CINCINNATI

I'm often shocked by the things I didn't know.   Sometimes I think, "I must have known but have forgotten."   Other times I'm sure I never heard that one before.  Here is the latest.

I grew up in Norwood, Ohio - a small city totally encapsulated by Cincinnati.  I thought I might check out Norwood on the internet and see what I could see.  I looked for notable residents and didn't find my name but did come upon this.  One Vera-Ellen Westmeier Rohe was born in Norwood.  She is the dancer/actress who starred in the blockbuster movie White Christmas as Rosemary Clooney's younger sister whom Danny Kaye was wooing.  Her stage name was Vera-Ellen. 

That's not all.  A feature dancer in the crowd in White Christmas was one George Chikaris who was also born in Norwood.  George went on to star in the movie West Side Story as the leader of the Sharks gang for which he won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. 

Vera-Ellen and George Chikaris each had distinguished Hollywood and television careers with long lists of major roles.  I never knew either was born in Norwood, my home town, until now.
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