Dance directors/choreographers who made their films worthwhile:
Based on this list: musicals with worthwhile dancing: http://www.imdb.com/list/ls020899620
Companion to this list: Dancers who made their films worthwhile: http://www.imdb.com/list/ls025876285
This list was compiled while watching musicals in release date order, and making notes here:
http://bdrdiary.blogspot.com/
Companion to this list: Dancers who made their films worthwhile: http://www.imdb.com/list/ls025876285
This list was compiled while watching musicals in release date order, and making notes here:
http://bdrdiary.blogspot.com/
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Maurice L. Kusell was born on 17 May 1902 in Champaign, Illinois, USA. He was an actor and writer, known for Patricia Gets Her Man (1937), Puttin' on the Ritz (1930) and The Great Gabbo (1929). He was married to Belinda Salaverria and Jane Opperman. He died on 2 February 1992 in Los Angeles, California, USA.The Great Gabbo (1929) (1929); 11 DD credits, 4 silent. Active '27-'32- Actress
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Pearl Eaton was a member of the famous Eaton family, according to her sister Doris Eaton (later Doris Eaton Travis) she was a talented dancer and choreographer who appeared in numerous Broadway shows, as well as New York nightclubs. She worked for the great theatre producer Florenz Ziegfeld on stage, as well as behind the scenes.
Although the New York Times does not mention it in her obituary, Pearl Eaton was murdered in her California home, the murder has never been solved.Dixiana (1930) (1930); 9 DD credits, active '29-'33- Additional Crew
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Busby Berkeley was one of the greatest choreographers of the US movie musical. He started his career in the US Army in 1918, as a lieutenant in the artillery conducting and directing parades. After the World War I cease-fire he was ordered to stage camp shows for the soldiers. Back in the US he became a stage actor and assistant director in smaller acting troupes. After being forced to take over the direction of the musical "Holka-Polka" he discovered his talent for staging extravagant dance routines, and he quickly became one of Broadway's top dance directors. Producer Florenz Ziegfeld Jr. called him to direct the dance routines for his production of "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court". Eddie Cantor, who starred in the long-running Ziegfeld production "Whoopee!", suggested Berkley create the dance routines in the film version )Whoopee! (1930) and Ziegfeld agreed.
At first in Hollywood Berkeley wasn't satisfied with the possibilities of his job--at the time, dance directors trained the dancers and staged the dances. The director chose camera positions and the editor chose which of the takes were shown to the audience. Berkeley wanted to direct the dances himself and convinced producer Samuel Goldwyn to let him try. One of the first chances he took was that he used only one camera in his films. He also showed close-ups of the chorus girls. Asked about this, he explained, "Well, we've got all the beautiful girls in the picture, why not let the public see them?" With the decline of musicals in 1931 and 1932, he was thinking of returning to Broadway when Darryl F. Zanuck, chief producer at Warner Brothers, called him in to direct the musical numbers of Warners' newest project, the backstage drama 42nd Street (1933). Berkeley accepted and directed great numbers like "Shuffle Off To Buffalo", "Young and Healthy" and the grandiose story of urban life, the finale "42nd Street". The film was a smash hit, and Warner Brothers knew who made it such an extraordinary success--Berkeley, as well as composer Harry Warren and lyricist Al Dubin, got seven-year contracts. Berkeley created musical numbers for almost every great musical that Warner Brothers produced from 1933 to 1937. His overhead shots forced him to drill holes in the studio roofs, and he used more dancers with each succeeding picture. However, by the late 1930s the musical was in decline once again, and Berkeley had nothing to do as a choreographer. He directed two non-musical pictures for Warner Brothers then went to MGM, where he choreographed the final number from Broadway Serenade (1939) with Jeanette MacDonald. As a director and choreographer he worked on four pictures with teenage stars Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney. He also choreographed the "Fascinatin' Rhythm" finale for MGM's reigning tapping star, Eleanor Powell in Lady Be Good (1941). He directed Gene Kelly in his first picture, For Me and My Gal (1942). Kelly, who choreographed his own numbers, learned a lot from Berkeley.
Berkeley worked for 20th Century-Fox in The Gang's All Here (1943) with its surrealistic number "The Lady in the Tutti-Frutti Hat". In 1949 he directed his last picture, Take Me Out to the Ball Game (1949), but this time the choreography was by Gene Kelly. Berkeley did a few numbers in the early 1950s but, by the end of the decade, he was all but forgotten. A revival of his films in the late 1960s brought him some popularity and he was asked to return to Broadway and supervise the dance direction in the revival of a Vincent Youmans musical comedy from 1925. One of the actresses in this production was Ruby Keeler, one of his leading ladies in Warner musicals. When the production went on tour in 1972, one of the road cast was Eleanor Powell. The production was a smash hit. When he walked on stage after one opening night, the house exploded with applause.
A strange fact is that Busby Berkeley never had a dancing lesson and, in his early days, was very afraid of people finding out. He often drove his producers crazy when he gave orders to build a set and then sat in front of it for a few days, thinking up the numbers.Whoopee! (1930) (1930); 36 DD credits, active '30-62- Additional Crew
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Sammy Lee will best be remembered for his great contributions as Dance Director of many important musicals during Hollywood's golden age. He first achieved fame in New York as dance director of the highly successful Ziegfeld Follies of 1927. After contributing dance routines for Ziegfeld's famous productions "Showboat", "Rio Rita", and the last of the "Midnight Frolics", he signed with MGM studios early in 1929. His imaginative dance routines included overhead shots a year before Buzby Berkeley's work in "Whoopee". He brought the prestige of the Ziegfeld image to MGM's early musical talkies. Sammy Lee was nominated twice for an academy award for best dance direction, in 1935 for "King Of Burlesque", and 1937 for "Ali Baba Goes To Town", both at 20th Century Fox. He would return to MGM after a stint at RKO (1937) and directed shorts and choreographed war time musicals. Smaller studios benefited from his talents in 1944 and 1945. During this time he choreographed Columbia's "Carolina Blues" and Republic's "Earl Carroll's Vanities" before he retired with Paramount's 1945 release, "Out Of This World". Sammy Lee's productive career spanned an impressive sixteen years in Hollywood, and gave us many of cinema's most entertaining moments!Dancing Lady (1933) (1933); 57 DD credits, active '33-'46- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
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Eddie Prinz was born on 24 August 1901 in St. Louis, Missouri, USA. He was an assistant director and actor, known for Dancing Lady (1933), The Sweetheart of Sigma Chi (1933) and Hellzapoppin' (1941). He was married to Adele and Lucille. He died on 28 July 1967 in Los Angeles, California, USA.Dancing Lady (1933) (1933); 20 DD credits, active '33-'53- Director
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Dave Gould was born on 11 March 1899 in Budapest, Austria-Hungary [now Hungary]. He was a director, known for Folies Bergère de Paris (1935), Broadway Melody of 1936 (1935) and A Day at the Races (1937). He was married to Mitzi Haynes. He died on 3 June 1969 in Los Angeles, California, USA.Flying Down to Rio (1933) (1933); 33 DD credits, active '33-'44- Additional Crew
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Academy Award-winning dance director responsible for choreographing several dozen of Hollywood's most truly memorable musicals, including every one of the nine Fred Astaire-Ginger Rogers 1930s gems - not to mention Fred and Ginger's screen swan song, The Barkleys of Broadway (1949). He also choreographed some half-dozen of Betty Grable's musicals of the '40s and danced on screen with both Grable and Rita Hayworth.Flying Down to Rio (1933) (1933); 82 DD credits, active '33-'81- Additional Crew
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Seymour Felix began his showbiz career as a professional dancer in vaudeville at the age of 15. In the 1920s he became a dance director in New York, where he created and staged dance numbers for stage shows like Whoopee, Roaslie, and Hit the Deck. In 1929 he worked briefly in Hollywood (Sunny Side Up (1929) ), and returned there permanently in 1933. His best remembered numbers are in Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942) and the Oscar-winning "A Pretty Girl Is Like a Melody" number from The Great Ziegfeld (1936).Kid Millions (1934) (1934); 33 DD credits, active '29-'53- Additional Crew
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Bobby Connolly was born on 4 July 1897 in New York City, New York, USA. He was a director, known for The Wizard of Oz (1939), Cain and Mabel (1936) and Go Into Your Dance (1935). He was married to Blanche. He died on 29 February 1944 in Encino, California, USA.Sweet Adeline (1934) (1934); 26 DD credits; active '33-'44- Additional Crew
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Buddy Bradley was born on 24 July 1905 in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, USA. He was an actor, known for Sailing Along (1938), A Fire Has Been Arranged (1935) and It's Love Again (1936). He died on 17 July 1972 in New York City, New York, USA.Evergreen (1934) (1934); 11 film credits, at least 5 with Jessie Matthews. Active '34-'42- Actor
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Fred Astaire was born in Omaha, Nebraska, to Johanna (Geilus) and Fritz Austerlitz, a brewer. Fred entered show business at age 5. He was successful both in vaudeville and on Broadway in partnership with his sister, Adele Astaire. After Adele retired to marry in 1932, Astaire headed to Hollywood. Signed to RKO, he was loaned to MGM to appear in Dancing Lady (1933) before starting work on RKO's Flying Down to Rio (1933). In the latter film, he began his highly successful partnership with Ginger Rogers, with whom he danced in 9 RKO pictures. During these years, he was also active in recording and radio. On film, Astaire later appeared opposite a number of partners through various studios. After a temporary retirement in 1945-7, during which he opened Fred Astaire Dance Studios, Astaire returned to film to star in more musicals through 1957. He subsequently performed a number of straight dramatic roles in film and TV.Roberta (1935) (1935); 10 DD credits from '35-'61. Danced in 32 films from '33-'61, likely choreographed all of this own work in those 22 more, at least partially.- Additional Crew
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Albertina Rasch was born on 19 January 1891 in Vienna, Austria-Hungary [now Austria]. She was an actress, known for The Rogue Song (1930), Frauenopfer (1923) and The Merry Widow (1934). She was married to Dimitri Tiomkin and August Anton Schneider. She died on 2 October 1967 in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California, USA.Broadway Melody of 1936 (1935) (1935); 20 DD credits, active '25-'40, 1 originally silent.- Additional Crew
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Robert Alton was a ballet student in New York, and worked his way up to choreographer on many Broadway productions. He started choreographing films in 1936, and directed dance sequences in many of Hollywood's most famous musicals (The Harvey Girls (1946), Easter Parade (1948), Show Boat (1951)). He also directed many Broadway plays. He directed two films in the late 1940s and early 1950s, but both were critical and financial flops.Strike Me Pink (1936) (1936); 16 DD credits, active '36-'55- Actor
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American tap dancer who was an international star in the 1930's and 1940's. His forte was to tap-dance to any kind of music - jazz, samba, Classical, Baroque - and to adapt his every movement to the character of the music at hand. His career effectively succumbed to the anti- Communist hysteria that existed in the U.S. after World War II, when he was blacklisted out of the entertainment industry as a "Communist sympathizer."Colleen (1936) (1936); 1 DD credit- Actor
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Bill Robinson quit school at age seven and began work as a professional dancer the following year. Bojangles (the name referred to his happy-go-lucky ebullience) starred in vaudeville, musical stage and movies. He invented the stair tap routine and was considered one of the world's greatest tap dancers. His film debut was in Dixiana (1930). He worked in fifteen movies, but his movie fame came primarily from the films he made with Shirley Temple -- The Little Colonel (1935), The Littlest Rebel (1935), and Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm (1938). In 1989 the US Congress named his birth date as National Tap Dancing Day.Dimples (1936) (1936); 1 DD credit, but clearly he designed everything he danced, including with a partner.- Additional Crew
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Jack Haskell was born on 13 April 1886 in New York City, New York, USA. He was a director and actor, known for One in a Million (1936), Poor Little Rich Girl (1936) and Evolution of the Dance (1930). He died in April 1963 in New York City, New York, USA.One in a Million (1936) (1936); 14 DD credits, active '29-'37- Additional Crew
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LeRoy Prinz started his career after running away from a boarding school. He came to France prior to WWI, where he earned his money dancing in nightclubs. After the outbreak of the war he became a pilot. He was shot down 15 times. After the war he fought as a mercenary in a civil war in Nicaragua, until US forces landed and intervened. Deciding he had pressed his luck as far as it would go, and having had his fill of fighting, he found work as a dance director on Broadway. He worked mostly for Paramount (1933-41) and Warner Bros. (1942-57). Among his best remembered works are The Big Broadcast of 1938 (1938) and the bizarre All-American Co-Ed (1941).Waikiki Wedding (1937) (1937); 90 dd credits (25 before WW), active '29-'58.- Additional Crew
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Albertina Rasch was born on 19 January 1891 in Vienna, Austria-Hungary [now Austria]. She was an actress, known for The Rogue Song (1930), Frauenopfer (1923) and The Merry Widow (1934). She was married to Dimitri Tiomkin and August Anton Schneider. She died on 2 October 1967 in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California, USA.The Girl of the Golden West (1938) (1938), The Great Waltz (1938) (1938) and Rosalie (1937) (1937) and more prior; 20 DD credits; none of her movies so far belong among the Worthwhile Dancing titles (probably because I'm partial to jazz/tap), but her scenes elevate her movies.- Director
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Charles Walters was born on 17 November 1911 in Pasadena, California, USA. He was a director and actor, known for Lili (1953), The Unsinkable Molly Brown (1964) and Ask Any Girl (1959). He died on 13 August 1982 in Malibu, California, USA.Presenting Lily Mars (1943) finale, also in worthwhile dancers list for this; 22 DD credits, active '42-'58; 24 director credits, active '45-'66; 7 acting credits.- Director
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Jack Donohue started as a dancer in the Ziegfeld Follies, continued as a dancer, dance director and dance teacher for tap dance (most prominent pupil: Eleanor Powell) in New York and in London (he starred in the British film Rhythm in the Air (1936) with his wife Tutta Rolf). He began working in Hollywood in 1933 as a choreographer and dance director, and was president of the Dance Directors Guild from 1945-46. He also worked as a director, mainly for MGM, directing musicals and comedies.Captain January (1936), but really Bathing Beauty (1944); 37 DD credits, active '34-'54- Actor
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Eugene Curran Kelly was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the third son of Harriet Catherine (Curran) and James Patrick Joseph Kelly, a phonograph salesman. His father was of Irish descent and his mother was of Irish and German ancestry.
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer was the largest and most powerful studio in Hollywood when Gene Kelly arrived in town in 1941. He came direct from the hit 1940 original Broadway production of "Pal Joey" and planned to return to the Broadway stage after making the one film required by his contract. His first picture for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer was For Me and My Gal (1942) with Judy Garland. What kept Kelly in Hollywood were "the kindred creative spirits" he found behind the scenes at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The talent pool was especially large during World War II, when Hollywood was a refuge for many musicians and others in the performing arts of Europe who were forced to flee the Nazis. After the war, a new generation was coming of age. Those who saw An American in Paris (1951) would try to make real life as romantic as the reel life they saw portrayed in that musical, and the first time they saw Paris, they were seeing again in memory the seventeen-minute ballet sequence set to the title song written by George Gershwin and choreographed by Kelly. The sequence cost a half million dollars (U.S.) to make in 1951 dollars. Another Kelly musical of the era, Singin' in the Rain (1952), was one of the first 25 films selected by the Library of Congress for its National Film Registry. Kelly was in the same league as Fred Astaire, but instead of a top hat and tails Kelly wore work clothes that went with his masculine, athletic dance style.
Gene Kelly died at age 83 of complications from two strokes on February 2, 1996 in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, California.Cover Girl (1944); 11 DD credits, active '44-'64 (plus 2 choreography consultant credits, '81 & '97); and then things he did without getting listed in IMDb, like his dances in The Young Girls of Rochefort ('67) or Let's Make Love ('60); 19 director credits, '49-'70- Director
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Inspired by Fred Astaire's dancing in Flying Down to Rio (1933), Stanley Donen (pronounced 'Dawn-en') attended dance classes from the age of ten. He later recalled that the only thing he wanted to be was a tap dancer.
He was born in Columbia, South Carolina, to Helen Pauline (Cohen) and Mordecai Moses Donen, a dress-shop manager, of Russian-Jewish and German-Jewish descent. Donen debuted on Broadway at seventeen. While working as an assistant choreographer in 1941, he met and befriended the actor Gene Kelly, Kelly being the brash, extrovert and energetic side of the burgeoning partnership, Donen the more refined and relaxed. Three years later, the two men renewed their collaboration in Hollywood and did much to reinvigorate the musical genre. For the next decade, they worked side-by-side as choreographers and co-directors (a relationship Donen described as 'wonderful' but 'also trying at times'), linked to MGM's Arthur Freed unit. Between them, they directed classic musicals like On the Town (1949) and Singin' in the Rain (1952) and co-wrote the original story for Take Me Out to the Ball Game (1949). Freed, by the way, was the producer almost single-handedly responsible for the high standard of MGM's A-grade musicals in the 40s and 50s. A former vaudevillian and song-plugger, Freed was an astute judge of talent and encouraged gifted individuals from other media (like radio or theatre) to become involved with pictures. Moreover, he gave artists like Kelly and Donen free rein to express their creative flair.
In 1949, MGM signed Donen to a seven-year contract as director in his own right. From then on, he and Kelly went their separate ways. After directing Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954), Donen moved on to Paramount for Funny Face (1957), then to Warner Brothers for The Pajama Game (1957) and Damn Yankees (1958). As musicals waned in popularity, Donen branched out into other genres. He began to direct and produce elegant, lavish romantic dramas like the delightful Indiscreet (1958), sophisticated comedies like The Grass Is Greener (1960) and Two for the Road (1967) (which starred Donen's favorite actress, Audrey Hepburn), as well as the top-shelf thrillers Charade (1963) (the best film Alfred Hitchcock never directed, again with Hepburn) and Arabesque (1966). Arguably, his most out-of-character film from this period was the esoteric mephistophelean (and very British) farce Bedazzled (1967), featuring the irrepressible comic talents of Peter Cook and Dudley Moore.
The 1970s heralded a steady decline in the quality of Donen's output. None of his later efforts seemed to have the panache of his earlier work: not the tepid adventure-comedy Lucky Lady (1975) (despite a good cast and sumptuous production look) nor the nostalgic musical fantasy The Little Prince (1974), based on the book by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. A failure at the box office, the latter also marked the end of the Frederick Loewe-Alan Jay Lerner musical partnership. Donen's career may have finished on a low with a weak sojourn into science fiction that was Saturn 3 (1980) and the absolutely dreadful comedy Blame It on Rio (1984), but his reputation as one of the giants of the classic Hollywood musical is assured. Donen received an Honorary Oscar in 1998 ""for a body of work marked by grace, elegance, wit, and visual innovation.''Cover Girl (1944); 16 DD (or asst) credits, active '43-'55; 28 director credits, '49-'84- Additional Crew
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Jack Cole was born on 27 April 1911 in New Brunswick, New Jersey, USA. He was an actor, known for Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953), River of No Return (1954) and Kismet (1955). He died on 17 February 1974 in Hollywood, California, USA.Tonight and Every Night (1945); 25 DD credits, active '44-'60. To recognize him onscreen, see the featurette on On the Riviera (1951), namely The Jack of Clubs: Choreographer Jack Cole (2007)- Additional Crew
Helen Tamiris was born on 24 April 1905 in New York City, New York, USA. She is known for Just for You (1952), Up in Central Park (1948) and Plain and Fancy (1956). She was married to Daniel Nagrin. She died on 4 August 1966 in New York City, New York, USA.Up in Central Park (1948); 3 DD credits, '48-'53, 1 TV credit '56- Director
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Gene Nelson was barely a teen when he saw the Fred Astaire movie Flying Down to Rio (1933), which would change his life. It was then that he decided he would be a dancer. After graduating from high school, Nelson joined the Sonja Henie Ice Show and toured for 3 years before joining the Army in World War II. After he was discharged, he appeared in a handful of movies before 1950. He worked with Debbie Reynolds in The Daughter of Rosie O'Grady (1950), Doris Day in Tea for Two (1950) and Virginia Mayo in She's Working Her Way Through College (1952). He would be best known for his role of cowboy Will Parker in Oklahoma! (1955), where he would twirl the lasso to the tune of "Kansas City".
After his dancing days ended he turned to directing TV and films, including two Elvis Presley movies, Kissin' Cousins (1964) and Harum Scarum (1965). For television he directed episodes of I Dream of Jeannie (1965), Star Trek (1966), The Rifleman (1958), The Donna Reed Show (1958) and many others.Tea for Two (1950); 3 DD credits, '50-'54; directed 6 films and 48 TV shows, '60-'80- Actor
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Gower Champion was born on 22 June 1921 in Geneva, Illinois, USA. He was an actor and director, known for An Evening with Julie Andrews and Harry Belafonte (1969), Lovely to Look At (1952) and Hello, Dolly! (1969). He was married to Karla Most and Marge Champion. He died on 25 August 1980 in New York City, New York, USA.Mr. Music (1950); 5 DD credits, '50-'69; directed 2 films and 11 TV shows, '56-'74- Actor
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Gregory Hines was born on 14 February 1946 in New York City, New York, USA. He was an actor and director, known for History of the World: Part I (1981), Running Scared (1986) and Renaissance Man (1994). He was married to Pamela Koslow and Patricia Panella. He died on 9 August 2003 in Los Angeles, California, USA.The Cotton Club (1984); 3 DD credits, '84-9; 1 TV director credit '02.