Editing Cris Alexander

{{Short description|American actor (1920–2012)}}
{{distinguish|Chris Alexander (disambiguation){{!}}Chris Alexander}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2019}}
{{more citations needed|date=March 2012}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Cris Alexander
| image = CrisAlexanderPic.jpg
| caption =
| birth_name = Alan Smith
| birth_date = {{birth date|1920|1|14}}
| birth_place = [[Tulsa, Oklahoma]], U.S.
| death_date = {{Death date and age|2012|3|7|1920|1|14}}
| death_place = [[Saratoga Springs, New York]], U.S.
| other_names =
| occupation = {{flatlist|
* Actor
* singer
* dancer
* designer
* photographer}}
| years_active = 1938–1969
| website =
| awards =
}}

'''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.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/25/arts/cris-alexander-actor-and-photographer-dies-at-92.html|title=Cris Alexander, Actor and photographer, Dies at 92|last=Martin|first=Douglas|date=March 24, 2012|work=The New York Times|access-date=January 7, 2018|issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

Alexander attended the [[University of Oklahoma]] while working as a radio announcer in [[Oklahoma City]].<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=f0fbSlGN8uUC&q=biographical+dictionary+women+american+theater|title=The Gay & Lesbian Theatrical Legacy: A Biographical Dictionary of Major Figures in American Stage History in the Pre-Stonewall Era|last1=Harbin|first1=Billy J.|last2=Marra|first2=Kim|last3=Schanke|first3=Robert A.|date=2005|publisher=University of Michigan Press|isbn=047206858X|pages=24|language=en}}</ref> He moved to New York City in 1938 to study at the [[Feagin School of Dramatic Art]].<ref name=":2">{{cite web|url=http://www.masterworksbroadway.com/artist/cris-alexander|title=Cris Alexander|work=The Official Masterworks Broadway site|access-date=August 14, 2013}}</ref>

==Acting==
Alexander was cast as Chip, a naive sailor, in the original Broadway cast of [[Leonard Bernstein]]'s ''[[On the Town (musical)|On the Town]]'' in 1944.<ref name=":0" /> He performed the song "Come Up to My Place" in a duet with [[Nancy Walker]] in the role of Hildy.<ref name=":1" /> He returned to Broadway in 1946 in ''[[Present Laughter]]'' opposite [[Clifton Webb]].<ref name=":0" />

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.<ref name=":1" /> He moved next into performances for ''[[Auntie Mame (play)|Auntie Mame]]'', again with Russell. Among the multiple roles he played in the original Broadway production, Cris Alexander repeated his part of store manager Mr. Loomis for the 1958 film version also titled ''[[Auntie Mame (film)|Auntie Mame]]''.<ref name=":0" />

Alexander's last acting role was in [[Lanford Wilson]]'s 1966 play ''[[The Madness of Lady Bright]]''. He continued to be involved in theatrical productions and created projection slides for the 1970 production of [[Richard Rodgers]]'s ''[[Two by Two (musical)|Two by Two]]''.<ref name=":1" />

==Photography==
[[File:Ethel Merman 1956.JPG|thumb|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.<ref name=":0" /> He was noted for his portraits of celebrities and performers, many of whom were his personal friends.<ref name=":2" /> He worked as chief photographer at Andy Warhol's Interview magazine, and as the official photographer for the [[New York City Ballet]].<ref name=":0" />

He contributed hundreds of original and altered photographs to two of [[Patrick Dennis]]'s best selling books. ''[[Little Me (musical)|Little Me]]'', a mock biography documenting the life of fictional actress Belle Poitrine, features more than 150 of Alexander's photographs.<ref name=":0" /> It featured photos of his partner Shaun O'Brien, and would become a [[Camp (style)|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.<ref name=":1" />

== 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.<ref name=":1" /> 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, New York|Saratoga Springs]] in 2012.<ref name=":0" />

==Film roles==
*''[[The Littlest Angel]]'' (1969) – Raphael
*''[[Auntie Mame (film)|Auntie Mame]]'' (1958) – Mr. Loomis
*''[[Wonderful Town]]'' (1958) TV – Frank Lippencott

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*{{IMDb name|0018322}}
*{{IBDB name}}
*[https://www.icp.org/browse/archive/constituents/cris-alexander?all/all/all/all/0 Cris Alexander] at the [[International Center of Photography]]
*[http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/saratogian/obituary.aspx?n=cris-alexander&pid=156468251 Obituary]

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alexander, Cris}}
[[Category:American male film actors]]
[[Category:American male stage actors]]
[[Category:20th-century American photographers]]
[[Category:1920 births]]
[[Category:2012 deaths]]
[[Category:Musicians from Tulsa, Oklahoma]]
[[Category:American gay actors]]
[[Category:American gay musicians]]
[[Category:American LGBTQ photographers]]
[[Category:LGBTQ people from Oklahoma]]
[[Category:Artists from Tulsa, Oklahoma]]
[[Category:Male actors from Tulsa, Oklahoma]]
[[Category:University of Oklahoma alumni]]
[[Category:21st-century American LGBTQ people]]