Michael Kidd
| Michael Kidd | |
|---|---|
Michael Kidd on the set of The Band Wagon
|
|
| Born |
Milton Greenwald August 12, 1915 New York City, New York, U.S. |
| Died | December 23, 2007 (aged 92) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Occupation | Choreographer, dancer, actor |
| Years active | 1937–1996 |
| Spouse(s) | Mary Heater (m.1940) (2 children) Shelah Hackett (1969–2007) (his death) (2 children) |
| Children | 4 |
Michael Kidd (August 12, 1915 – December 23, 2007) was an American film and stage choreographer, dancer and actor, whose career spanned five decades, and staged some of the leading Broadway and film musicals of the 1940s and 1950s. Kidd, who was strongly influenced by Charlie Chaplin and Léonide Massine, was an innovator in what came to be known as the "integrated musical", in which dance movements are integral to the plot.
He was probably best known for his athletic dance numbers in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, a 1954 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer musical, and for choreographing Fred Astaire and Cyd Charisse in the "Girl Hunt Ballet" and "Dancing in the Dark" numbers in the 1953 musical film The Band Wagon. Film critic Stephanie Zacharek called the barn-raising sequence in Seven Brides "one of the most rousing dance numbers ever put on screen". He was the first choreographer to win five Tony Awards, and was awarded an honorary Academy Award in 1996 for advancing dance in film.
Kidd was born Milton Greenwald in New York City on the Lower East Side, the son of Abraham Greenwald, a barber, and his wife Lillian, who were Jewish refugees from Czarist Russia. He moved to Brooklyn with his family and attended New Utrecht High School. He became interested in dance after attending a modern dance performance, and went on to study under Blanche Evan, a dancer and choreographer.
...
Wikipedia