Jerome Robbins (October 11, 1918 – July 29, 1998), was an American theater producer, director, and dance choreographer known primarily for Broadway Theater and Ballet/Dance, but who also occasionally directed films and directed/produced for television. His work ranged from classical ballet to contemporary musical theater. Among the numerous stage productions he worked on were On the Town, Peter Pan, High Button Shoes, The King And I, The Pajama Game, Bells Are Ringing, West Side Story, Gypsy: A Musical Fable, and Fiddler on the Roof. Robbins was a five time Tony Award winner and a recipient of the Kennedy Center Honors. He received two Academy Awards, including the 1961 Academy Award for Best Director with Robert Wise for West Side Story. A documentary about his life and work, Something to Dance About, featuring excerpts from his journals, archival performance and rehearsal footage, and interviews with Robbins and his colleagues, premiered on PBS in 2009 and won a Peabody Award the same year.
Kennedy Center Honors, Academy Honorary Award, Tony Award for Best Choreography, Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical, Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directing – Feature Film, Drama Desk Special Award, Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Broadway Musical
Nominations
Academy Award for Best Director, Golden Globe Award for Best Director - Motion Picture, Tony Award for Best Play, BAFTA Award for Best Film, Laurence Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in Dance, Primetime Emmy Award for Best Choreographer
Movies
Peter Pan, West Side Story, On the Town
Star Sign
Libra
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Fact
1
Arthur Laurents, Leonard Bernstein and his musical, "West Side Story" at the Paramount Theatre in Chicago, Illinois was awarded the 2016 Joseph Jefferson (Equity) Award for Large Musical Production.
2
He was bisexual; he had a relationship with actor Montgomery Clift, but he never married.
When he and Robert Wise won the Best Director Oscar in 1962 for West Side Story (1961), it was the first time that a directing Oscar was shared among collaborators.
12
He was awarded the American National Medal of the Arts in 1988 by the National Endowment of the Arts in Washington D.C.
13
Biography in: "American National Biography". Supplement 1, pp. 517-519. New York: Oxford University Press, 2002.
14
Won five Tony Awards: as Best Choreographer, in 1948 for "High Button Shoes" and in 1958 for "West Side Story;" as both Best Director (Musical) and Best Choreographer, in 1965 for "Fiddler on the Roof;" and as Best Director (Musical) in 1989 for "Jerome Robbins' Broadway." He was nominated four other times: as Best Choreographer, in 1957 with Bob Fosse for "Bells Are Ringing;" as Best Director (Musical), in 1960 for "Gypsy;" and, two in 1963, as Producer (Dramatic) and as co-producer of Best Play nominee "Mother Courage and Her Children"
15
Co-Ballet Master at the New York City Ballet.
16
Ballet choreographer.
17
In May, 1953, Robbins was called before the House Un-American Activities Committee. He admitted to having belonged to the American Communist Party's Theatrical Transient Group between 1943 and 1947, and also named eight colleagues as members.
Miscellaneous
Title
Year
Status
Character
Live from Studio 8H: An Evening with Jerome Robbins
1980
TV Movie choreographer
Baryshnikov at the White House
1979
TV Movie choreographer: "Four Chopin Dances"
Fiddler on the Roof
1971
choreographer: New York stage production / director: New York stage production
Oh Dad, Poor Dad, Mamma's Hung You in the Closet and I'm Feelin' So Sad
1967
director: original play
Gypsy
1962
based upon the stage play choreographed by / based upon the stage play directed by
West Side Story
1961
choreography by / stage play: director / stage play: orchestrator
Peter Pan
1960
TV Special choreographer
The Pajama Game
1957
stage director
The King and I
1956
dances and musical numbers staged by
Producers' Showcase
TV Series choreographer - 2 episodes, 1955 - 1956 director - 1 episode, 1956
General Foods 25th Anniversary Show: A Salute to Rodgers and Hammerstein
1954
TV Movie dances for "The King and I"
I Danced with Don Porfirio
1942
choreographer
Something's Coming
2012
TV Short choreographer
Gypsy
1993
TV Movie choreographer
Writer
Title
Year
Status
Character
Peter Pan
2000
TV Special adaptation for 1954 version - adaptation for 1954 version
Loistokaupunki
1966
TV Movie idea
West Side Story
1961
play conceived by
Peter Pan
1960
TV Special adaptation
Peter Pan
1955
TV Movie adaptation
Producers' Showcase
1955
TV Series adaptation - 1 episode
On the Town
1949
idea
Director
Title
Year
Status
Character
West Side Story
1961
The Ford 50th Anniversary Show
1953
TV Movie
Soundtrack
Title
Year
Status
Character
So You Think You Can Dance
2010
TV Series performer - 1 episode
The Making of 'West Side Story'
1985
TV Movie documentary "West Side Story"
Actor
Title
Year
Status
Character
Monitor
1959
TV Series documentary
Interviewee
Thanks
Title
Year
Status
Character
Great Performances
1993
TV Series with appreciation to - 1 episode
Self
Title
Year
Status
Character
Afternoon of a Faun: Tanaquil Le Clercq
2013
Documentary
Himself
Broadway: The American Musical
2004
TV Mini-Series documentary
Himself
The 50th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards
1998
TV Special
Himself (Memoriam)
The Kennedy Center Honors: A Celebration of the Performing Arts
1997
TV Special
Himself
Comme les oiseaux
1993
Documentary
Chorégraphe
The Kennedy Center Honors: A Celebration of the Performing Arts
1990
TV Special
Himself
The Kennedy Center Honors: A Celebration of the Performing Arts
1989
TV Special
Himself
The 43rd Annual Tony Awards
1989
TV Special
Himself - Presenter: Best Choreography & Winner: Best Direction of a Musical
The Kennedy Center Honors: A Celebration of the Performing Arts
1981
TV Special documentary
Himself - Honoree
Fred Astaire: Change Partners and Dance
1980
TV Movie documentary
Himself
Peter Martins, en danser
1978
Documentary
Himself
President Kennedy's Birthday Salute
1962
TV Movie
Himself
The 34th Annual Academy Awards
1962
TV Special
Himself - Winner: Best Director & Honorary Award
Person to Person
1959
TV Series documentary
Himself
The Ed Sullivan Show
1958
TV Series
Himself - Audience Member / Choreographer
Archive Footage
Title
Year
Status
Character
American Masters
2009
TV Series documentary
Himself
West Side Memories
2003
Video documentary
Himself (1960 interview)
The Theater of Tomorrow
1963
TV Movie
Himself
Won Awards
Year
Award
Ceremony
Nomination
Movie
1963
Sant Jordi
Sant Jordi Awards
Best Foreign Film (Mejor Película Extranjera)
West Side Story (1961)
1962
Oscar
Academy Awards, USA
Best Director
West Side Story (1961)
1962
Honorary Award
Academy Awards, USA
For his brilliant achievements in the art of choreography on film.
1962
DGA Award
Directors Guild of America, USA
Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures
$900,000
