She Fell Into Fame
Joan McCracken was the dancer and actress whose famous pratfall in Oklahoma! made her an overnight sensation. But behind her comedic dance routines, she hid a dark secret.
1. She Had A Long Way To Go
Joan Hume McCracken would eventually become one of the most influential figures in comedic dance history. But, born on the last day of the year in 1917 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, she had a long way to climb to get to Hollywood—or fall, depending on how you look at it.
2. She Had Athletic Genes
For McCracken, athleticism came as naturally as breathing. Her father, Franklin T McCracken, was an eminent figure in American sports—a writer and expert on all things golf and boxing. However, McCracken would follow a different path through life.
3. She Was An Award-Winning Acrobat
McCracken would go on to leave audiences stunned with the masterful athleticism she demonstrated in her dance routines. But it all came so naturally to her. Before the age of 12, she had already snagged a scholarship for acrobatics. Clearly, her calling was outside the classroom.
4. She Dropped Out Of School
It didn’t take McCracken long to figure out what she wanted to do with her life. Without a second thought, at just 17, she dropped out of high school and threw herself into her real passion: dance.
5. She Took A Bite Out Of The Big Apple
Even though she dropped out of formal schooling, McCracken’s education continued. This time, in New York. She studied dance with the legendary choreographer, George Balanchine, as part of the first class of the School of American Ballet.
6. She Brought Ballet To Philadephia
After just one year in New York, McCracken returned to Philadelphia and joined Littlefield Ballet, founded by Catherine Littlefield. The ballet company would go on to become the Philadelphia Ballet—in no small part thanks to McCracken.
7. She Was A Soloist
Littlefield Ballet officially opened its doors to eager audiences in November 1935—and those lucky first ticket-buyers were in for a treat. McCracken was one of the company’s first principal soloists. But this was only the beginning. Her talents soon spread far and wide.
8. She Danced Across The Atlantic
In 1937, McCracken took her dancing shoes all the way across the Atlantic in a first-ever move for an American ballet company. The European tour didn’t just put American ballet on the map—it put McCracken on the map.
However, it came at a devastating price.
9. Her Health Took A Turn For The Worse
McCracken had sailed through her childhood and teen years. However, the European tour was no gentle waltz for her. Her health took a serious hit—and she would never truly recover.
10. She Was Diabetic
Shortly before pirouetting her way over the Atlantic to Europe, McCracken had received some utterly devastating news. Her doctors gave her an unfortunate diagnosis—“juvenile diabetes," which is now best known as type I diabetes.
Little did she know, this health problem would become the greatest omen of her life.
11. Her Diagnosis Was Practically Fatal
In today’s world of modern medicine, McCracken could have cracked on after her diabetes diagnosis. Unfortunately, in the 1930s, doctors didn’t know much about the condition. In other words, McCracken’s diagnosis could potentially be fatal. As well, behind closed doors, it also made her life a downright struggle.
12. She Had To Self-Medicate
The best that McCracken could do to keep her diabetes symptoms at bay was to self-administer shots of insulin. But the grueling demands of a touring ballerina, particularly one in Europe, made it difficult for her to stick to treatment schedule.
Her resilience, however, was inspiring.
13. She Kept Her Diagnosis Secret
McCracken understood that, even as a ballerina, she was part of the show business industry. And she knew that her diagnosis had the potential to derail her career before it even got started. As such, she made the bold decision to keep her diabetes diagnosis a secret.
Thankfully, she found someone to confide in.
14. She Found Someone To Love
While touring with Littlefield Ballet, McCracken met Jack Dunphy. He was also a dancer with the company and managed to chassé his way directly into McCracken’s heart.
15. She Married Another Dancer
In between their performances, McCracken’s and Dunphy’s love grew and intensified. By 1939, the couple decided to make it official and got married. Together, they became a power couple in the dance world. But as we'll see, this wasn't necessarily the "happily ever after" that it seemed to be.
16. She Moved To New York City
Shortly after their marriage, in 1940, McCracken settled into married life with Dunphy. The couple chose to make New York City their base of operations, where the bright lights of Broadway beckoned.
17. She Danced For Radio City Music Hall
Given her innate talent, unique style, and unparalleled work ethic, McCracken found work easily once she settled into New York. Before long, she joined Radio City Music Hall’s ballet. But bigger things were one jeté away.
18. She Landed An Important Role
Even though McCracken and Dunphy had both been finding work as dancers, they hadn’t yet landed a starring or standout role. That is, until both of them joined the ensemble for the musical Away We Go—a Rodgers and Hammerstein project, dripping with potential.
19. She Teamed Up With A Big Choreographer
In addition to the big names of Rodgers and Hammerstein attached to the writing and songwriting, Away We Go attracted other big names. Namely, the famed choreographer Agnes de Mille, who could make stars out of dancers if she chose.
All McCracken had to do was stand out.
20. She Refused To Fade Into The Background
When rehearsals for Away We Go started in 1943, both McCracken and Dunphy were just part of the dance ensemble. As anonymous faces in the background to the principal cast, they could have simply faded into obscurity. But McCracken's ambition spoke for itself.
21. She Was The Talk Of Many Towns
The Away We Go production was tested in front of audiences in preparation for a Broadway debut. But all any of the reviewers could talk about was that one distinguished and peculiar dancer in the background—McCracken.
22. She Secured A Prominent Role
By the time Away We Go was ready for its Broadway debut, the producers had renamed the musical Oklahoma! But that wasn’t the only change they made. In light of her rave reviews, McCracken had been given an expanded role as “Sylvie”.
She would make the most of it.
23. She Fell Flat On Her Face
In Oklahoma!, McCracken’s character Sylvie is given a moment to shine in the dance number for “Many a New Day”—and shine, McCracken certainly did. However, instead of pulling a graceful pirouette or an elegant arabesque, the ballet-trained dancer went for an unprecedented pratfall, eliciting roars of laughter from the audience.
24. She Fell Upwards
McCracken’s comedic instinct paired with her effortless athleticism turned the pratfall into a kind of climactic moment for the popular musical. In fact, her fall was so iconic that the reviewers started calling her “The Girl Who Fell Down”. But there was some controversy around who should take the…fall for the fall.
25. She Took The Credit
As McCracken’s iconic pratfall entertained audience after audience in different showings of Oklahoma!, one hot debate began to rage. You see, it wasn’t clear to audiences whether the unexpected comedic move was McCracken’s idea, or that of choreographer Agnes de Mille.
26. She Caused Confusion
Throughout her career, McCracken insisted that the pratfall was her idea. However, de Mille, as the principal choreographer for the musical, insisted that the idea had been hers. However, the confusion doesn't end there.
27. Her Composer Took The Credit
Things for McCracken got even more complicated when one of her fellow cast mates, Celeste Holm, weighed in. Holm claimed that neither McCracken nor de Mille were behind the impeccably timed pratfall. Rather, she claimed, it had been the brainchild of the musical composer, Richard Rodgers.
Of course, these pratfalls weren't the only times McCracken found herself collapsing on stage.
28. She Was Always Falling—Though Not On Purpose
With her grueling schedule and lifelong battle with diabetes, McCracken was “prone to fainting spells”. At times, she would even crumple right in the middle of a performance…like a pratfall.
29. She Fell Into The Arms Of Warner Brothers
Regardless of whose idea it was, McCracken got the credit for the innovative comedic move in the end. Her standout performance in Oklahoma! attracted the attention of Hollywood bigwigs. Thanks to her ignominious fall, McCracken entered into a film contract with Warner Brothers.
This was the beginning of an exciting new chapter for McCracken.
30. She Had Her Own “Jive”
For McCracken’s first film appearance, she didn’t have to do anything other than be herself. Warner Brothers threw her into the “all-star extravaganza” Hollywood Canteen (1944), in which A-list stars simply played themselves. Alongside the likes of Bette Davis and John Garfield, McCracken had a “specialty” number, called “Ballet in Jive”.
31. She Shined, Even Amongst The Stars
Even amidst a cast of iconic stars in Hollywood Canteen, McCracken managed to stand out once again. The reviews for her dance, “Ballet in Jive," were nothing short of enthusiastic.
Certainly, a film career was just one pas de bourrée away.
32. She Wasn’t Hot For Hollywood
When Warner Brothers had first approached her, McCracken was excited about the idea of transitioning from the Broadway stage to the Hollywood screen. However, her experiences in Hollywood Canteen left a bitter taste in her mouth.
33. She Had Respect For The Servicemen
Both McCracken’s brother and her husband, Dunphy, served in WWII. As such, she had a serious problem with the way Hollywood Canteen portrayed servicemen. She thought the film turned them all into ignorant rustics fawning over movie stars.
And that was just the first of her gripes.
34. Her Standards Were Higher Than Hollywood’s
Coming from Broadway, with an extensive background in the most prestigious ballet companies in America, McCracken had high standards. Standards that she believed Warner Brothers fell short of. She lamented the lack of professionalism in Hollywood.
35. She Wanted A Better Choreographer
McCracken further complained that her Hollywood Canteen choreographer, LeRoy Prinz, had given her very little in the way of support and direction. However, for all of her complaining, she was no saint herself.
36. She Was A Little Eccentric
Before she ever arrived on the West Coast, McCracken had already developed a reputation for being something of an eccentric. Suffice it to say, Hollywood might not have been ready for her.
37. She Had A Wild Streak
McCracken’s complaints about the unprofessional behavior at Warner Brothers may have been valid, but she was also known to break the rules herself. Her peers noted that she had a wild streak and often seemed to get a kick out of her own outlandish behavior.
However, by modern standards, it might seem that McCracken was just a woman who relished in freeing herself.
38. She Was Just Trying To Get Comfortable
After leaving Warner Brothers, McCracken went over to MGM—and brought her eccentric behavior with her. McCracken left MGM’s vocal coach, Kay Thompson, speechless when, without explanation, she took off her blouse…then her bra. Her excuse? She simply wanted to be “more comfortable”.
Of course, when it came to acting a little bit scandalously, this was only the tip of the iceberg.
39. She Had An Affair
While her husband, Dunphy, was serving overseas in WWII, McCracken made a mistake. Deprived of her love, she found herself a lover. The ballerina-turned-movie star struck up an affair with Rudi Revil, a French composer.
The affair had a lasting impact.
40. She Had Moved On
By the time Dunphy returned from service at the end of WWII, McCracken’s career wasn’t the only thing to have moved on. So had her heart. The couple separated, marking the beginning of the end of their marriage.
Sadly, WWII had taken a lot more from McCracken.
41. She Was The OG Broadway Feminist
Shortly after appearing in Hollywood Canteen, McCracken returned to Broadway. This time, she took on a role in the musical Bloomer Girl (1944)—a story that takes place during the US Civil War. It was a refreshing production, and many consider it to be the first Broadway musical to tackle feminist themes.
42. She Left Audiences In Stitches
McCracken wasn’t the star of Bloomer Girl, but that didn’t stop her from hogging the spotlight. Critics and audiences alike raved about her performance, and her effortless ability to combine dance and humor. Sadly, around this time, life had given her little to laugh about.
43. Her Brother Had A Fall Of His Own
While she danced on stage in Bloomer Girl, McCracken’s brother, Buddy, was doing another kind of dance altogether in the eastern theater of WWII. Tragically, his performance was not a comedic one. In October 1944, McCracken received a chilling telegram. It informed her that brother had fallen in battle—and it was not a pratfall.
44. She Tore Up Her Dressing Room
Needless to say, the news of her brother’s untimely demise so far from home left McCracken devastated. When she read the telegram in her dressing room, she was simply overcome with grief. In a fit of emotion, she upended everything in her dressing room, leaving it practically in shreds.
That moment would become iconic.
45. She Inspired Capote
Throughout her career, McCracken maintained a close friendship with Truman Capote. Of course, being friends with a preeminent author had its downsides. For example, when she told Capote that she destroyed her dressing room, he decided to use it as material for a novella, immortalizing one of her lowest moments.
46. She Was The Real Holly Golightly
One of the most iconic moments in one of Capote’s most iconic novellas, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, was actually just a retelling of McCracken’s darkest moment. Capote based a part of his character Holly Golightly on McCracken and used her meltdown as a poignant scene in his novella.
However, dramatic moments weren't the only thing that Capote took from McCracken.
47. Her Husband Had Been Hiding A Secret
McCracken finally ended her marriage with Dunphy in 1948. Much to her chagrin, it didn’t take Dunphy long to move on. Shortly after their split, Dunphy became the long-term partner of none other than Truman Capote!
Could true love be another dance away?
48. She Met Fosse
In 1949, McCracken met a fellow dancer who would change the course of her life—and she, his. While performing in the Broadway musical Dance Me a Song, she met the dancer Bob Fosse.
Fate had big plans for them both.
49. She Was The Bigger Star
Fosse was a full 10 years younger than McCracken—and not just in age. By 1950, McCracken was one more iconic performance away from becoming a Broadway legend, and in Dance Me a Song, she had a starring role. Fosse, on the other hand, was just a “specialty dancer”.
McCracken saw potential for more.
50. She Was A Star-Maker
“She [McCracken] saw that I wasn’t going to be Fred Astaire, that I was floundering,” Fosse later recalled. McCracken convinced Fosse to take a year off and “go back to school to study not only dancing but movement, acting, speech, and music”.
Then, when he was ready, she led him into the spotlight.
51. She Foisted Fosse Up
According to Lisa Sagolla, McCracken’s biographer, the dancer had an eye for talent. In the biography, The Girl Who Fell Down, Sagolla cited a Broadway producer as having said that McCracken was “single-handedly responsible for getting Bobby Fosse his first job as a choreographer on Broadway”.
They were closer than anyone knew.
52. She Fell…Into Fosse
Perhaps McCracken saw Fosse’s full potential because she saw, well, all of Fosse. Again, McCracken’s biographer, Sagolla, claimed in The Girl Who Fell Down that the two dancers struck up an affair in the early tryouts of Dance Me a Song.
And it was, indeed, an affair.
53. She Was The Other Woman
When McCracken met Fosse in 1949, she was already divorced from her first husband, Dunphy. Fosse, however, was still married to his first wife and dance partner, Mary Ann Niles. The affair had the potential to turn Broadway upside down.
54. She Couldn’t Hide Her Love
In an effort to preserve their reputations—and that of Broadway, generally—McCracken and Fosse kept their little trysts under wraps. Of course, nothing on Broadway stays backstage for long. Fosse’s wife, Niles, found out that he was cheating on her.
55. She Added Insult To Injury
McCracken and Fosse clearly had chemistry, and with Niles also working on Dance Me a Song, it was only a matter of time before she put two and two together. Fosse’s biographer summarized the tense situation: “That McCracken continued to upstage her [Niles] onstage was a humiliation almost too perverse to bear”.
56. She Wanted To Become A Dramatic Actress
Perhaps in an effort to distance herself from all of the drama, McCracken began taking on more dramatic roles and fewer dance roles. For example, in 1950 and 1951, she appeared in the play Angel in the Pawnshop. In fact, given what she did next, it looked like she had given up on dancing altogether.
57. She Made Her TV Debut
Even as she continued appearing on Broadway, McCracken made the move to television. She first appeared playing the role of Essie in You Can’t Take It with You. But her TV career would last about as long as her Hollywood career.
58. She Didn’t Care For TV
McCracken could barely contain her disdain for any kind of entertainment that wasn’t on a Broadway stage. During a press tour, she lamented what she called the “over-commercialization" of television. The comments likely impacted her chances of a small screen career.
To make matters worse, the stage was falling out from under her.
59. Her Broadway Career Wasn’t Going Well
McCracken could scarcely afford to be as critical of TV as she was. Just as her hopes of a career on the small screen faded away, the reviews for Angel in a Pawnshop came in—and they were not good. For the first time, the critics were simply lukewarm towards her.
60. She Found Redemption In Neverland
McCracken redeemed herself the next year when she appeared in a Broadway production of Peter Pan. The critics heaped praise on her, and she herself truly adored being a part of the project—her favorite yet. She had always, sadly, been her own harshest critic.
61. She Obsessed Over Her Weight
Throughout her life, as many dancers did, McCracken kept a close eye on her weight. Too close. She developed a strict diet that severely limited her caloric intake and left her running on fumes. Given her diagnosis of diabetes—not to mention her bad smoking habit—the consequences were dire.
62. She Suffered Chronic Injuries
McCracken’s diabetes diagnosis came with a host of complications. Even as she amused audiences with her comedic dance performances, she struggled through tremendous pain, coping with such ailments as heart issues, arthritis, and heel spurs.
But even as her health spiraled into dangerous territory, there was at least one part of her life that had a silver lining.
63. She Married Her Lover
Despite the controversial beginnings of their relationship, McCracken and Fosse continued seeing each other. So, when Fosse finally left Niles, he was free to marry McCracken, which he did in 1952.
The honeymoon period was…brief.
64. Her Husband Didn't Prioritize Her
Rather than aiding McCracken through her health struggles, Fosse continued working, choreographing Broadway plays. What McCracken failed to remember is the old adage: You lose them how you get them.
65. Her Husband Cheated On Her
While choreographing Damn Yankees, Fosse struck up another affair, this time betraying McCracken. He began having, shall we say, duets with the dancer Gwen Vernon. McCracken only had one choice.
66. She Ended Her Second Marriage
Throughout their marriage, Fosse continued his affair with Vernon even as McCracken’s health continued to decline—right along with her career. By 1959, she had had enough and filed for divorce, freeing Fosse to marry his lover, Verdon.
67. She Found Love One Last Time
In her final years, McCracken managed to find love again. This time, she carried on a years-long relationship with Marc Adams, an actor. The two never married, but the romance brought some bliss into McCracken’s life.
68. She Stepped Out Of The Spotlight
McCracken spent her final years far from the Broadway spotlight. She retired to a quiet and isolated beach house in New York before succumbing to a heart attack—the result of her diabetes—at the age of 43.
69. She Took One Last Fall
Sadly, little remains of McCracken except for her legacy of Broadway performances. As per her instructions, McCracken was cremated. Her mother kept her ashes…and then lost them. However, McCracken's spirit, and her exceptional dancing prowess, will remain a part of entertainment history forever.