Agnes de Mille

She married Walter Foy Prude, a Texan on June 14, 1943. They had a son namely Jonathan de Mille Prude who was born in 1946.

In 1993, at the age of 88, she died of a second stroke in her Greenwich Village apartment. At the time of her death, she was still an influential figure in the cultural field of her country.

Born in New York, Agnes was the daughter of William Churchill de Mille, a famous playwright and Hollywood director. Her mother was Anna George. Her uncle Cecil B. de Mille was also a Hollywood director.

She wanted to become an actress but later turned her attention to dancing. As dancing in that era was not considered as a suitable career option, so her parents did not allowed her to dance.

She did her schooling in California at the small private Hollywood School for Girls. Later, she studied at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) from where she completed her graduation.

As she could not find employment in theatres, she composed dances for herself, arranged the music, designed the costumes and also gave a series of solo dance recitals.

In 1933, she shifted to London where she studied with Dame Marie Rambert and joined Rambert’s company, namely, The Ballet Club. Next year, she choreographed the film ‘Cleopatra’, but unfortunately the dances were cut from the film later.

During one of her journeys back to United States, Miss De Mille decided to choreograph the dance of ‘Romeo and Juliet’, which starred Norma Shearer and Leslie Howard. The dance piece was beautiful and brought great deal of critical attention to Agnes.

In November 1938, she returned to United States and toured the entire country along with Joseph Anthony, a renowned stage director and Sybil Shearer, a popular dancer.

In 1940, De Mille became the charter member of a ballet theater for whom she created her inaugural ballet, ‘Black Ritual’. The ballet included black dancers, the first in the history of a ballet company.

Her first significant work on ballet was ‘Rodeo’ in 1942. It included tap dancing and movements that remind American West. The score of ‘Rodeo’ was composed by Aaron Copland. This work of Agnes brought her critical acclaim.