrieved February 22, 2020.
  2. Green, Paul (2006). A History of Television's The Virginian, 1962-1971. McFarland. p. 193. ISBN 9780786457991.
  3. Levinson, Peter (March 2009). Puttin' On the Ritz: Fred Astaire and the Fine Art of Panache, A Biography. St. Martin's Press. pp. 250–287, 341–42. ISBN 978-0-312-35366-7.
  4. "Barrie Chase profile". Retrieved December 23, 2011.
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