This video of the Ross Sisters from the 40’s has been circulating for awhile, but there are probably SOME people, like us, who have never seen it. It should NOT be missed! Be patient – it starts out innocently enough but the ending will blow your mind! We’d love to know where these women are now.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ross_Sisters
It seems that two are still living. One died young at 34.
Yes, I’ve seen it before and it blew me away then! I’m surprised they aren’t really well known. That trick of lowering herself backwards and then all the way down to the ground and then pulling herself back up with her leg and belly muscles is just fantastic! Today, these girls would be in the cirque du soleil.
What an amazing video!
The film clip was reportedly made in 1944, which would have made them around 15, 17, and 18.
I tried to research them online but there is not much info out there. Here is what I gleaned from a few sites (in my opinion, there is a sad mystery about the death of the youngest, as she died on her 15th wedding anniversary and there is no mention anywhere I had access to of how she died), and her husband was not buried in their double plot when he died. Happily, the elder two sisters are reportedly alive.
The youngest, Elmira Ross (born Dixie Jewel Ross on 9 August 1929), married English vaudevillian Richard “Dickie” Henderson, OBE (a London enterntainer) on 10 July 1948 and died on 10 July 1963, her 15th wedding anniversary. She is reportedly buried in Gunnersbury Cemeteary in London, in a double plot, but there is no indication whatsoever that her husband Dickie is also buried there (he is long dead).
She had had two children, Matthew born 2 August 1951 and Linda born 11 September 1954) and died on 10 July 1963 (age 34. The dates indicate she died on her 15th wedding anniversary so there is likely to be a story there ;-( but I have been unable to find any info at all on it)
Maggie Ross (born Veda Victoria Ross on 8 November 1927) also has no death date per imdb. She married Robert Lamouret on 10 March 1950 in Paris and had 2 children, Annette (Nini) and Elizabeth (Zabette). She had a second marriage to Robert (Bob) Hender.
Aggie Ross (born Betsy Ann Ross on 20 May 1926) has no death date per imdb. She married Robert “Bunny” Hightower, an American dancer, on January 11, 1947 and had a son called Dana.
Also, one observant commenter I read had noted that the footage was *not* just reversed to show her getting back up when the girl on rafters ten feet up off the ground bent over double, because her arms were in different positions and the rates were different (I am not so observant, I just gawped. And I kept thinking “Ouch!” especially for the maneuver when they bent their backs double and walked their legs in a circle around their bodies. Yikes!)
……..there was a pimp one day.
HE DID THEM ALL, folks!!
Great video!
That was fantastic! Oh the days when a celebrity had to actually have talent!
That is some crazy shit! Such talent! Wow…majorly limber, too!
Whoa. Blown out knees and backs for the rest of us. Impressive, really impressive.
What do the celebrites have now days that makes them so special…
Besides the fact they just about all Blonde and have a sex tape.
And all the dudes marry one gal and then dump her for another. lol.
You’d think they’d get wise and never get married at all, but I guess the lady talked the guy into doing a dumb thing. eh?
Didn’t John Wayne figure this out, go to Mexico and get a few maids and do westerns.
When was the last time Hollywood had a western.. I guess there wasn’t coke cola around or pepsi or a box of fruit loops to stick in our faces or fancy cars.
The clip is from the recently released DVD of BROADWAY RHYTHM with George Murphy and Gloria DeHaven. Must have!
The clip is from the recently released DVD of BROADWAY RHYTHM with George Murphy and Gloria DeHaven.
Ah, so that’s why this clip has been making the rounds…
I was delighted to see the footage of these incredibly talented ladies. I have never seen such limber people. Amazing. It’s kinda sad that this is the first time that I have heard of them.
I had never seen that footage before…it was amazing. I’ve seen tiny little Chinese gymnasts perform like that, but not women from the 1940’s. I love acrobats, Cirque and all that kinda impressive movement.
Inspired by this amazing clip, I tried to emulate the first minute of the routine in my living room substituting the other sisters with my two twenty pound cats. Unfortunately, the cats didn’t make it and are nowhere to be found and I’m writing to you from Sisters of Mercy ICU unit. Should be a disclaimer not to try this in your home.
My back hurts
WOW! I’m posting this on my Facebook Wall… 🙂
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i have just came across this and never heard of them. its possble they had a condition which some/alot of the rythmic gymnasts and other contortionist have that enables them to stretch their skin and muscles more than normal i cant remember the condition name but it does exist.
Wasn’t it Dickie Hendersons father that was the music hall entertainer?
Almost certainly they had Ehlers Danlos Syndrome: which could explain Dixies early death: probably from an aneurysm or a ruptured organ
wonderful wonderful, what a time to dance, what music, beauty and real talent.
Margo ashton
Just thinking how much fun it would be to be this flexible. I’d certaintly make my dog jealous. Hmmmm… tying up your shoelaces with your hands is so oldschool, allow me to use my teeth. P.s. the foreplay is incredible.
Despite what was said some time ago, it is pretty clear that it was Veda Victoria (“Maggie”) who married Dickie Henderson and died at 35 in 1963. However, there is some evidence, which I have not been able to corroborate, that Dixie Jewel Ross died the same year, possibly the same day. Might they have died together in an accident? Is there anyone with a long memory who recalls a news item?
Further research has revealed that Dixie died on the same day as Veda. It was the 25th anniversary of the marriage of Veda and Dickie Henderson. Betsy Ann was still alive and working in 1976,but has since died back home in Texas. All very sad, but at least they live on in the amazing video!
Sorry, it was the 15th anniversary. Can’t do mental arithmetic!
The 2 youngest sisters died on the same day – July 10th – 1963. IM trying to figure out how or why. They are both buried in England. As of ’76 the oldest sister was living but I don’t know if she still is.
As far as I can tell BOTH of the younger died on 10 July 1963. I am not sure why people are saying that only the one died. Anyway that is just what I read and I could not find anything else about how they died.
Actually two of the sisters died on July 10, 1963. One was 35 and the other was 33. Must have been an accident or something. Still doing some research. Kinda sad really. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ross_Sisters
Who really cares?
try to stay on topic Strom,
“who cares” ?, apparently a lot of people, creep.
Lot’s of bleating by fake posters about a topic of very little interest and people who have been nobody’s for longer than you can count.
The only real Ross is Diana Ross who has been reported to have been the female celebrity who has had the most sexual “partners” of any straight female in Hollywood. But current pictures of her show her as aged and toadlike and of little interest.
Man… You sure have a high opinion of yourself for someone who can’t even form a decent sentence or spell correctly…Maybe you were reported to have the most sexual partners of any female in your remedial english class? Pluralization with an apostrophe…it’s not just for retards anymore. Who cares how long they’ve been nobodies? They each were somebody more talented than you or anyone you know will ever be.
Strom’s comments are not helpful. They should be deleted. It seems clear that two of the sisters died on the same day, July 10, 1963. I am going to ask some of my British friends to research this. Why would two young, athletic, women die on the same day? It might have been an accident but at this point, it’s not readily apparent.
Some of the information published as fact isn’t accurate.
I can prove when and where Dixie was born. Her sister, Veda, was married to Richard Henderson, although I have read several reports of Dixie being his wife. So, which woman really died on “the wedding anniversary”?
Here is some clarification:
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=ROS&GSpartial=1&GSbyrel=all&GScntry=5&GSsr=921&GRid=44223439&
Dixie Jewel “Elmira” Ross
Birth: Aug. 9, 1929
Loraine
Mitchell County
Texas, USA
Death: Jul. 10, 1963, England
Dixie’s parents were Veda Cordelia Lipham and Charles Adolphus Ross. Dixie, along with her sisters, Vicki and Betsy Ross were singers and contortionists; they played in “Broadway Rhythm” and later moved to Europe where they appeared in “Piccadilly Hayride.”
1930 (8 Apr) US Federal Census:
Family living in Precinct 4, Scurry County, Texas. Family includes Charles H Ross/27 as Head of Household, a farmer; his wife Veda/24 and three daughters, Betsy Ann (3 and 9/12); Victoria (2 and 4/12) and Dixie J (8 months).
Burial:
Gunnersbury Cemetery
Acton
Greater London, England
Created by: LFAmes1008
Record added: Nov 11, 2009
Find A Grave Memorial# 44223439
Veda Victoria Ross married Richard Henderson
England & Wales, Marriage Index, 1916-2005 for Veda V Ross and Richard Henderson
Name: Veda V Ross
Spouse Surname: Henderson
Date of Registration: Apr-May-Jun 1948
Registration District: Westminster
Inferred County: Middlesex
Volume Number: 5c
Page Number: 941
I too have the burial record for Dixie given above. I dug around on Ancestry.com and found a death record for Veda Victoria Henderson. She died in an ambulance on the way to hospital in Kensington, London on 10 July 1963, so it does look as though they were together and were involved in an accident.
As someone has mentioned, Betsy Ann was alive in 1976 and was involved in the production of a Broadway show. There is a suggestion that she died in Tyler County, Texas, but I have no date and cannot get to an underlying record. If she were still she would be in her late 80s now.
That should read “If she were still alive…”
A foolish post about nobody’s:
Lot’s of bleating by fake posters about a topic of very little interest and people who have been nobody’s for longer than you can count.
The only real Ross is Diana Ross who has been reported to have been the female celebrity who has had the most sexual “partners” of any straight female in Hollywood. But current pictures of her show her as aged and toadlike and of little interest.
Even worse than the silly Tea Leoni thread..neverending!
This thread (and many others elsewhere) carries a lot of speculation and conjecture based on a little accurate info and a lot of inaccurate info with no substantiating evidence. Where most of the inaccuracy comes from is simply because of something the mother of the Ross Sisters did a long time ago for reasons that likely had to do with the girls’ ages when they started performing. My research is based somewhat on Ancestry.com data, but mostly on official national and state records as well as newspaper accounts to corroborate my findings.
The Ross parents, Charles and Veda, actually had 4 daughters. The first was Dorothy Jean, born 25 Nov 1924, but died of whoooping cough 14 Jul 1925. Betsy Ann’s birth certificate has her born 26 Jun 1926 simply as Eva…looks like the Betsy (Elizabeth) Ann was added later. Veda Victoria came next 8 Nov 1927, followed by Dixie Jewell on 9 Aug 1929…Texas birth and death certificates confirm all this.
I believe when they went to London in Sep 1946 to perform, that is when they each assumed the identity and birthdate of the next oldest sister…likely for passport reasons. Informally they continued to use their Betsy/Vicki/Dixie names, but formally their legal names became Dorothy Jean/Eva V/Veda V. All subsequent legal records reflect this. That is why Dixie’s marriage and death records in England list her as Veda V Henderson. All of their travel records showing entry back into the USA also reflect their new assumed legal identities. For example, Betsy’s marriage to Robert Bunny Hightower is well documented in the news, but her travel records show her as Dorothy Jean with a 25 Nov 1924 birthdate.
I could go on and on, but I won’t…those of you with Ancestry accounts can find my finding if you look hard enough. Basically, what happened to them is Dixie died 10 Jul 1963 of a drug overdose in London leaving behind her husband Dickie Henderson and two children Matthew and Linda.
Betsy had a son named Dana in 1948 from her marriage to Robert Hightower (who’s real given name was Burnice Cleveland Hightower). He divorced her in 1957 and settled in New Hope, PA. She met and married Spanish businessman Rony Abagi and had a daughter Helena Ann in 1962 and another daughter Veda Elizabeth in 1965. Helena married and settled in Troup, Texas. Veda married and settled in the Orlando, FL area. Betsy divorced Rony Abagi in 1969 and remarried Hightower, who was terminally ill. Hightower passed away in April 1970. Betsy never remarried, eventually went to live in Texas with her daughter Helena, and passed away 21 Nov 1996.
Vicki married Robert Lamouret in Paris around 1949 or 1950. They attended her father’s remarriage in Feb 1949 as “Mr. and Mrs. Robert Lamouret”, hence the uncertainty. They had two daughters Annette and Elisabeth who both reside in Florida. Robert died in Mar 1959 and Eva Vicki Lamouret married Robert Sherman in Oct 1959. They subsequently divorced in 1973 and she passed away in Maitland, FL on 29 May 2002.
Their father Charles passed away in Palm Springs, CA on 6 May 1955 while their mother Veda Cordelia lived to the age of 94 before passing away in Orlando on 24 Mar 2000.
So there you have it, all three of these amazing talents have passed away, but their legacy will endure forever…
Correction…Vicki’s remarriage was to Robert Sherman Hender.
YetAnotherTexan, that is some fine research. Thank you!
THE BIGGEST NOBODY I KNOW (or don’t know?) is “STROM”
Poor little Peter, so to speak…..cant speak of a nothing thread but can slam a poster….so sad!
Next maybe it will be Dinah Shore!
The only real Ross is Diana Ross who has been reported to have been the female celebrity who has had the most sexual “partners” of any straight female in Hollywood. But current pictures of her show her as aged and toadlike and of little interest.
Curious to know how Strom can breath with his head so far up his arsehole. Rambling on about the same thing what makes no sense. Only a very desperate and lonely man in his mothers basement would continue to ramble on the way you have. Bringing less then nothing to the subject but being an annoying little pest
Strom–the discussion is about the Ross Sister and not the Queen Diva. Do you have any actual opinion or facts on them? Doubt it
The sister have all pass away. One pass in 1963 one in 1996 and one in 2002 .