Gwen Verdon Biography

Fast Facts

• Inducted into the American Theatre Hall of Fame in 1981
• Recipient of the American Medal of the Arts by the National Endowment of the Arts in 1998
• Married well-known dancer and choreographer Bob Fosse in 1960
• Born with rickets that caused her legs to bow as a child, her mother enrolled her in dance classes to try and straighten them out
• Began her career as an assistant to choreographer Jack Cole who worked both on Broadway and in Hollywood
• Made her Broadway debut as a featured dancer in the musical "Can-Can" in 1953, performing so well on opening night that she had to come back after her dance for a curtain call so that the show could continue
• Quote: "Sex in a dance is in the eye of the beholder․ I never thought my dances were sexy․ I suppose that's because I see myself with my face washed, and to me, I look like a rabbit․"
• Quote: "(On Bob Fosse): "I was a great dancer when he got hold of me, but he developed me, he created me․""
• Best known as an acclaimed Broadway performer who appeared in musicals like "Can-Can," "Damn Yankees," and "Chicago․"
• Was a dancing coach for actresses like Jane Russell, Marilyn Monroe, Lana Turner, and Rita Hayworth
• On the day that she died in 2000 at the age of 75, the marquee lights on Broadway were dimmed in her honor