Bob Fosse

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Fosse with Viveca Lindfors at Pal Joey (1963).

Robert "Bob" Louis Fosse (born June 23, 1927 in Chicago , Illinois , † September 23, 1987 in Washington DC ) was an American choreographer , dancer , theater and film director . He won eight Tony Awards for his Broadway choreography , more than any other, and one more Tony as a director. In the film business, he successfully shot musicals such as Behind the Spotlight and Cabaret , for the latter he received the Oscar for best director .

Life

Bob Fosse was practically born in the theater as the son of vaudeville artists and was seen performing solo dance numbers on stage as a child and adolescent. After a brief episode in the US Navy , he began training as an actor. From 1948 to 1950 he initially toured the United States with insignificant musical shows , and then worked as a dancer in Broadway shows . Through the musical film, he got smaller roles in Hollywood in the early 1950s.

In 1954 Fosse got the chance to show his own choreography on a Broadway stage for the first time. The show The Pajama Game became a huge Broadway hit. More shows followed, and slowly a congenial partnership between choreographer and dancer began to emerge from his collaboration with the dancer Gwen Verdon . After two short marriages, each of which ended in divorce, he married Gwen Verdon in 1960, with whom he had a daughter. Fosse and Verdon's relationship ended in the early 1970s, but they remained married and remained artistically and friendly until his death.

In the 1960s, Bob Fosse began not only choreographing shows, but also began working as a principal director. One of his greatest Broadway hits was Sweet Charity . The film adaptation of the same name in 1969 with Shirley MacLaine in the lead role was also his debut as a film director. What appeared at the time as the new beginning of the musical film is now a classic. He premiered other classics on Broadway : 1972 Pippin , 1975 Chicago and 1978 Dancin ' . Productions that are now among the most successful long-time runners in Broadway history.

The all-out success was the film adaptation of the musical Cabaret in 1972 with Liza Minnelli in the role of Sally Bowles . Fosse was also a director and choreographer here and received an Oscar for best director for Cabaret . The film received a total of eight Academy Awards. The success of Cabaret opened more doors for him so that from then on he could work more freely and independently. In 1972 he directed the television show Liza with a Z for Liza Minnelli , for which he was honored with an Emmy Award. In 1974 he filmed the life of comedian Lenny Bruce with Dustin Hoffman in the title role. The film Lenny received a total of six Oscar nominations.

The chain-smoking workaholic Fosse paid a heavy price for these successes. He suffered a serious heart attack while working for the Chicago premiere . Fosse then processed the experiences he had in this way in 1979 in the strongly autobiographical film Behind the Spotlight with Roy Scheider as his alter ego and with Jessica Lange in the leading roles. The film, for which Fosse wrote the script , provides a haunting insight into the world of entertainment and won a Palme d'Or at the Cannes International Film Festival in 1980 .

On the evening of the premiere for the revival of his successful musical Sweet Charity 1987, Bob Fosse died in the presence of Gwen Verdon after he had previously suffered another heart attack.

In 1999 the musical Fosse premiered on Broadway. The Tony Award-winning revue- style show consists entirely of reconstructed choreographies by Bob Fosse.

In 2019, the US television channel FX produced the biopic miniseries Fosse / Verdon . The eight-part series deals with the life story of Bob Fosse and in particular his private and professional relationship with Gwen Verdon. The two are portrayed by Sam Rockwell and Michelle Williams .

Broadway productions

Filmography

As a performer and dancer

  • 1953: The Affairs of Dobie Gillis
  • 1953: Kiss me Kate
  • 1953: Give a Girl a Break ( Stanley Donen )
  • 1955: My Sister Eileen
  • 1958: Damn Yankees (Director: Stanley Donen)
  • 1974: The Little Prince (Direction: Stanley Donen)

As a director

Awards

  • 1955: Tony Award for The Pajama Game (Best Choreography)
  • 1956: Tony Award for Damn Yankees (Best Choreography)
  • 1959: Tony Award for Redhead (Best Choreography)
  • 1963: Tony Award for Little Me (Best Choreography)
  • 1966: Tony Award for Sweet Charity (Best Choreography)
  • 1972: National Board of Review Award for Cabaret (Best Director)
  • 1973: Oscar for Cabaret (Best Director)
  • 1973: British Film Awards for Cabaret (Best Director)
  • 1973: Bodil for Cabaret (best non-European film)
  • 1973: David di Donatello for Cabaret (Best Foreign Director)
  • 1973: Directors Guild of America Award for Liza with a Z (best director of a musical or variety program)
  • 1973: two Drama Desk Awards for Pippin (best director, best choreography)
  • 1973: two Tony Awards for Pippin (best musical director, best choreography)
  • 1973: three Emmys for Liza with a Z (best variety or music television program, best director in the field of comedy, variety and music, best choreography)
  • 1976: Blue Ribbon Award for Lenny (Best Foreign Language Film)
  • 1978: Premio Sant Jordi for Lenny (Best Foreign Film)
  • 1978: Drama Desk Award for Dancin ' (Best Choreography)
  • 1978: Tony Award for Dancin ' (Best Choreography)
  • 1980: Palme d'Or at the Cannes International Film Festival for Behind the Spotlight (together with Akira Kurosawa's Kagemusha - The Warrior's Shadow )
  • 1981: Bodil for Behind the Spotlight (Best Non-European Film)
  • 1986: Drama Desk Award for Big Deal (Best Choreography)
  • 1986: Tony Award for Big Deal (Best Choreography)
  • 1994: American Choreography Award ("Heritage Award")

Web links

Commons : Bob Fosse  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Remembering Gwen Verdon. Retrieved March 20, 2019 .
  2. ↑ Irvin Molotsky, Special to The New York Times: Bob Fosse, Director and Choreographer, this . In: The New York Times . September 24, 1987, ISSN  0362-4331 ( nytimes.com [accessed May 9, 2019]).
  3. ^ Mindy Aloff: THE NEW SEASON / THEATER; A Loving Celebration of All That's Fosse . In: The New York Times . September 13, 1998, ISSN  0362-4331 ( nytimes.com [accessed May 9, 2019]).
  4. ↑ James Poniewozik: Review: In 'Fosse / Verdon,' a Portrait of the Artist as Problematic Fave . In: The New York Times . April 8, 2019, ISSN  0362-4331 ( nytimes.com [accessed May 9, 2019]).
personal data
SURNAME Fosse, Bob
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Fosse, Robert Louis (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American choreographer and director
DATE OF BIRTH June 23, 1927
PLACE OF BIRTH Chicago , Illinois, United States
DATE OF DEATH September 23, 1987
Place of death Washington DC , United States