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OXFORD, England, Feb 1, 2006 (UPI via COMTEX) -- British ballerina and actress Moira Shearer, who became an international star in the 1948 Hollywood classic "The Red Shoes," has died at age 80.
Shearer died Tuesday at John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford, England, her husband, writer/broadcaster Ludovic Kennedy, told the BBC.
The native of Dunfermline, Scotland, had grown progressively weaker since her birthday Jan. 17, he said. No cause of death was given.
Dancing since the age of 6, Shearer was just starting to gain acclaim when Hollywood came calling, the BBC said. She initially declined "Red Shoes" director Michael Powell's overtures, but he persisted and after about a year she agreed to take the part.
The film -- which won Oscars for music score and art direction -- became the most popular ballet film in history and catapulted Shearer to international stardom.
She married Kennedy in 1950 and they went on to have four children.
Shearer retired from dancing at the age of 27 in 1953 but continued to act, both on the stage and in films such as "The Man Who Loved Redheads" and "The Tales of Hoffmann."
She served as host of the 1972 Eurovision Song Contest in Edinburgh, Scotland, and lectured on ballet throughout the world. She also put in a brief stint as a radio announcer in the early 1980s and wrote a column for the Daily Telegraph.
URL: www.upi.com Copyright 2006 by United Press International
