Great Scot!
Cornerstone No. 191, page 18
68: Moira Shearer
Are you interested in Ballet? Well I’ m not BUT – this subject is so fascinating( and was so beautiful) as to be irresistible! Need I say“ read on”( especially if you like redheads …). This talented ballerina / actress was born in Dunfermline on January 17th, 1926, as Moira King; little did she know that later in life Miss King was to become a‘ queen’. Although her fame as a magnetic and accomplished ballet dancer set her on the pedestal of celebrity, she was to abandon this‘ pirouetting’ spotlight in order to become an actress, a writer and a mother of four beaming children – this is a journey that few are able undertake; but let’ s start with the ballet. She was nicknamed“ ballet’ s answer to Greta Garbo“( what does that mean?) but in reality, Moira Shearer was the answer to no-one and every-one and the following might prove it. At age 22, she dancingly starred in as Victoria Page, – a performance that popularised ballet in the eyes of many a fresh audience. She became principal dancer of the soon-to-become‘ Royal Ballet’ and murmurs were heard that GS 68 was to fill the ballet points of none other than
Margot Fonteyn! Principle roles in and followed; however, Moira said that her role in had led her career as a dancer to a full stop and at the age of 27 she more or less turned away from dancing.‘ More or less’ =‘ not quite’ and a painter known for his caused her to perform, in 1987, as Elizabeth Lowry in Lynne’ s for L. S. Lowry’ s centenary. This was to be her last dance appearance. So we now turn to our heroine’ s other pursuits … Moira Shearer resolved to become an actress. Before that we must mention MS’ s domestic endeavours and these are not without import. She was judging a fancy-dress ball when a young librarian-cum-author asked her for a dance. She accepted adding“ I don’ t dance very well”(!!!) and proceeded to step on his shoes – almost tripping him.( Ballerinas are not given to ballroom dancing.) The young gent from the library was the budding broadcaster and journalist Ludovic( later Sir …) Kennedy. That‘ dance’ led to great things and in 1950 Moira and Ludovic married. Their happy union gave the world four offspring – one son and three daughters. As for the actress, film roles rolled in:
( 1952),( 1954 – possibly biographical?);