Leslie Browne

The daughter of dancers from the American Ballet Theatre, Leslie Browne followed in her parents' footsteps, performing first with the New York City Ballet before joining the American Ballet Theatre as a soloist in 1976. Soon after, the petite, attractive brunette made her feature debut as Shirley MacLaine's daughter embarking on a dancing career in Herbert Ross' "The Turning Point" (1977), earning an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress. Although she would appear in two more films directed by Ross, "Nijinsky" (1980, as a worshipful Hungarian aristocrat who marries the titular dancer despite his homosexuality) and "Dancers" (1987, reteaming with Mikhail Baryshnikov from "The Turning Point"), Browne proved too lightweight a performer. She was clearly miscast in the former while the latter stressed what she did best--dance. She has appeared on the small screen as a dancer in PBS presentations like "American Ballet Theatre" (1978), "Ballanchine and Cunningham: An Evening at American Ballet Theatre" (1988), "Baryshnikov Dances Ballanchine with American Ballet Theatre" (1989) and "A Tudor Evening with American Ballet Theatre" (1990). In 1993, Browne made her Broadway musical debut as the prima ballerina in the ill-fated stage adaptation of "The Red Shoes" (which teamed her with "Nijinsky" co-star George de la Pena). More recently, she has divided her time between performing and choreographing works for up-and-coming dancers.