Rudolf Nureyev

He was an ethnic Tatar. He was educated at the Leningrad Ballet School and starred with Kirov Ballet. His first film was a USSR short Le Corsaire (1958). While performing in Paris in 1961 he defected to the West. He then performed internationally, becoming an Austrian citizen in 1982. The English/French documentary _I Am a Dancer (1972)_ (qv), directed by 'Pierre Jourdan' (qv) featured him and his long-time partner 'Margot Fonteyn' (qv). He played 'Rudolph Valentino' (qv) in the film _Valentino (1977)_ (qv) and Daniel Jelline in _Exposed (1983)_ (qv), his last film. In 1982, he starred in the US stage revival of "The King and I".::Ed Stephan <[email protected]>