Bob Fosse

Home > ... > Literature and the Arts > Performing Arts > Dance: Biographies > ...

Bob Fosse

The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition | 2008 | The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. Copyright 2008 Columbia University Press. (Hide copyright information) Copyright

Bob Fosse (Robert Louis Fosse) , 1927-87, American choreographer and director, b. Chicago. Fosse first appeared on Broadway in Dance Me a Song (1950). He choreographed dances for The Pajama Game (1954), Damn Yankees (1955), and Pippin (1972). He also directed and choreographed the film Sweet Charity (1966) and the supposedly autobiographical All That Jazz (1979). In 1972, he became the only director to win an Academy Award ( Cabaret ), a Tony Award ( Pippin ) and an Emmy Award ( "Liza with a Z" ) in the same year.

Hide all research tools
Print this article Print all entries for this topic Cite this article Link to this article
Link to this article

CloseClose

Create a link to this page

Copy and paste this link tag into your Web page or blog:

<a href="http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/.aspx#1E1-Fosse-Bo" title="Facts and information about Bob Fosse">Bob Fosse</a>

Add this article to Del.icio.usBookmark this article on DiigoShare this article on FacebookSubmit this article to RedditGive this article a thumbs-up on StumbleUpon
Show all research tools

Cite this article
Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography.

  • MLA
  • Chicago
  • APA

"Bob Fosse." The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2008. Encyclopedia.com. 10 Dec. 2009 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

"Bob Fosse." The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2008. Encyclopedia.com. (December 10, 2009). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-Fosse-Bo.html

"Bob Fosse." The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2008. Retrieved December 10, 2009 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-Fosse-Bo.html

Learn more about citation styles

Fosse, (Robert Louis) Bob

The Oxford Companion to American Theatre | 2004 | | © The Oxford Companion to American Theatre 2004, originally published by Oxford University Press 2004. (Hide copyright information) Copyright

Fosse, [Robert Louis] Bob (1927–87), choreographer and director. Born in Chicago, he began dancing professionally at the age of fourteen and later appeared in the choruses of several Broadway musicals before choreographing The Pajama Game (1954). Fosse was immediately recognized as a fresh, imaginative talent, whose style leaned heavily on clever, angular groupings and showed a marked debt to urban street dancing. He later did the dances for, among others, Damn Yankees (1955), New Girl in Town (1957), How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying (1961), and Little Me (1962). Fosse served as both director and choreographer for Redhead (1959), Sweet Charity (1966), Pippin (1972), Chicago (1977), Dancin' (1978), and Big Deal (1986). He sometimes returned to performing, as when he played the title role in a 1963 City Center revival of Pal Joey. The dance musical Fosse (1999) was a compilation of his work re‐created by others after his death. Biography: All His Jazz: The Life and Death of Bob Fosse, Martin Gottfried, 1990.

Hide all research tools
Print this article Print all entries for this topic Cite this article Link to this article
Link to this article

CloseClose

Create a link to this page

Copy and paste this link tag into your Web page or blog:

<a href="http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/.aspx#1O149-FosseRobertLouisBob" title="Facts and information about Bob Fosse">Bob Fosse</a>

Add this article to Del.icio.usBookmark this article on DiigoShare this article on FacebookSubmit this article to RedditGive this article a thumbs-up on StumbleUpon
Show all research tools

Cite this article
Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography.

  • MLA
  • Chicago
  • APA

Gerald Bordman and Thomas S. Hischak. "Fosse, (Robert Louis) Bob." The Oxford Companion to American Theatre. Oxford University Press. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. 10 Dec. 2009 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

Gerald Bordman and Thomas S. Hischak. "Fosse, (Robert Louis) Bob." The Oxford Companion to American Theatre. Oxford University Press. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. (December 10, 2009). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O149-FosseRobertLouisBob.html

Gerald Bordman and Thomas S. Hischak. "Fosse, (Robert Louis) Bob." The Oxford Companion to American Theatre. Oxford University Press. 2004. Retrieved December 10, 2009 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O149-FosseRobertLouisBob.html

Learn more about citation styles

Free newspaper and magazine articles

Free Article Celebrating a Broadway legend.(Entertainment)(Touring dance revue highlights the work of Bob Fosse)
Newspaper article from: The Register-Guard (Eugene, OR); 3/23/2003
Free Article Bob Fosse's `Dancin" returns to Broadway in May 2009
News Wire article from: AP Worldstream; 3/21/2008
Free Article Broadway On Bravo Salutes Theater Capital This November.
Business Wire; 10/27/1998

Facts and information from other sites

Related topics

  Edit this list

Related articles from newspapers, magazines, and more

Bob Fosse, Broadway's gifted, glitzy master of razzle-dazzle
Newspaper article from: Chicago Sun-Times; 12/16/1990; ; 700+ words ; All His Jazz The Life and Death of Bob Fosse. By Martin Gottfried. Bantam. $24.95. `All that jazz" is both the title of choreographer-director Bob Fosse's most autobiographical movie and the opening number...
Sweet Memories; The `Charity' Cast Mourn Bob Fosse
Newspaper article from: The Washington Post; 9/25/1987; ; 700+ words ; ...was called onstage and informed that Bob Fosse had collapsed earlier that evening...I knew something was up, because Bob wasn't there," said Walker, 33...up in my dressing room, angry with Bob, and I don't know why. I was hitting...
A bittersweet, cinematic dance with Bob Fosse.(Arts)
Newspaper article from: The Washington Times; 5/18/1997; ; 700+ words ; Bob Fosse always will be linked to Washington theater history by sheer mortality...Scheider enjoyed his last brush with cinematic luster by impersonating Bob Fosse for Bob Fosse. The director imagined a reflective Joe as the confidant of an...
`Bob Fosse' fondly recalls a dancin' man
Newspaper article from: Chicago Sun-Times; 2/23/1990; ; 700+ words ; Dance in America: Bob Fosse Steam Heat (STAR) (STAR) (STAR...ashtrays and half-filled coffee cups, Bob Fosse was at work. Previous heart surgery...he said. PBS' "Dance in America: Bob Fosse Steam Heat" does just that. The...
Bob Fosse Dies After Collapsing On D.C. Street
Newspaper article from: The Washington Post; 9/24/1987; ; 700+ words ; Bob Fosse, 60, the eight-time Tony award-winning...Charity" opened here at the National Theatre. Fosse led rehearsals of the musical, which was...of the show. {See review, Page C1.} Fosse was taken to George Washington Hospital...
Bob Fosse
Magazine article from: Dance Teacher; 4/1/2006; ; 700+ words ; ...musical. Choreographer and director Bob Fosse revolutionized musical theater with...movement. Starting in the late 1950s, Fosse's style-characterized by subtle...1966 production of Sweet Charity, Fosse's choreography was a harbinger of...
Theatre: Tough guys really do dance Choreographer and director Bob Fosse revolutionised musical staging and his screen version of Cabaret won eight Oscars. As a compilation of his hits opens, his star dancer Gwen Verdon assesses a unique talent
Newspaper article from: The Independent - London; 1/26/2000; ; 700+ words ; ...choreographed and directed by Bob Fosse, now two years into its...he revered. Footage of Fosse shows a slight, wiry man...Verdon says, "but Bob always said, `Yes, do...for about five years with Bob's intent that if we found...
The best legs in show business The spirit of Bob Fosse lives on in the lithe body of Ann Reinking, his star dancer and onetime lover. ANNE SACKS met her as she rehearsed the hit musical named after him
Newspaper article from: Evening Standard - London; 1/20/2000; ; 700+ words ; ...legend Ann Reinking is rehearsing Fosse, the New York musical hit that...up and thrust their hips. A Bob Fosse dance is easy to spot and...London production. "I swear Bob is channelling through you...and his third wife, told her. Bob Fosse was the restless, chain...
Steppin' out with Bob Fosse
Newspaper article from: Chicago Sun-Times; 7/15/2001; ; 604 words ; 'Fosse' Tuesday-July 28. 7:30 p.m. Tuesdays...impact on the Broadway musical as Chicagoan Bob Fosse. In a career that spanned more than a quarter of a century, Fosse was honored with nine Tony awards, three...
West End beauties, Claire Sweeney and Ruthie Henshall, tip their hats to awarding winning choreographer, Bob Fosse!
M2 Presswire; 9/8/2003; 700+ words ; ...winning choreographer, Bob Fosse!(C)1994-2003 M2 COMMUNICATIONS...Chicago is a great warm up to Fosse and I am thrilled to be...and high heels for another Fosse role, in this celebration...pioneering choreography of Bob Fosse whose signature style...

Pictures from Google Image Search

Click to see an enlarged picture
Click to see an enlarged picture
Click to see an enlarged picture

For students and teachers!

Encyclopedia.com provides students and teachers facts, information, and biographies from verified, citable sources, including:

Encyclopedia.com provides students and teachers facts, information, and biographies from verified, citable sources, including: