Alex Goudovitch(1923-1984)
- Actor
- Choreography
- Soundtrack
Alex Goudovitch was a classically trained dancer who appeared in dozens of Hollywood musicals over a nearly 20-year span. The son of stateless Russian exiles Countess Anastasia (Nina) and Count Wassily (Basil) Goudovitch, Alexandre Basil Goudovitch spent his early years in Monte Carlo. He joined the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo as the company’s youngest member and was already dancing in featured character roles at age sixteen during the 1939-40 season. He remained with the company for eight years, through the 1944-45 season, making numerous tours to the United States and elsewhere. In 1944, the Los Angeles Civic Light Opera premiered the operetta Song of Norway, featuring the dancers of the Ballet Russe. This gave Goudovitch connections that allowed him to branch out and begin appearing in Hollywood films. After completing his final season with the Ballet Russe, Goudovitch joined the Broadway cast of Song of Norway and the subsequent national tour before launching into a film career in earnest.
As a particularly well-trained, talented, and experienced dancer, "Sasha", as he was known, was kept busy with numerous assignments in a variety of dance genres. In addition to the big screen, he also appeared on television variety shows and specials. Some highlights where his skill is showcased include On the Town (1949) with Vera-Ellen, Texas Carnival (1951) with Ann Miller, Knock on Wood (1954) with Danny Kaye, and in Michael Kidd’s spectacular barn-raising number in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954) where as one of the brothers’ rivals he dances on the edge of a well and performs other tricks. As was standard practice at the time, all of his film appearances were uncredited, so the extent of his resume is likely never to be known fully. Capping off his Hollywood career, Goudovich was one of the core dancers in The Music Man (1962), appearing in every ensemble number as well as one of a six-man breakout in the rousing "Shipoopi" number.
In 1961, with the Hollywood musical in steep decline, Goudovitch moved to Las Vegas, joining the Casino de Paris show at the Dunes Hotel, for which he subsequently became stage director. In 1962 he married former showgirl Ida Belle (Penwell) Mercier, a union which would endure, unlike his three relatively short previous marriages, until his death at age 61.
As a particularly well-trained, talented, and experienced dancer, "Sasha", as he was known, was kept busy with numerous assignments in a variety of dance genres. In addition to the big screen, he also appeared on television variety shows and specials. Some highlights where his skill is showcased include On the Town (1949) with Vera-Ellen, Texas Carnival (1951) with Ann Miller, Knock on Wood (1954) with Danny Kaye, and in Michael Kidd’s spectacular barn-raising number in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954) where as one of the brothers’ rivals he dances on the edge of a well and performs other tricks. As was standard practice at the time, all of his film appearances were uncredited, so the extent of his resume is likely never to be known fully. Capping off his Hollywood career, Goudovich was one of the core dancers in The Music Man (1962), appearing in every ensemble number as well as one of a six-man breakout in the rousing "Shipoopi" number.
In 1961, with the Hollywood musical in steep decline, Goudovitch moved to Las Vegas, joining the Casino de Paris show at the Dunes Hotel, for which he subsequently became stage director. In 1962 he married former showgirl Ida Belle (Penwell) Mercier, a union which would endure, unlike his three relatively short previous marriages, until his death at age 61.
