--- name: "Ann Miller" canonical: "https://film.one/person/ann-miller" fi1m_id: "ann-miller" imdb_id: "nm0587900" tmdb_id: 15008 wikidata_id: "Q241701" roles: ["Actor"] born: "12 April 1923" died: "22 January 2004" reviewed_on_fi1m: 4 average_fi1m_score: 83 average_as: "actor" average_over: 4 updated: "2026-09-25T04:40:25.311579+00:00" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Ann Miller ## Identity Ann Miller - **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/ann-miller - **Type:** Person - **Fi1m ID:** ann-miller - **IMDb ID:** nm0587900 - **TMDB ID:** 15008 - **Wikidata ID:** Q241701 - **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ann_Miller, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q241701, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0587900/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/15008 Actor. Born 12 April 1923 in Houston, Texas, USA. Died 22 January 2004. ## Details - **Work:** Actor - **Born:** 12 April 1923, Houston, Texas, USA - **Died:** 22 January 2004 - **Active:** 1937–2001 - **Also known as:** Johnnie Lucille Collier, Lucille Collier, Lucy Ann Collier - **Average Fi1m score:** 83, as actor, over 4 titles - **Fi1m score by decade:** 1930s 78 (2), 1940s 84 (1), 2000s 92 (1) - **Fi1m against the critics:** 82 to 80 across 3 titles - **Score spread:** 3 at 80+, 1 at 60–79, 0 under 60 - **Lead roles:** 0 of 3 acting credits billed first or second - **Genres:** Comedy 3, Drama 2, Romance 2, Mystery 1, Thriller 1 - **Screen time:** 8 hours of reviewed films - **Box office:** $34m across 4 films with figures - **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ann_Miller, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q241701, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0587900/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/15008 ## Streaming the US now - **Tubi:** [*On the Town*](https://film.one/film/on-the-town.md) (84) - **The Roku Channel:** [*You Can't Take It with You*](https://film.one/film/you-cant-take-it-with-you.md) (70) For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country. ## Fi1m on Ann Miller > Ann Miller tapped at a rate the studio claimed was five hundred a minute, and Hollywood used it to decorate other people's films. The dancing is why to seek her out; the parts around it are why it took Broadway to make her a star. The house in *You Can't Take It with You* (1938) never stops making noise, and one of the noises is Ann Miller. Essie Carmichael dances across the parlour in a tutu while her husband plays the xylophone for her and her teacher, Kolenkhov, watches and announces that, confidentially, it stinks. Miller was a teenager who had signed to RKO the year before on a birth certificate that added four years, and she had been dancing since she was a child. The joke of Essie is a girl who cannot dance, played by a girl who could hardly do anything else. We laughed at it, and we were touched by it too, because the film is at its best when the household is simply carrying on, and Miller carrying on in a tutu is a large part of the racket. The studio years followed the pattern set there. Supporting parts at RKO, *Stage Door* (1937) and *Room Service* (1938) among them, then a move to MGM for a run of musicals between 1948 and 1955: *Easter Parade* (1948) opposite Fred Astaire, *On the Town* (1949) with Gene Kelly, *Kiss Me Kate* (1953), where she has 'Too Darn Hot'. What she brought was speed. The publicity department said five hundred taps a minute, and whatever the true figure it was fast enough to look like a machine had been let loose in a chorus line. She also brought a look, black hair lacquered into a bouffant and a face painted for the back row, so that she read as a showgirl before she had done a step. That was the trouble. MGM had some of the fastest feet on the lot and cast them as the brassy, good-hearted friend of the woman the film was about, over and over. Miller knew it. She said herself that she never really had her big moment on the screen, and the record supports her: second feminine lead through the whole MGM run, top billing never. The dancing is not to blame; it is why the numbers are remembered. The parts around it are thin, and a dancer who is only ever allowed to be a type does not get to show whether she could have been anything else. It took the stage to fix that. *Mame* on Broadway in 1969, then *Sugar Babies* with Mickey Rooney, from 1979 to 1988 and on tour, gave her the star billing the films had not. Her last screen appearance is a small one, in a film we rate highly. In *Mulholland Drive* (2001) she is Coco, who manages the apartments in David Lynch's Hollywood mystery. We did not single her out when we reviewed it, and we will not pretend to now. But there is something right about Lynch, of all people, putting the MGM showgirl in charge of the building in a film about Hollywood. If you want to see her act, start with *You Can't Take It with You*. If you want to see why she was hired at all, find the MGM musicals and wait for the tap. ## Biography Ann Miller, born Johnnie Lucille Collier, was an American actress, dancer and singer. She began her film career in the 1930s and appeared in a series of musicals for RKO and Columbia before moving to MGM, where she featured in *Easter Parade* (1948), *On the Town* (1949) and *Kiss Me Kate* (1953). Earlier credits include *You Can't Take It with You* (1938) and *Stage Door* (1937). Miller performed on Broadway, including a long run in *Sugar Babies* from 1979. Her final screen role was as Coco in David Lynch's *Mulholland Drive* (2001). She died in Los Angeles in 2004. *Sources: imdb.com, en.wikipedia.org.* ## On Fi1m (4) - *Mulholland Drive* (2001), Fi1m 92, as Coco — [page](https://film.one/film/mulholland-drive.md) - *On the Town* (1949), Fi1m 84, as Claire Huddesen — [page](https://film.one/film/on-the-town.md) - *You Can't Take It with You* (1938), Fi1m 70, as Essie Carmichael — [page](https://film.one/film/you-cant-take-it-with-you.md) - *Stage Door* (1937), Fi1m 85, as Annie — [page](https://film.one/film/stage-door.md) ## Complete filmography (53) Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page. - *Broadway's Lost Treasures* (2003), as Ann (segment "Sugar Babies") - *Cole Porter in Hollywood: Begin the Beguine* (2003), Actor - *Mulholland Drive* (2001), as Coco — Fi1m 92, [page](https://film.one/film/mulholland-drive.md) - *E! True Hollywood Story* (1996), series, Actor - *Home Improvement* (1991), series, as Mrs. Keeney - *That's Dancing!* (1985), Actor - *The Love Boat* (1977), series, as Connie Carruthers - *Won Ton Ton: The Dog Who Saved Hollywood* (1976), as Presidents' Girl 2 - *That's Entertainment, Part II* (1976), as (archive footage) - *That's Entertainment!* (1974), as (archive footage) (uncredited) - *Dames at Sea* (1971), as Mona - *Love, American Style* (1969), series, Actor - *Mondo Hollywood* (1967), Actor - *The Great American Pastime* (1956), as Doris Patterson - *The Opposite Sex* (1956), as Gloria Dahl - *Hit the Deck* (1955), as Ginger - *Deep in My Heart* (1954), as Performer (segment "Artists and Models") - *Kiss Me Kate* (1953), as Lois Lane, "Bianca" - *Small Town Girl* (1953), as Lisa Bellmount - *Lovely to Look At* (1952), as Bubbles Cassidy - *Two Tickets to Broadway* (1951), as Joyce Campbell - *Texas Carnival* (1951), as Sunshine Jackson - *Watch the Birdie* (1950), as Miss Lucky Vista - *On the Town* (1949), as Claire Huddesen — Fi1m 84, [page](https://film.one/film/on-the-town.md) - *The Kissing Bandit* (1948), as Fiesta Specialty Dancer - *Easter Parade* (1948), as Nadine Hale - *The Thrill of Brazil* (1946), as Linda Lorens - *Eve Knew Her Apples* (1945), as Eve Porter - *Eadie Was a Lady* (1945), as Eadie Allen / Edithea Alden - *Carolina Blues* (1944), as Julie Carver - *Jam Session* (1944), as Terry Baxter - *Hey, Rookie* (1944), as Winnie Clark - *Sailor's Holiday* (1944), Actor - *What's Buzzin', Cousin?* (1943), as Ann Crawford - *Reveille with Beverly* (1943), as Beverly Ross - *Priorities on Parade* (1942), as Donna D'Arcy - *True to the Army* (1942), as Vicki Marlow - *Hedda Hopper's Hollywood No. 2* (1941), Actor - *Go West, Young Lady* (1941), as Lola - *Time Out for Rhythm* (1941), as Kitty Brown - *Hit Parade of 1941* (1940), as Anabelle Potter - *Too Many Girls* (1940), as Pepe - *Melody Ranch* (1940), as Julie Shelton - *Tarnished Angel* (1938), as Violet McMaster - *Room Service* (1938), as Hilda Manny - *You Can't Take It with You* (1938), as Essie Carmichael — Fi1m 70, [page](https://film.one/film/you-cant-take-it-with-you.md) - *Having Wonderful Time* (1938), as Vivian (uncredited) - *Radio City Revels* (1938), as Billie - *Stage Door* (1937), as Annie — Fi1m 85, [page](https://film.one/film/stage-door.md) - *The Life of the Party* (1937), as Betty - *New Faces of 1937* (1937), as Ann Miller - *The Devil on Horseback* (1936), as Dancer (uncredited) - *The Good Fairy* (1935), as Girl in Orphanage (uncredited) ## Gallery - ![Ann Miller](https://film.one/media/person/97138/gallery-e2645f2c8101.jpg) Ann Miller — MGM, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/96/Anne_Miller_1948.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled) - ![Midway Theater advertisement for the American musical film Reveille with Beverly (1943) - 29 Apr. 1943 Morning Call, Allentown PA](https://film.one/media/person/97138/gallery-8f807a04310a.jpg) Midway Theater advertisement for the American musical film Reveille with Beverly (1943) - 29 Apr. 1943 Morning Call, Allentown PA — Columbia Pictures, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3d/1943_-_Midway_Theater_Ad_-_29_Apr_MC_-_Allentown_PA.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled) - ![itle: Mickey Rooney, actor (shown in "Sugar Babies," NY), Ann Miller Creator(s): Gotfryd, Bernard, photographer Date Created/Published: [April 1979] Medium: 1 p](https://film.one/media/person/97138/gallery-64a76147cd96.jpg) itle: Mickey Rooney, actor (shown in "Sugar Babies," NY), Ann Miller Creator(s): Gotfryd, Bernard, photographer Date Created/Published: [April 1979] Medium: 1 p — Gotfryd, Bernard, photographer, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/df/Ann_Jillian%2C_Ann_Miller%2C_Mickey_Rooney%2C_Peter_Leeds_in_Sugar_Babies.jpg/1280px-Ann_Jillian%2C_Ann_Miller%2C_Mickey_Rooney%2C_Peter_Leeds_in_Sugar_Babies.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail) - ![Photo of American actress, dancer and singer Ann Miller and American costume designer Edith Head. (1950)](https://film.one/media/person/97138/gallery-41f01485d7a0.jpg) Photo of American actress, dancer and singer Ann Miller and American costume designer Edith Head. (1950) — Unknown authorUnknown author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d3/Ann_Miller_%26_Edith_Head.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled) - ![Ann Miller](https://film.one/media/person/97138/gallery-8cdbe2291a6a.jpg) Ann Miller — Image via TMDB - ![Ann Miller](https://film.one/media/person/97138/gallery-b3ddf133878f.jpg) Ann Miller — Image via TMDB - ![Ann Miller](https://film.one/media/person/97138/gallery-258eadf84e98.jpg) Ann Miller — Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/58/Ann_Miller_%28handprints_in_cement%29.jpg/1280px-Ann_Miller_%28handprints_in_cement%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail) ## Awards ### Other awards — 0 won, 1 nominated - Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical 1980: Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical (nominated) *From Wikidata, which records wins more completely than nominations.* --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/ann-miller