ZINA BETHUNE "Bonjour Amour" by Maury Yeston in GRAND HOTEL
In Memory of ZINA BETHUNE [
February 17,
1945 --
February 12,
2012]. Here is
Zina sings the joyous "
Bonjour Amour", music & lyrics by
Maury Yeston, in her star turn as
Elizaveta Grushinskaya in the
Tony Award winning GRAND HOTEL:
The Musical on
Broadway in
1991, with Tony Award winning
Direction and
Choreography by
Tommy Tune.
John Schneider appears at the top of the scene as
Baron Felix Von Gaigern. I had the great pleasure of appearing with Zina in GRAND HOTEL and also playing opposite her as
Baron Von Gaigern, and she became my dearest friend. One of the kindest, most loving human beings I have ever know, as well as one of the most talented, she was a true survivor and an inspiration to us all. She succeeded as a dancer despite her own lifetime battles with scoliosis and hip dysplasia, and lymphedema. The woman you see dancing so beautifully and effortlessly in this video has two artificial hips. At a time when hip replacements had limited mobility, Zina worked with her doctors to design a new kind of replacement which would provide full mobility, and as documented in
National Geographic Magazine and
TV Special. Helped to create a new metal.
Born in
New York City, her mother, Ivy Bethune, is an actress; her father was a sculptor and painter who died when she was young. At the age of six, Zina began studying ballet with
George Balanchine at
The School of
American Ballet, began her association with the
New York City Ballet at age 14, was
Clara in the first televised version of Balanchine's "
The Nutcracker"; and was a guest
Prima Ballerina with such companies as
The Royal Danish Ballet,
Nevada Dance Theatre, and
San Francisco Ballet Theatre. She made her Broadway debut at age 11 in
Frank Loesser's "THE MOST HAPPY FELLA".
On TV she starred as Amy in a
1958 musical of "
Little Women", became a teenage idol as
Gail Lucas on the hit
TV series' "
The Nurses" from 1962-65, was also on "
The Guiding Light","
Santa Barbara", "
Love of Life", "
Planet of the Apes", "
The Naked City", "
Cain's Hundred", "
Gunsmoke", "
Emergency!", "
CHIPS", "
Party of Five". and made a legendary appearance on "
The Judy Garland Show". She made her film debut as the daughter of
Ralph Bellamy's
FDR in "
Sunrise at Campobello" [1960] and starred opposite
Harvey Keitel as "
The Girl" in
Martin Scorsese's feature debut,"Whose That Knocking At My
Door". Her final screen role was in "
Wings of
Legacy" [
2006]. In
1980, Zina founded
L.A's nonprofit Bethune Theatredanse [now
Theater Bethune], serving as
Artistic Director and Choreographer. Commended by the
National Endowment for the Arts, 3
US Presidents, 4 Los Angeles Mayors, Senators and the
United Nations, her award winning
Infinite Dreams program has impacted the lives of over 8000 special needs children and youth. In
1988 a special invitation by the
Chinese government brought her to
China to introduce the disabled children of China to Infinite Dreams, the subject of the acclaimed documentary "Infinite Dreams in China -
A Portrait of
Zina Bethune". Zina and "
Heart Dancing", a
PBS Special on her work, were honored with the
Media Access Award For
Excellence and the
Randolph Hearst Award.
Our beloved Zina died a heartbreaking, tragic death at 12:05am on
Feburary 12, 2012, when she was hit by a hit a run driver on
Forrest Lawn Drive, near her
North Hollywood home, after getting out of her car to rescue a wounded animal. Along with her mother, Ivy, she is survived by her husband of 42 years, visual effects veteran and actor Sean Feeley. On
February 15, 2012,
PETA announced it was posthumously bestowing upon her a Compassionate
Action Award.
--
Walter Willison,
September 17, 2012