Joan McCracken, a natural-born star, lived a life that would break the hardest of hearts. Born in Philadelphia on New Year's Eve 1917, she inherited her father's magnetism and charisma. Her childhood was idyllic, with her father, a sportswriter, and her four-years-younger brother, Frank Jr. (Buddy),showering her with love and encouragement.
As a child, Joan was a talented gymnast, winning a scholarship to a gymnastics school at the age of eleven. However, her aunt took her to a ballet, and Joan's future was set - it would be dance, not athletics. She trained at The Catherine Littlefield Ballet school in Philadelphia and was a standout, noticed from her first recitals.
At sixteen, Joan quit high school to join the Littlefield Ballet company full-time. In 1937, she was given several principal roles when the company became the first American ballet company to tour Europe and England, and her reviews were rapturous. However, that year also brought challenges, as she was diagnosed with Type 1, insulin-dependent diabetes.
Despite this, Joan continued to dance, relying on her fellow dancers to look out for her. In 1939, she married fellow Littlefield dancer Jack Dunphy, and they toured the United States with the company until leaving to try their luck in New York.
In 1942, Joan and Jack auditioned for a new Rodgers and Hammerstein musical, choreographed by Agnes de Mille. Joan's magnetism caught de Mille's attention, and she was hired for the dance corps. Her performance in Oklahoma! (1943-1948) made her a sensation, and she became the highest-paid ensemble dancer on Broadway.
Joan's success led to a Hollywood contract with Warner Brothers, but she soon returned to Broadway, taking a featured role in the musical Bloomer Girl (1944-1946). However, her personal life was marked by tragedy, including the loss of her father and her brother, Frank Jr., who was killed in World War II.
In the late 1940s, Joan appeared in a limited revival of Bertolt Brecht's Galileo and became one of the founding members of The Actor's Studio. She also married Bob Fosse, who was struggling to make a name for himself in the theater. Despite her efforts to promote his career, Fosse's womanizing and infidelities eventually took a toll on their relationship.
The relentless deterioration of her illness, diabetic neuropathy, and the anguish over her treatment at the hands of Fosse drove Joan to her knees. She suffered a major heart attack and was forced to retire from dancing. Her career in the theater was over, and she died in her sleep on November 1, 1961, at the age of forty-three.
Today, people who see her for the first time in the two films she made are enchanted, wondering why there wasn't more. Joan McCracken, a brilliant talent who mastered dance, comedy, and drama, is remembered as the chorus dancer who stole the show on the opening night of Oklahoma!, the girl who fell down.
