Cris Alexander (born Allen Smith, January 14, 1920 – March 7, 2012) was an American actor, singer, dancer, designer, and photographer.
Early life and education
Cris Alexander was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in 1920. He began using the name Christopher, which he thought more distinguished, in his teens. On the advice of a spiritualist, he removed the "h" and went by Cris from then on.[1]
In 1953, Alexander was cast in Wonderful Town, another Bernstein musical, with Rosalind Russell. He played drugstore manager Frank Lippencott, performing the comic song "Conversation Piece." Alexander stayed with the musical for its entire run.[2] He moved next into performances for Mame, again with Russell. He played store manager Mr. Loomis, a role he repeated in the 1958 film version titled Auntie Mame.[1]
Photograph of Ethel Merman taken by Cris Alexander in 1956
Alexander also had a career as a photographer, and opened a photo studio in the late 1930s when he first moved to New York City.[1] He was noted for his portraits of celebrities and performers, many of whom were his personal friends.[3] He worked as chief photographer at Andy Warhol's Interview magazine, and as the official photographer for the New York City Ballet.[1]
He contributed hundreds of original and altered photographs to two of Patrick Dennis's best selling books. Little Me, a mock biography documenting the life of fictional actress Belle Poitrine, features more than 150 of Alexander's photographs.[1] It featured photos of his partner Shaun O'Brien, and would become a camp classic. Alexander also wrote the novel's preface. Dennis's First Lady: My Thirty Days at the White House told the story of Martha Dinwiddie Butterfield, wife of a fictional robber baron president.[2]
Personal life
Alexander became involved with New York City Ballet dancer Shaun O'Brien in the 1940s, beginning a relationship that would last nearly 60 years.[2] The couple retired to upstate New York in 1993, and married in 2011 when same-sex marriage became legal in New York State. Cris Alexander died in Saratoga Springs in 2012.[1]
