[Deathwatch] Florence Lessing, dancer, 86

[Deathwatch Central <cdw@slick.org>]

Florence Lessing, dancer who performed in films, on stage and in
nightclubs, dies at 86 
Sun Sep 22, 7:56 AM ET

NEW YORK - Florence Lessing, a dancer who performed in films,
nightclubs and Broadway musicals, has died. She was 86. 

Lessing, who died Sept. 5, worked with the famous jazz-dance
choreographer Jack Cole, who spotted her as a teenager in an East
Indian dance class. Lessing, Cole, and the teacher of the class, Anna
Austin, formed a trio that performed at the Rainbow Room in 1938 and in
the musical "Moon Over Miami" in 1939. 

Lessing went on to perform in many Broadway shows, including "Windy
City," choreographed by Katherine Dunham, and "Sailor Beware" and
"Kismet," both choreographed by Cole. 

She appeared in the 1952 film musical "Just for You," which was
choreographed by Helen Tamiris and starred Bing Crosby and Jane Wyman. 


Lessing, who studied a wide variety of dance forms, choreographed two
of her own nightclub acts in the mid-1940s and taught dance at several
schools.