Richard D. "Diki" Lerner

May 30, 1931 - January 20, 2014 Diki Lerner, a true character, not only in his film, dance & television career, but also in his everyday life, he truly danced to the beat of his own drum! He was not a man with a list of impressive academic accomplishments, but rather a man of many words who had an uncanny sense of relating to the human experience of others, be it friend or stranger. Drawing upon his witty sense of humor, he created what he called myrunisms; poetic-play-on-word sayings about life. For example, "you do what you do when you know what you should do, you don't do what you don't know, when you don't know what you should do." He prided himself on saving a dollar for a rainy day and preferred canned sardines to French caviar. Considered it a splurge to eat out without a coupon and loved to reminisce about the "golden era" of Hollywood under his lemon tree in the back yard. Richard Daniel Lerner, aka Diki Lerner; an actor, dancer, who worked on Hollywood films such as "Singing in the Rain", "Lil'Abner" and "Irma La Douce", passed away peacefully Monday, January 20, 2014 surrounded by loved one's in the comfort and care of his home in Los Feliz, CA., he was 82. Mr. Lerner was born in Chicago, Illinois May 30, 1931. It was here, at the age of 9 that Diki began his studies in dance with Bernice Holmes of Chicago. He then moved to the West Coast with his Family as a young teen where he continued his career appearing in dance concerts and television productions such as "Aladdin", "Peter Pan" and "Hansel and Gretel", while finishing high school at John Marshall in Los Feliz, CA and continuing his studies with the theatre group "The Players Ring". He made his first professional bow when he was 18 years of age in the Civic Light Opera production of "The Chocolate Soldier." He then performed at the Hollywood Bowl in "Die Fledermaus" and "Pursuit of the Butterfly," his work and studies took him to Paris, France, where he danced with David Lichine in "Ballet de la Ville". Upon his return to the United States, he soon discovered he was "too short" to continue his career in ballet dance, therefore utilizing his height to his advantage, he began to color the stars with dance and performing character roles in film and television. Gene Kelly first discovered him as a dancer in the film "An American In Paris" and brought him into motion pictures where Lerner soon expressed big talent and landed the solo; "Gotta Dance!" with Gene Kelly in 1952, "Singing in the Rain". Mr. Lerner also appeared with French-born actress and dancer, Leslie Caron in MGM's 1953 feature film, "Lili", where he portrayed the lively puppet "Carrot Top." In addition to dancing, Diki expanded his career into film with character roles such as "Lonesome Polecat" in the 1959 Paramount Picture "Lil Abner" and "JoJo" the one armed man in the 1963 Billy Wilder film, "Irma La Douce". Mr. Lerner continued to color stars throughout his career such as Elvis Presley in "Easy Come, Easy Go", George Montgomery in "Guerillas in Pink Lace", and even co-starring with Barbara Eden in a Las Vegas show. Diki enjoyed being the center of attention when performing. He was amused and delighted when he was asked to be the opening act at Frank Sinatra's club Cal Neva. Furthering his career with mime techniques and characters roles in which he created, Diki continued to work for many years in the Entertainment Industry. He wrote, produced and directed the film "The Little World of Mr. Myrun" narrated by Roddy McDowell and starring actors such as Billie Hayes whom he had worked with earlier in "Lil Abner". Richard Diki Lerner will be remembered by many for his numerous and colorful character roles in film, dance and television. In short, Diki put it best when he stated: "when I die, please don't cry-just pretend I've booked a job in Paris, France where I'm indefinitely working on my dance!" Shine on our lovely, delicate, Dancing Star Diki!