Muriel Bentley

Muriel Siegal Bentley (June 26, 1917 – March 8, 1999) was an American ballet dancer. She was a member of the Ballet Theatre of New York. She created roles in works by Antony Tudor, Agnes de Mille and Jerome Robbins, and danced the role of Anita in West Side Story on Broadway from 1957 to 1959.

Muriel Bentley
Born
Muriel Siegal

June 26, 1917
New York City
DiedMarch 8, 1999
Woodland Hills, California
OccupationBallet dancer
Years active1930s to 1950s

Early life and education

Muriel Siegal was born in New York City, the daughter of Samuel A. (Max) Siegal and Marie (May) Rothman Siegal. Her grandparents were all Jewish immigrants from Russia; her father was an accountant. She attended the Metropolitan Opera ballet school.[1] Her dance mentors included Anton Dolin[2] and Ruth St. Denis.[3][4][5]

Career
Carl Van Vechten, Portrait of Hugh Laing and Muriel Bentley, in Shadow of the Wind (1948)

Bentley was a member of the Ballet Theatre of New York with Jerome Robbins, Alicia Alonso, Nora Kaye, Harold Lang, Janet Reed, and others.[2] Her Broadway appearances included roles in Interplay (1946), Fancy Free (1946),[2][6] Call Me Madam (1950),[7][8] and West Side Story (1957 to 1959).[9] She also appeared as a dancer on television, in The Kate Smith Hour (1950). She had important roles in several Agnes de Mille ballets, including Tally-Ho (1945)[10] and Fall River Legend (1948), and in Pillar of Fire and Shadow of the Wind (1948) by Antony Tudor.[4][11] Of her 1945 appearance in Tally-Ho!, The New York Times critic John Martin wrote that "Muriel Bentley practically walks away with the show, as the hilariously vulgar 'lady'".[10]

After she retired from the stage, Bentley was an interior decorator and a theatrical agent.[3][4] She wrote about the early years of the American Ballet Theatre for the Los Angeles Times in 1979.[12]

Personal life

Bentley died in Woodland Hills, California in 1999, at the age of 81.[4]

References
  1. Ingber, Judith Brin (June 23, 2021). "Jewish Women and Ballet in the United States". Jewish Women's Archive. Retrieved 2023-03-28.
  2. Lawrence, Greg (2001-05-07). Dance with Demons: The Life Jerome Robbins. Penguin. ISBN 978-1-101-20406-1.
  3. Oliver, Myrna (1999-03-12). "Muriel Bentley, 82; Versatile Ballet Dancer". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2023-03-28.
  4. Dunning, Jennifer (1999-03-14). "Muriel Bentley, 82, Dancer In Jerome Robbins's Ballets". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-03-28.
  5. "Municipal Opera Season to Have 14 New Dancers". St. Louis Globe-Democrat. 1950-05-28. p. 44. Retrieved 2023-03-28 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. Genné, Beth (2018-05-30). Dance Me a Song: Astaire, Balanchine, Kelly, and the American Film Musical. Oxford University Press. pp. 170, 172. ISBN 978-0-19-970033-2.
  7. Block, Geoffrey (2023). A Fine Romance: Adapting Broadway to Hollywood in the Studio System Era. Oxford University Press. pp. 92–95. ISBN 978-0-19-750173-3.
  8. Dietz, Dan (2014-07-02). The Complete Book of 1950s Broadway Musicals. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 34–35. ISBN 978-1-4422-3505-2.
  9. Kaye, Joseph (1958-09-28). "A Happy End to Story; Muriel Bentley Finds She Can Dance". The Kansas City Star. p. 86. Retrieved 2023-03-28 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. Martin, John (1945-10-22). "'Tally-Ho!' Ballet in Seasonal Bow; Janet Reed and Muriel Bentley Star in de Mille Work--Kidd Makes 'Petruchka' Debut". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-03-28.
  11. Duerden, Rachel S. Chamberlain (2003). The Choreography of Antony Tudor: Focus on Four Ballets. Fairleigh Dickinson Univ Press. pp. 287, 293. ISBN 978-0-8386-3948-1.
  12. Bentley, Muriel (1979-01-14). "ABT History: An Inside View of a View from the Inside". The Los Angeles Times. pp. 353, 354. Retrieved 2023-03-28 – via Newspapers.com.
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