Gwen Verdon
About
Biography
Filmography
Family & Companions
Notes
"The amount of physical activity in which this frail-seeming creature indulges is perfectly flabbergasting; spinning, prancing, curvetting, she is seldom out of sight and never out of breath. Yet beneath the athletic ebullience is somthing more rarified--an unfailing delicay of spirit." --Kenneth Tynan in The New Yorker.
Verdon was on the board of directors to the Postgraduate Center for Mental Health
Biography
Petite, saucy redheaded star of Broadway musicals during their golden age in the 1950s, 60s and 70s. A child tap dancer and daughter of a Hollywood studio gaffer, Verdon took a stab at a variety of careers--from dance instruction to reviewing the nightclub scene for The Hollywood Reporter where she first saw the legendary jazz choreographer Jack Cole's work in the late 1940s. She worked both as his assistant choreographer and principal dancer before making her adult film debut in a small part in the "Popo the Puppet" number with Danny Kaye in "On the Riviera," followed by a bit as a slave girl in "David and Bathsheba" (both 1951). Verdon became an overnight Broadway sensation as a show-stopping featured dancer in Cole Porter's "Can Can" (1953), it was her work with her choreographer and later her husband Bob Fosse, however, that made her a four-time Tony winning Broadway legend. Beginning with the seductive witch Lola of "Damn Yankees," the couple fashioned an onstage persona for Verdon that combined the disparate elements of an alluring vamp--whether prostitute or hardened murderer--with an inner sweetness and a heartbreaking vulnerability. Highlighting Verdon's unique talents--her peerless dance technique, sexy figure and fragile, wistful, slightly hoarse voice, Fosse and Verdon created a string of memorable tough gals in "New Girl in Town," "Redhead," "Sweet Charity" and "Chicago" before Verdon voluntarily retired from active dancing in the mid-1970s. Although legally separated from Fosse, she continued to work with him as an assistant choreographer and dance supervisor on his "Dancin'" (1978) and the 1987 revival of "Sweet Charity," during rehearsals of which he died in Washington with Verdon at his side.
With the exception of the faithful 1958 film adaptation of "Damn Yankees" (the only chance she got to recreate a stage role on film), Verdon's film career has book-ended her Broadway stardom; she returned to films in the 1980s as a warm, mature and spunky character performer in such films as "The Cotton Club" (1984), "Cocoon" (1985) and its 1988 sequel, "Nadine" (1987), Woody Allen's "Alice" (1990) and "Marvin's Room" (1996). In the latter, she was the dotty aunt of Meryl Streep and Diane Keaton.
Filmography
Cast (Feature Film)
Music (Feature Film)
Dance (Feature Film)
Misc. Crew (Feature Film)
Cast (Special)
Dance (Special)
Misc. Crew (Special)
Cast (TV Mini-Series)
Life Events
1940
Musical comedy debut as a dancer in Los Angeles Civic Light Opera Company revival of "Show Boat"
1943
Film debut in "Presenting Lily Mars"
1947
Cast by Cole in first Broadway show, Comden and Green's "Bonanza Bound"; show closed in Philadelphia after one week
1948
Assistant choreographer (with George Martin) to Jack Cole on first Broadway musical, "Magdalena"
1950
Broadway performing debut in the revue "Alive and Kicking", dancing with Jack Cole
1951
Appeared as a dancer in films "On the Riviera", "David and Bathsheba", "Meet Me After the Show"
1953
Breakthrough Broadway dance role in Michael Kidd's production of Cole Porter's "Can Can"
1958
First co-starring film role in "Damn Yankees", recreating stage role of Lola
1972
Non-musical Broadway debut in "Children! Children!"
1975
Last performance in a Broadway musical, "Chicago"
1978
Was ballet mistress on Fosse's "Dancin'"
1983
TV-movie debut, "Legs"
1984
Starred in TV pilot, "Community Center"
1990
Played Mia Farrow's mother in Woody Allen's "Alcie"
1996
Appeared in "Marvin's Room"
1998
Oversaw the award-winning stage production "Fosse: A Celebration in Song and Dance"
Videos
Movie Clip
Trailer
Family
Companions
Bibliography
Notes
"The amount of physical activity in which this frail-seeming creature indulges is perfectly flabbergasting; spinning, prancing, curvetting, she is seldom out of sight and never out of breath. Yet beneath the athletic ebullience is somthing more rarified--an unfailing delicay of spirit." --Kenneth Tynan in The New Yorker.
Verdon was on the board of directors to the Postgraduate Center for Mental Health
