Zina Bethune
Encyclopedia
Zina Bethune is an American
actress, dancer and choreographer.
Bethune started formal ballet training at age 6 at George Balanchine
's School of American Ballet
. By age 14 she was dancing with the New York City Ballet
. As a child performer, she also appeared in several American daytime television dramas, including a memorable stint as the first Robin Lang on The Guiding Light from May 1956 to April 1958. Zina Bethune played Franklin D. Roosevelt's daughter in Sunrise at Campobello
in 1960.
Later in her career, Bethune starred in a memorable role as "The Girl" alongside the young Harvey Keitel
's "J. R." in Martin Scorsese
's first feature movie Who's That Knocking at My Door
. That movie was commercially released in 1967, although much of it (including Bethune's acting parts) was filmed in 1965 for Scorsese's film project at New York University
.
Bethune also was featured on the TV series (CBS) The Nurses
, 1962–1965, and other series, including Kraft Television Theatre
(with Martin Huston
in the series finale), Route 66
, The Judy Garland Show
, Pantomime Quiz, Hollywood Squares
,The Invaders
(S2/11 The Prophet), Young Dr. Malone, and Dr. Kildare
.
Throughout her life, Bethune has worked with disabled students. She herself was diagnosed with scoliosis
at age 11 and at 17 she was diagnosed with hip dysplasia
.
Bethune founded Bethune Theatredanse in 1980, a multimedia performance company which has been designated as the official resident company of the Los Angeles Theatre Center. She founded Dance Outreach, now known as Infinite Dreams, in 1982, which currently enrolls about 1,000 disabled children in dance-related activities throughout Southern California
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
actress, dancer and choreographer.
Bethune started formal ballet training at age 6 at George Balanchine
George Balanchine
George Balanchine , born Giorgi Balanchivadze in Saint Petersburg, Russia, to a Georgian father and a Russian mother, was one of the 20th century's most famous choreographers, a developer of ballet in the United States, co-founder and balletmaster of New York City Ballet...
's School of American Ballet
School of American Ballet
The School of American Ballet is one of the most famous classical ballet schools in the world and is the associate school of the New York City Ballet, a leading international ballet company based at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City. The school trains students from the...
. By age 14 she was dancing with the New York City Ballet
New York City Ballet
New York City Ballet is a ballet company founded in 1948 by choreographer George Balanchine and Lincoln Kirstein. Leon Barzin was the company's first music director. Balanchine and Jerome Robbins are considered the founding choreographers of the company...
. As a child performer, she also appeared in several American daytime television dramas, including a memorable stint as the first Robin Lang on The Guiding Light from May 1956 to April 1958. Zina Bethune played Franklin D. Roosevelt's daughter in Sunrise at Campobello
Sunrise at Campobello
Sunrise at Campobello is a 1960 American biographical film made by Dore Schary Productions and Warner Bros. It tells the story of the initial struggle by future President of the United States Franklin Delano Roosevelt and his family when he was stricken with paralysis at the age of 39 in August...
in 1960.
Later in her career, Bethune starred in a memorable role as "The Girl" alongside the young Harvey Keitel
Harvey Keitel
Harvey Keitel is an American actor. Some of his most notable starring roles were in Martin Scorsese's Mean Streets and Taxi Driver, Ridley Scott's The Duellists and Thelma and Louise, Ettore Scola's That Night in Varennes, Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction, Jane Campion's The...
's "J. R." in Martin Scorsese
Martin Scorsese
Martin Charles Scorsese is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and film historian. In 1990 he founded The Film Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to film preservation, and in 2007 he founded the World Cinema Foundation...
's first feature movie Who's That Knocking at My Door
Who's That Knocking at My Door
Who's That Knocking at My Door, originally titled I Call First, is a 1967 drama film, which marks Martin Scorsese's debut as a director. Exploring themes of Catholic guilt similar to those in his later film Mean Streets, the story follows Italian-American J.R. as he struggles to accept the secret...
. That movie was commercially released in 1967, although much of it (including Bethune's acting parts) was filmed in 1965 for Scorsese's film project at New York University
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
.
Bethune also was featured on the TV series (CBS) The Nurses
The Nurses (Primetime CBS drama)
The Nurses is a serialized primetime medical drama which aired on CBS from September 27, 1962 to May 11, 1965. It was originally called The Nurses when it premiered in 1962; for the second season, the title was expanded to The Doctors and the Nurses and it ran until 1965, when it was transformed...
, 1962–1965, and other series, including Kraft Television Theatre
Kraft Television Theatre
Kraft Television Theatre is an American drama/anthology television series that began May 7, 1947 on NBC, airing at 7:30pm on Wednesday evenings until December of that year. In January 1948, it moved to 9pm on Wednesdays, continuing in that timeslot until 1958. Initially produced by the J...
(with Martin Huston
Martin Huston
Martin W. Huston, also known as Marty Huston , was an American actor of primarily television and stage....
in the series finale), Route 66
Route 66 (TV series)
Route 66 is an American TV series in which two young men traveled across America. The show ran weekly on CBS from 1960 to 1964. It starred Martin Milner as Tod Stiles and, for two and a half seasons, George Maharis as Buz Murdock. Maharis was ill for much of the third season, during which time Tod...
, The Judy Garland Show
The Judy Garland Show
The Judy Garland Show is an American musical variety television series that aired on CBS on Sunday nights during the 1963-1964 television season. Despite a sometimes stormy relationship with Judy Garland, CBS had found success with several television specials featuring the star...
, Pantomime Quiz, Hollywood Squares
Hollywood Squares
Hollywood Squares is an American panel game show in which two contestants play tic-tac-toe to win cash and prizes. The "board" for the game is a 3 × 3 vertical stack of open-faced cubes, each occupied by a celebrity seated at a desk and facing the contestants...
,The Invaders
The Invaders
The Invaders, a Quinn Martin Production , is an ABC science fiction television program created by Larry Cohen that ran in the United States for two seasons, from January 10, 1967 to March 26, 1968...
(S2/11 The Prophet), Young Dr. Malone, and Dr. Kildare
Dr. Kildare
Dr. James Kildare is a fictional character, the primary character in a series of American theatrical films in the late 1930s and early 1940s, an early 1950s radio series, a 1960s television series of the same name and a comic book based on the TV show, and a short-lived 1970s television series...
.
Throughout her life, Bethune has worked with disabled students. She herself was diagnosed with scoliosis
Scoliosis
Scoliosis is a medical condition in which a person's spine is curved from side to side. Although it is a complex three-dimensional deformity, on an X-ray, viewed from the rear, the spine of an individual with scoliosis may look more like an "S" or a "C" than a straight line...
at age 11 and at 17 she was diagnosed with hip dysplasia
Hip dysplasia (human)
Hip dysplasia, developmental dysplasia of the hip or congenital dysplasia of the hip is a congenital or acquired deformation or misalignment of the hip joint.-Terminology:...
.
Bethune founded Bethune Theatredanse in 1980, a multimedia performance company which has been designated as the official resident company of the Los Angeles Theatre Center. She founded Dance Outreach, now known as Infinite Dreams, in 1982, which currently enrolls about 1,000 disabled children in dance-related activities throughout Southern California
Southern California
Southern California is a megaregion, or megapolitan area, in the southern area of the U.S. state of California. Large urban areas include Greater Los Angeles and Greater San Diego. The urban area stretches along the coast from Ventura through the Southland and Inland Empire to San Diego...
.