Margin champion

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Marge Champion (1951)

Marge Champion (* 2 September 1919 in Los Angeles , California as Marjorie Celeste Belcher ) is an American dancer , dance teacher , actress and choreographer . She gained fame above all as a dance model for cartoons by Walt Disney Studios , including 1937 as Snow White in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs . Champion later appeared as both a dancer and actress in several films and television series, and hosted her own television show in 1957. Her appearances with her dance partner and then husband Gower Champion became famous . Marge Champion was seen mostly in music films and comedies, but also played a leading role in the film drama The Swimmer in 1968 . In 2007 she was named a Disney Legend .

family

Marge Champion was born on September 2, 1919 under the name Marjorie Celeste Belcher as the only child of Gladys Lee Baskette and the choreographer Ernest Belcher in Los Angeles. Her half-sister from her mother's first marriage to Frank Baskette was Lina Basquette, born in 1907, who had been an actress since she was twelve .

In 1937, Belcher married Disney animator Art Babbitt , whom she met while working on Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs . The marriage ended in divorce in 1940. In 1947 she married the dancer and musical director Gower Champion (1919–1980), with whom she had two sons.

In 1973 the marriage with Gower Champion was divorced. However, Marge Champion kept his last name. In January 1977 she married the director Boris Sagal , with whom she remained married until his accidental death in May 1981. Through that marriage, she became the stepmother of actress Katey Sagal , who was best known for her portrayal of Peggy Bundy in A Terribly Kind Family .

Marge Champion celebrated her 100th birthday in September 2019. She lives in California with her family.

career

Beginnings as a dancer and breakthrough at Walt Disney

Like her half-sister, Belcher also received dance lessons early on from her father, who trained Cyd Charisse as a dance director for film musicals, among others . At the age of twelve she became a ballet teacher and assistant at her father's dance school, teaching Shirley Temple and Gwen Verdon, among others . After a casting at Walt Disney Studios, she was hired as a dance model for Snow White for their latest cartoon Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs . Her movements were filmed and later incorporated into the drawings using rotoscopy to make the figure appear more graceful and realistic. This was not Belcher's first work for Disney: As early as 1934, she was one of the dance models in the film The Rape of the Spring Goddess . Walt Disney himself discovered Belcher at the age of 14 while attending dance school and selected him for the job.

Her work on Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was not mentioned at the request of the film studio. It was not until the 50th anniversary of the film's release that the dancer appeared in public in her role as Snow White . Belcher was later hired three times by Disney as a dance model: in 1940 as the blue fairy in Pinocchio , also in 1940 as a dancing hippo in Fantasia and in 1941 as a stork in Dumbo .

Film career

Marge Champion (second from right) alongside Harry S. Truman and husband Gower Champion (left) at the Carton Barron Amphitheater, May 1951

From then on, Marge Champion and her husband played in several dance films produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer . Originally the films by Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire were to be reissued with the couple , but only one of them ( Lovely to look at from 1952) was actually completed. In addition to her film career, Champion has also played in various theater productions and musicals since 1945. While preparing for a show her husband had produced, she discovered the young singer and actress Carol Channing in the office of a casting agency .

In the summer of 1957, Marge and Gower Champion hosted several episodes of their own television program, The Marge and Gower Champion Show , in which they performed skits and dance numbers. Another prominent participant on the show was drummer Buddy Rich .

Marge Champion's later film appearances included the comedy Der Partyschreck from 1968. In the surreal film drama Der Schwimmer , also released in 1968 , she played one of the leading roles alongside Burt Lancaster with Peggy Forsburgh . This was Champion's only serious film role apart from musicals and comedies.

In addition to her film career, Marge Champion also worked as an actress and choreographer on Broadway . She worked as assistant director and choreographer on the musical Hello, Dolly! Involved from the premiere in 1964 until 1970. The direction and choreography was carried out by her husband Gower Champion during this time.

Late years

After her active time as an actress and dancer, Champion worked as a dance teacher and choreographer in New York . She was for the choreographies in the films The Day of the Locust and Isn't That My Life? responsible. In addition to her filmic work as an actress and choreographer, Champion has also worked as a dialogue writer in several of her husband's films, including The Diary of Anne Frank and Masada . In 1982 she was the last time in a role in the television series Fame - The Road to Fame as an actress in front of the camera.

Marge Champion still appears sporadically at public events and film festivals. In 2001 she played the role of Emily Whitman in the musical Follies on Broadway in New York. So she was still active as a dancer at the age of 90.

Act

During the late 1940s and 1950s, Marge and Gower Champion were considered the most popular dance couple in the United States. Marge Champion herself has been counted among the most talented dancers of the 20th century several times.

In later years, Champion achieved lasting media awareness less through her dance appearances, but above all through her collaboration with Walt Disney Studios. Her involvement as a movement model in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in particular is most frequently taken up by the media. Champion is one of the last surviving people to work on this film. This popularity is also shown by the appointment as Disney Legend in 2007.

Awards and honors

  • 1975: Emmy Award for Outstanding Achievement in Choreography for Queen of the Stardust Ballroom .
  • 2007: Named Disney Legend .
  • 2009: Star on the Walk of Fame in Hollywood .
  • 2009: Induction into the National Museum of Dance and Hall of Fame.
  • 2013: Douglas Watt Lifetime Achievement Award for her life's work at the Fred and Adele Astaire Awards.

Filmography

As a dance model

As an actress

  • 1937: Sunday Night at the Trocadero (short film)
  • 1938: Delinquent Parents
  • 1939: Honor of the West
  • 1939: The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle
  • 1939: Sorority House
  • 1939: What a Life
  • 1939: All Woman Have Secrets
  • 1949: The Philco Television Playhouse (TV series, episode Dark of the Moon )
  • 1950: Mr. Music
  • 1951: Mississippi Melody (Show Boat)
  • 1952: Men make fashion (Lovely to Look At)
  • 1952: Everything I Have Is Yours
  • 1953: A Chance for Suzy (Give a Girl a Break)
  • 1953: Lux Video Theater (TV series, episode A Bouquet for Millie )
  • 1954: The Red Skelton Show (TV series, episode Deadeye at the Golden Nugget )
  • 1955: Jupiter's Darling
  • 1955: Love in a Quartet (Three for the Show)
  • 1955: Front Row Center (TV series, episode Three for Tonight )
  • 1956: Shower of Stars (TV series, episode The Dancers )
  • 1956: Screen Directors Playhouse (TV series, episode What Day Is It? )
  • 1956/1957: General Electric Theater (TV series, two episodes)
  • 1959: The United States Steel Hour (TV series, episode Marriage ... Handle with Care )
  • 1968: The Party (The Party)
  • 1968: The float (The Swimmer)
  • 1970: A wife for Charley (Cockeyed Cowboys of Calico County)
  • 1982: Fame - The Road to Fame ( Fame ; TV series, episode Beginners )

As a choreographer

  • 1938: Delinquent Parents
  • 1975: The Queen of the Stardust Ballroom
  • 1975: The Day of the Locust (The Day of the Locust)
  • 1978: The Awakening Land
  • 1979: Ike (miniseries, two episodes)
  • 1981: What do you do when you meet an elephant? (When the Circus Came to Town)
  • 1981: Isn't that my life? (Whose Life Is It Anyway?)
  • 1983: I Do! I do! (TV movie)

As a dialogue author

  • 1978: The Awakening Land
  • 1980: The Diary of Anne Frank (The Diary Of Anne Frank)
  • 1981: What do you do when you meet an elephant? (When the Circus Came to Town)
  • 1981: Masada

Broadway appearances

Source:

  • 1945: Dark of the Moon (46th Street Theater)
  • 1946–1947: Beggar's Holiday (Broadway Theater)
  • 1948–1950: Lend an Ear (various theaters on Broadway)
  • 1951: Make a Wish ( Winter Garden Theater )
  • 1955: 3 for Tonight (Plymouth Theater)
  • 1964–1970: Hello, Dolly! (Assistant director and choreographer; St. James Theater )
  • 1987: Stepping Out (John Golden Theater)
  • 2001: Follies ( Belasco Theater )

literature

  • John Anthony Gilvey: Before the Parade Passes By: Gower Champion and the Glorious American Musical. St. Martin's Press, New York 2005, ISBN 978-1-4299-2559-4 .
  • Gerald Gardner, Jim Bellows: 80: From Ben Bradlee to Lena Horne to Carl Reiner, Our Most Famous Eights Year Olds Reveal Why They Never Felt So Young. Sourcebooks, Naperville 2007, ISBN 978-1-4022-4823-8

Web links

Commons : Marge Champion  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Kevin Brownlow: Obituary: Lina Basquette. In: The Independent . October 8, 1994, accessed June 9, 2019 .
  2. ↑ Do40 Celebrates The 50th Anniversary of JOSEPH AND THE AMAZING TECHNICOLOR DREAMCOAT. In: BroadwayWorld. September 30, 2019, accessed October 1, 2019 .
  3. ↑ Gerald Gardner, Jim Bellows: 80: From Ben Bradlee to Lena Horne to Carl Reiner, Our Most Famous Eighty Year Olds Reveal Why They Never Felt So Young Sourcebooks, Naperville 2007, ISBN 978-1-4022-4823-8 , page 27 .
  4. ↑ Jan Hoffman: PUBLIC LIVES; A Dancer's 8-Decade Arc to Top Banana. In: The New York Times . July 14, 1999, accessed February 10, 2019 .
  5. ^ Jeff Labrecque: Marge Champion: The young woman who became the first Disney princess. In: Entertainment Weekly . January 18, 2016, accessed June 6, 2016 .
  6. ↑ Fabienne Hurst: "Snow White": Disney's monster film. In: Spiegel Online . December 21, 2012, accessed August 7, 2019 .
  7. ↑ Peter Beddies: "I was Snow White". In: The world . October 23, 2009, accessed February 10, 2019 .
  8. ↑ Harry Haun: Still Lovely to Look At: A Lifetime Achievement Award for Dancing Diva Marge Champion. In: The Observer . May 28, 2013, accessed June 7, 2016 .
  9. ↑ National Public Radio : Bidding Farewell To 'Hello, Dolly!': Actress Carol Channing Dies At 97. In: KUNM . January 15, 2019, accessed February 10, 2019 .
  10. ↑ Richard Skipper: Marge Champion's Memories of Gower Champion and Hello, Dolly! In: callondolly.com. Retrieved April 2, 2019 .
  11. ↑ Dancing With the Stars - Marge and Gower Champion in the “Smoke Gets In Your Eyes” Number (Update: Marge's Documentary) (Update 2: Why The Champions Divorced). In: javabeanrush.blogspot.com. December 27, 2010, accessed June 7, 2016 .
  12. ^ Susan King: Classic Hollywood: Marge Champion still has the dance moves. In: The Los Angeles Times . September 16, 2014, accessed August 11, 2019 .
  13. ↑ Jeff Labreque: Marge Champion: The young woman who became Disney's Snow White. In: Entertainment Weekly . January 17, 2016, accessed August 11, 2019 .
  14. ↑ Susan King: Marge Champion. In: Los Angeles Times . September 30, 2009, accessed June 6, 2016 .
  15. ^ Curtis M. Wong: Marge Champion, Dance Legend And Model For Disney's 'Snow White,' To Receive Astaire Awards Honor. In: Huffpost . May 31, 2013, accessed June 7, 2016 .
  16. ^ The Broadway League: Marge Champion. In: Internet Broadway Database . Retrieved June 9, 2019 .
personal data
SURNAME Champion, Marge
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Belcher, Marjorie Celeste (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American dancer, dance teacher, actress, and choreographer
DATE OF BIRTH September 2, 1919
PLACE OF BIRTH Los Angeles , California