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Robert Louis Fosse ( June 23 , 1927 - September 23 , 1987 ) was a Musical Theater Choreographer and Director . CAREER Fosse was born in Chicago, Illinois into a Norwegian family. He was the youngest of six children. His career in dance began at an early age when his father taught him ballroom dancing. Fosse began his dance training at the Chicago Academy of Theater Arts where he learned tap and acrobatic dancing, and was the only male enrolled. At the age of 13, Fosse teamed up with Charles Grass, another young dancer, and began a collaboration under the appellation The Riff Brothers. They toured various theaters and strip joints all throughout the Chicago area. In less than three years, the team was making the then generous salary of over $100 a week and Fosse was already choreographing as well as writing comedy sketches by age 15. Ever ambitious, however, Fosse moved on and he was working as an emcee at a series of small nightspots. It was at one of those establishments where he choreographed his first number, involving four girls manipulating ostrich fans to the music of Cole Porter. By 1945, Fosse had graduated from Amundsen High in Chicago and landed a job dancing in the show "Tough Situation," which toured military and naval bases in the Pacific. He later said he "perfected his technique as a performer,choreographer,and director while serving his tour of duty". He first appeared in Film dancing in '' Give A Girl A Break '', '' The Affairs Of Dobie Gillis '' and '' Kiss Me, Kate '', all three released in 1953 . Fosse developed a and Burlesque updated and coolly contained within a slick, knowing sophistication. One year later he worked as a Choreographer in his first two Broadway shows, " The Pajama Game " ( 1954 , in which he first met Gwen Verdon, and " Damn Yankees " ( 1955 ). In 1986 he directed and choreographed the Broadway production "Big Deal", which he also wrote. Fosse earned many awards for his works. Among them were a Tony Award for '' Pippin '', the Academy Award For Directing for ''Cabaret'' and an Emmy Award for " Liza With A Z ". He was the first person to win these three most important awards in the same year. In 2001, Fosse was awarded the Lawrence Olivier Theatre Award for Best Theatre Choreographer with Ann Reinking for Fosse at the Prince of Wales Theatre. His musical All That Jazz ( 1979 ) won the Palme D'Or . It is an uncompromising, semi-autobiographical fantasy that portrays a chain-smoking choreographer being driven by his A-type personality to the brink of a Heart Attack . Bob Fosse was first married to fellow dancer Marian Niles, then to dancer Joan McCracken from 1951 to 1959, and then married dancer Gwen Verdon in 1960. They had one daughter, Nicole Providence Fosse , who is also a dancer like her parents. LEGACY There was a resurgence of interest in Fosse's work following revivals of his stage shows and the film release of '' Chicago '' ( 2002 ). Rob Marshall 's choreography for the film emulates the Fosse style but avoids using specific moves from the original. In 1999 the stage show ''Fosse'' itself won a Tony Award For Best Musical . OTHER SHOWS AND FILMS Fosse also choreographed a number of other shows:
and several films:
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