Miller was born Johnnie Lucille Ann Collier in Chireno in Nacogdoches County in east Texas, the daughter of Clara Emma (née Birdwell) and John Alfred Collier, a criminal lawyer who represented the Barrow Gang, Machine Gun Kelly, and Baby Face Nelson, among others.[2][3] Miller's maternal grandmother was Cherokee.[2] Miller's father insisted on the name Johnnie because he had wanted a boy, but she was often called Annie.She took up dancing to exercise her legs to help her rickets. She was considered a child dance prodigy. In an interview featured in a "behind the scenes" documentary on the making of the compilation That's Entertainment III, she said that Eleanor Powell was an early inspiration. Ann Miller was married a few times; none lasted long. In one of the marriges she had a beautiful baby girl. A tragedy happened about 3 hours after bringing the baby home; she got in a fight with her husband and fell down a flight of stairs with the baby in her hands. The baby was killed。