Gwen Verdon
{{short description|American actress and dancer (1925–2000)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2024}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Gwen Verdon
| image = Gwen Verdon 1954.jpg
| imagesize =
| caption = Verdon in 1954
| birth_name = Gwyneth Evelyn Verdon
| birth_date = {{Birth date|mf=yes|1925|1|13}}{{Cite magazine |title=Gwen Verdon (Performer, Choreographer) |date=2000-10-18 |magazine=Playbill |url=https://playbill.com/person/gwen-verdon-vault-0000000400 |access-date=2024-01-18 |issn=0551-0678 |quote=Ms. Verdon was born to Joseph William and Gertrude Verdon on Jan. 13, 1925, in Culver City, CA.}}
| birth_place = Culver City, California, U.S.
| death_date = {{Death date and age|mf=yes|2000|10|18|1925|1|13}}
| death_place = Woodstock, Vermont, U.S.
| occupation = Actress, dancer
| years_active = 1936–2000
| spouse = {{ubl
| {{marriage|James Henaghan|1942|1947|end=div}}
| {{marriage|Bob Fosse|1960|1987|end=died}}
}}
| children = 2, including Nicole Fosse
}}
Gwyneth Evelyn "Gwen" Verdon (January 13, 1925{{spnd}}October 18, 2000) was an American actress and dancer. She won four Tony Awards for her musical comedy performances, and she served as an uncredited choreographer's assistant and specialty dance coach for theater and film. Verdon was a critically acclaimed performer on Broadway in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, having originated many roles in musicals, including Lola in Damn Yankees, the title character in Sweet Charity, and Roxie Hart in Chicago.
Her second husband was director-choreographer Bob Fosse. The couple collaborated on a number of theater and film projects. After Fosse's death, she worked to preserve his legacy.{{cite news |last1=Miller |first1=Julie |title=Inside Gwen Verdon and Bob Fosse's Unconventional Marriage |url=https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2019/04/gwen-verdon-bob-fosse-fx-marriage |access-date=9 January 2024 |publisher=Vanity Fair |date=April 9, 2019}}
Early life
Verdon was born in Culver City, California, the second child of Gertrude Lilian ({{née}} Standring) and Joseph William Verdon, who were both British immigrants to the United States by way of Canada.{{cite magazine|first=Patrick|last=Pacheco|url=https://ew.com/article/2000/11/03/remembering-gwen-verdon/|title=Remembering Gwen Verdon|magazine=Entertainment Weekly|publisher=Meredith Corporation|location=New York City|date=November 3, 2000|access-date=June 24, 2015|archive-date=December 15, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131215182022/http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,278295,00.html|url-status=live}} Her brother was William Farrell Verdon, her father was an electrician at MGM Studios, and her mother was a former vaudevillian of the Denishawn dance troupe, as well as a dance teacher.[http://www.californiabirthindex.org/birth/gwenyth_evelyn_verdon_born_1925_996516 Birthdata], californiabirthindex.org; accessed June 24, 2015.
As a toddler, she suffered from rickets, which led to her being called "Gimpy" by other children and spent her early years in orthopedic boots and rigid leg braces. At age three, her mother enrolled her in dance classes. Further ballet training strengthened her legs and improved her carriage.{{Citation needed |date=April 2024}}
By age six, she was dancing on stage. She went on to study multiple dance forms, ranging from tap, jazz, ballroom and flamenco to Balinese. She also studied juggling. At age 11, she appeared as a solo ballerina in the musical romance film The King Steps Out (1936), directed by Josef von Sternberg and starring Grace Moore and Franchot Tone. She attended Hamilton High School in Los Angeles and studied under ballet enthusiast Ernest Belcher. While in high school, she was cast in a revival of Show Boat.https://www.amazon.com/Jerome-Robeson-Verdon-Angeles-Program/dp/B00YST5FMW
In 1942, Verdon's parents asked her to marry family friend and tabloid reporter James Henaghan after he got her pregnant at 17 years old, and she quit her dancing career to raise their child.{{cite magazine|first=Julie|last=Miller|url=https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2019/04/fosse-verdon-bob-gwen-first-husband-baby#~o|title='Fosse/Verdon' Reveals the Sad Secret of Gwen Verdon's First Marriage|magazine=Vanity Fair|publisher=Condé Nast|location=New York City|date=April 24, 2019|access-date=May 23, 2019}} In 1945, she appeared as a dancer in the movie musical Blonde From Brooklyn. After her divorce, she entrusted her son Jimmy to the care of her parents.{{Citation needed |date=April 2024}}
Career
Early on, Verdon found a job as assistant to choreographer Jack Cole, whose work was respected by both Broadway and Hollywood movie studios. During her five-year employment with Cole, she took small roles in movie musicals as a "specialty dancer". She also taught dance to stars such as Jane Russell, Fernando Lamas, Lana Turner, Rita Hayworth, Betty Grable, and Marilyn Monroe.{{Citation |title=Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953) - Trivia - IMDb |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0045810/trivia/?item=tr0641979 |access-date=2024-03-11 |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |last=Levine |first=Debra |date=2009-08-09 |title=Moving Marilyn Monroe |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2009-aug-09-ca-marilyn-monroe9-story.html |access-date=2024-03-11 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}}{{Cite news |date=2019-04-10 |title=Jack Cole: The 'scary' dancer who made Marilyn sparkle |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-47814968 |access-date=2024-03-11 |language=en-GB}}
Verdon started out on Broadway going from one chorus line to another. Her breakthrough role finally came when choreographer Michael Kidd cast her as the second female lead in Cole Porter's musical Can-Can (1953), starring French prima donna Lilo. Out-of-town reviewers hailed Verdon's interpretation of Eve in the Garden of Eden ballet as a performance that upstaged the show's star, who reputedly demanded Verdon's role be cut to only two featured dance numbers. With her role reduced to little more than an ensemble part, Verdon formally announced her intention to quit by the time the show premiered on Broadway. But her opening-night Garden of Eden performance was so well-received that the audience screamed her name until the startled actress was brought from her dressing room in a towel to take a curtain call.[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1jgDNzIF5w&t=1m44s "Gwen Verdon #5"] youtube.com, retrieved June 4, 2019 Verdon received a pay increase and her first Tony Award for her performance.{{cite web | url=https://www.broadwayworld.com/tonyawardspersoninfo.php?nomname=Gwen%20Verdon | title=Gwen Verdon Tony Awards Wins and Nominations }}
Verdon's biggest critical and commercial success was her following show, George Abbott's Damn Yankees (1955), based on the novel The Year the Yankees Lost the Pennant. The musical ran for 1,019 performances. Verdon won another Tony and went to Hollywood to repeat her role in the 1958 movie version Damn Yankees, famously singing "Whatever Lola Wants". (Fosse can be seen partnered with her in the original mambo duet "Who's Got the Pain".}{{cite web | url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5JY4dayMcz | title=- YouTube | website=YouTube }}
Verdon won another Tony for her performance in the musical New Girl in Town as a hard-luck girl fleeing from her past as a prostitute. She won her fourth Tony for the murder-mystery musical Redhead, Fosse's Broadway debut as a director/choreographer.{{cite web | url=https://www.broadwayworld.com/tonyawardspersoninfo.php?nomname=Gwen%20Verdon | title=Gwen Verdon Tony Awards Wins and Nominations }} In 1960, Fosse and Verdon wed.
In 1966, Verdon returned to the stage in the role of Charity in Sweet Charity, which, like many of her earlier Broadway triumphs, was choreographed and directed by husband Fosse. The show is loosely based on Federico Fellini's screenplay for Nights of Cabiria. It was followed by a movie version starring Shirley MacLaine as Charity, featuring Ricardo Montalbán, Sammy Davis Jr. and Chita Rivera, with Fosse at the helm of his first film as director and choreographer. Verdon helped with the choreography. The numbers include the famed "Big Spender", "Rhythm of Life", "If My Friends Could See Me Now", and "I'm a Brass Band". Verdon also traveled to Berlin to help Fosse with Cabaret, the musical film for which he won an Oscar for Best Director.{{cite web | url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/hollywood-flashback-cabaret-won-eight-oscars-including-best-director-1973-1265403/ | title=Hollywood Flashback: 'Cabaret' Won Eight Oscars, Including Best Director, in 1973 | website=The Hollywood Reporter | date=January 6, 2020 }}
Although estranged as a couple, Verdon continued to collaborate with Fosse as a performer and a choreographer. In the 1975 Broadway production of the Fosse-directed musical Chicago, Verdon originated the role of murderess Roxie Hart) opposite Chita Rivera's Velma Kelly. Although the musical was almost universally panned by critics, who compared it unfavorably to Cabaret, Gwen Verdon was singled out for praise: her performance was "delectable" wrote the NY Times theater critic.{{cite web | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1975/06/08/archives/stage-view-chicago-comes-on-like-doomsday-stage-view-chicago-comes.html | title=STAGE VIEW (Published 1975) | website=The New York Times | date=June 8, 1975 }} Verdon also helped out with Fosse's paean to Broadway dancing in the musical Dancin' (1978), as well as Fosse's autobiographical film All That Jazz (1979).{{Cite web|url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/how-broadway-legends-bob-fosse-and-gwen-verdon-made-headlines-long-fosse-verdon-180971951/|title=How Broadway Legends Bob Fosse and Gwen Verdon Made Headlines Long Before 'Fosse/Verdon'|last=Thulin|first=Lila|website=Smithsonian|language=en|access-date=2019-12-10}} The helpmate/peer played by Leland Palmer in that film is based on the role Verdon played in Fosse's real life. She also developed a close working relationship with Fosse's romantic partner of six years, Broadway dancer Ann Reinking, working as an instructor for Reinking's musical theatre classes.Miller, Julie, "Fosse/Verdon: Inside Ann Reinking and Gwen Verdon’s Unlikely Friendship" Vanity Fair, May, 2019
After the 1975 stage version of Chicago Verdon focused on film acting, playing character roles in movies such as The Cotton Club (1984), Cocoon (1985), and Cocoon: The Return (1988). She collected several Emmy nominations in her guest performances on television shows, including nominations for appearances on Magnum, P.I. (1988), Dream On (1993) and Homicide: Life on the Street (1993). Her screen roles continued in prestigious films, such as the mother of Mia Farrow's title character in the Woody Allen movie Alice (1990) and the eccentric Aunt Ruth in Marvin's Room (1996), co-starring Meryl Streep, Diane Keaton, and Leonardo DiCaprio. Other film roles include Alora in Walking Across Egypt (1999) and Bruno (2000).
Verdon served as artistic consultant to the 1999 Broadway musical Fosse, reprising classic Fosse choreography without any formal narrative; the revue was conceived and co-directed by Richard Maltby Jr. and Ann Reinking. (Verdon's daughter with Fosse, performer Nicole Fosse received a "special thanks" credit.) With glowing reviews, Fosse ran for 1000 performances on Broadway and collected four Tonys, including the Tony Award for Best Musical.{{cite web | url=https://www.broadwayworld.com/shows/Fosse-4634/cast | title=Fosse Original Broadway Revue Cast 1999 | Broadway World }}
Personal life
Verdon was married twice and had two children. She married tabloid reporter James Archibald Henaghan in 1942. They had a son, Jim, the following year and divorced in 1947. In 1960, Verdon married choreographer Bob Fosse. They had a daughter, Nicole, in 1963. Fosse's extramarital affairs put a strain on their marriage, and by 1971, Verdon and Fosse were separated, but never divorced. She was involved in relationships with actor Scott Brady and actor Jerry Lanning, son of Roberta Sherwood.[https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/actors-scott-brady-and-gwen-verdon-waving-as-they-prepare-news-photo/562642475 "Scott Brady And Gwen Verdon News Photo"] gettyimages.com, January 10, 1955 Verdon was with Fosse when he suffered a fatal heart attack at the Willard Hotel in Washington, D.C., in September 1987.Molotsky, Irvin. [https://www.nytimes.com/1987/09/24/obituaries/bob-fosse-director-and-choreographer-dies.html "Bob Fosse, Director and Choreographer, Dies"] The New York Times, September 24, 1987
Verdon was a cat fancier, having up to six cats at one time, with the pets carrying names such as "Feets Fosse", "Junie Moon", and "Tidbits Tumbler Fosse".Cat People, Bill Hayward, introduction by Rogers E. M. Whitaker. New York: Dolphin/Doubleday, 1978 (p. 70)
Verdon was a mental health-care advocate; later in life, she openly spoke about the positive effects of mental-health counseling. Along with teaching dance as a form of therapy, she sat on the board of directors for the New York Postgraduate Center for Mental Health, and actively raised funds to support mental health-care research.Taylor, Clarke. [https://people.com/archive/separated-but-still-mated-professionally-gwen-verdon-hoofs-again-for-her-ex-vol-3-no-24/ "Separated but Still Mated Professionally"] People, Vol.3, No.4, June 23, 1975
She was also stated to be a big fan of baseball, and went to day games with her scout son.{{Cite web |title="Gwen Verdon: too hot for Hollywood?" Tempo News, 1955 |url=https://www.verdonfosse.com/blog/gwen-verdon-too-hot-for-hollywood-tempo-news-1955 |access-date=2024-03-11 |website=The Verdon Fosse® Legacy |language=en-US}}
Death and legacy
Verdon died from a heart attack on October 18, 2000, aged 75, at her daughter's home in Woodstock, Vermont.{{cite news|first=Michael|last=Kuchwara|title=Gwen Verdon, Broadway's Lola, Sweet Charity and Roxie Hart, dies at 75|agency=Associated Press|date=October 19, 2000}}{{cite magazine|first1=Robert|last1=Simonson|first2=Kenneth|last2=Jones|url=http://www.playbill.com/article/broadway-musical-legend-gwen-verdon-is-dead-at-75-com-92549#|title=Broadway Musical Legend Gwen Verdon Is Dead at 75|magazine=Playbill|publisher=Playbill Inc.|location=New York City|date=October 18, 2000}}{{cite news|first=Robert|last=Berkvist|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/10/19/theater/gwen-verdon-redhead-who-high-kicked-her-way-to-stardom-dies-at-75.html|title=Gwen Verdon, Redhead Who High-Kicked Her Way to Stardom, Dies at 75|newspaper=The New York Times|location=New York City|date=October 19, 2000}} Later that night, at 8 pm, all marquee lights on Broadway were dimmed in a tribute to Verdon.
Popular culture
Fosse/Verdon is an 8-part American miniseries starring Sam Rockwell as Fosse and Michelle Williams as Verdon.{{Citation |title=Fosse/Verdon |date=2019-04-09 |type=Biography, Drama, Music |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8746478/ |access-date=2024-04-19 |others=Sam Rockwell, Michelle Williams, Norbert Leo Butz |publisher=FX Productions, The VerdonFosse Legacy, West Egg Studios}} The series, which tells the story of the couple's troubled personal and professional relationship, is based on the biography Fosse by Sam Wasson.{{Cite web |last=Schubak |first=Adam |date=2019-03-01 |title=Everything You Need to Know About Bob Fosse and Gwen Verdon |url=https://www.elle.com/culture/movies-tv/a26409650/fosse-verdon-fx-true-story-explained/ |access-date=2024-04-19 |website=ELLE |language=en-US}} It premiered in eight parts on April 9, 2019, on FX. At the 71st Primetime Emmy Awards, Fosse/Verdon received seventeen nominations, including Outstanding Limited Series and acting nominations for Rockwell, Williams, and Margaret Qualley (as Ann Reinking). Williams won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Movie.{{Cite web |title=Fosse/Verdon |url=https://www.emmys.com/shows/fosse-verdon |access-date=2024-04-19 |website=Television Academy |language=en}}
Work
=Stage=
| class="wikitable sortable" |
| Year
! Title ! Role ! Notes |
|---|
| 1950
| Herself | Musical revue |
| 1953
| Can-Can | Claudine/Eve | Grammy Award for Best Broadway Show Album |
| 1955
| Lola | rowspan="3"| Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in a Musical |
| 1957
| Anna |
| 1959
| Redhead | Essie Whimple |
| 1966
| Charity Hope Valentine | Nominated–Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in a Musical |
| 1972
| Children! Children! | Helen Giles | Only played one performance (13 previews) |
| 1975
| Chicago | Nominated–Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in a Musical |
=Film=
| class="wikitable sortable" |
| Year
! Title ! Role ! Notes |
|---|
| 1936
| Specialty Ballerina | Uncredited |
| 1941
| The Girl After My Heart | Specialty Ballerina |
| 1943
| Cheerleader | Uncredited |
| 1945
| Girl in Nightclub | Uncredited |
| rowspan="3"| 1951
| Specialty Dancer | Uncredited |
| David and Bathsheba
| Specialty Dancer | Uncredited |
| Meet Me After the Show
| Sappho | Uncredited |
| rowspan="2"| 1952
| Girl | Uncredited |
| The Merry Widow
| Specialty Can-Can Dancer | Uncredited |
| rowspan="3"| 1953
| Specialty Dancer | Uncredited |
| The Mississippi Gambler
| Voodoo Dancer | Uncredited |
| The Farmer Takes a Wife
| Abigail | Uncredited |
| 1955
| Specialty Dancer | Uncredited |
| 1958
| Lola | Nominated—BAFTA Award for Most Promising Newcomer to Film |
| 1978
| Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band | Our Guests at Heartland | |
| 1982
| Voice of Lenora Castonmeyer | Uncredited |
| 1984
| Tish Dwyer | |
| 1985
| Cocoon | Bess McCarthy | Nominated—Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress |
| 1987
| Nadine | Vera | |
| 1988
| Bess McCarthy Selwyn | |
| 1990
| Alice | Alice's mother | |
| 1994
| Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All | Etta Pell, Nursing Home Resident | |
| 1996
| Ruth Wakefield | Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role |
| 1999
| Alora | |
| 2000
| Bruno | Mrs. Drago | |
=Television=
| class="wikitable sortable" |
| Year
! Title ! Role ! Notes |
|---|
| 1954
| Shirley Kochendorfer | Episode: "Native Dancer" |
| 1972
| Estelle Mayberry | Segment: "Love and the New Act" |
| 1973
| Celebrity Guest | Week of October 22–26, playing against Godfrey Cambridge[http://www.tv.com/shows/10000-pyramid/gwen-verdon-and-godfrey-cambridge-320523 " 10,000 Pyramid Gwen Verdon & Godfrey Cambridge, Aired Oct 22, 1973"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308165042/http://www.tv.com/shows/10000-pyramid/gwen-verdon-and-godfrey-cambridge-320523/ |date=March 8, 2021}} tv.com, retrieved June 4, 2019 |
| 1981
| M*A*S*H | Brandy Doyle (USO performer) | Episodes: "That's Show Biz" (two episodes, Parts 1 and 2) |
| rowspan="2"| 1982
| Fame | Melinda MacNeil | Episode: "Come One, Come All" |
| All My Children
| Judith Kingsley Sawyer | Unknown episodes |
| 1983
| Legs | Maureen Comly | Television movie |
| rowspan="2"| 1984
| Bag Lady | Television movie; uncredited |
| Gimme a Break!
| Lily | Episode: "The Center" |
| rowspan="2"| 1985
| Ms. Taylor | Episode: "All the King's Horses" |
| Kids Incorporated
| Ruth | Episode: "Grandma, Won't You Dance with Me" |
| 1985–1988
| Katherine Peterson | 5 episodes |
| rowspan="2"| 1986
| Kelly Sterling | Episode: "Unnatural Causes" |
| All Is Forgiven
| Bonita Harrell | Episode: "I Can't Say No" |
| 1986–1988
| Webster | Aunt Charlotte | 3 episodes |
| 1987
| Hotel | Iris Lloyd | Episode: "Second Thoughts" |
| 1989
| Yvonne | Episode: "The Second Time Around" |
| 1990
| Herself | Uncredited |
| 1992
| Dream On | Kitty Brewer | Episode: "For Peter's Sake" |
| rowspan="2"| 1993
| Homicide: Life on the Street | Jessie Doohen | Episode: "Ghost of a Chance" |
| Key West
| Sister Grace | Episode: "Gimme Shelter" |
| 1994
| Yolanda | 2 episodes |
| 1996
| Sadie Truitt | 2 episodes |
| 1997
| Lorraine McCully | Episode: "Missing in Action" |
| 1997–1999
| Maisie Whitman | 2 episodes |
| 1998
| Karen Hatcher | Episode: "Undercover Granny" |
=Music=
- In 1956, Verdon released an album titled The Girl I Left Home For. The album includes her covers of popular jazz standards of the time.[https://www.discogs.com/Gwen-Verdon-The-Girl-I-Left-Home-For/release/4963763 " The Girl I Left Home For RCA Victor LPM-1152"] discogs.com, retrieved June 4, 2019
Awards and nominations
Notes
{{Noteslist}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb name|0893862}}
- {{IBDB name}}
- {{Tcmdb name}}
- {{playbill person}}
{{Navboxes
|title = Awards for Gwen Verdon
|list =
{{National Medal of Arts recipients 1990s}}
{{TonyAward MusicalLeadActress 1948–1975}}
{{TonyAward MusicalFeaturedActress 1947-1975}}
}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Verdon, Gwen}}
Category:20th-century American actresses
Category:20th-century American dancers
Category:20th-century American singers
Category:20th-century American women singers
Category:Actresses from California
Category:Alexander Hamilton High School (Los Angeles) alumni
Category:American female dancers
Category:American film actresses
Category:American jazz dancers
Category:American musical theatre actresses
Category:American people of British descent
Category:American people of Canadian descent
Category:Dancers from California
Category:Donaldson Award winners
Category:Entertainers from Culver City, California