Gower Champion

Gower Champion was an American theatre director, choreographer, and dancer.

Related Topics:
American - Theatre director - Choreographer - Dancer

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He was born in Geneva, Illinois on June 21, 1919 (some sources state June 22, 1920) and raised in Los Angeles, California, where he took dancing lessons from an early age. At the age of fifteen, he and a friend, Jeanne Tyler, toured nightclubs as "Gower and Jeanne, America's Youngest Dance Team".

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Geneva, Illinois - June 21 - 1919 - June 22 - 1920 - Los Angeles, California

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During the late '30s and early '40s, Champion worked on Broadway as a solo dancer and choreographer. After serving in the U.S. Coast Guard during World War II, Champion met Marjorie Belcher (aka Marge Champion), who became his new partner, and the two were married in 1947. Throughout the 1950s, they performed on a number of television variety shows, and in 1957, they starred in their own short-lived CBS sitcom, The Marge and Gower Champion Show, which was based on their actual career experiences. During this period, they also made several film musicals, including the 1951 remake of Show Boat (with Howard Keel and Kathryn Grayson), the autobiographical Everything I Have is Yours (1952), Give a Girl a Break (1953), and Three for the Show (1955).

Related Topics:
Broadway - U.S. Coast Guard - World War II - 1947 - Television - 1957 - CBS - Sitcom - The Marge and Gower Champion Show - 1951 - Show Boat - Howard Keel - Kathryn Grayson - 1952 - 1953 - 1955

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In 1948, Champion had begun to direct as well, and he won his first Tony Award for his staging of Lend an Ear, the show that introduced Carol Channing to New York theater audiences. From then on he was involved in an eclectic mixture of both smash hits (Hello, Dolly!) and dismal flops (A Broadway Musical, which closed after one performance). A complete list of his productions appears below. In addition to his several Tonys, he was the recipient of the New York Critics Award and the Donaldson Award.

Related Topics:
1948 - Tony Award - Lend an Ear - Carol Channing - New York - Hello, Dolly! - New York Critics Award - Donaldson Award

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Champion never lived to enjoy one of his most successful runs. In 1980, he choreographed and directed a stage adaptation of the movie classic, 42nd Street. During the show's tryout in Washington, D.C., he learned that he had a rare form of blood cancer, and after the curtain call on opening night - August 25, 1980 - producer David Merrick stunned the cast and the audience by announcing, with Merrick's particularly oddball form of self-promotion, that Gower Champion had died that afternoon at the age of 60 or 61.

Related Topics:
1980 - Washington, D.C. - August 25 - David Merrick

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Champion was one of several notable graduates of Fairfax High School, West Hollywood, California. (see )

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