Editing Jerome Robbins (section)

==Career==
===1930s and 40s===
[[File:Jerome Robbins.jpg|thumb|Robbins in ''Three Virgins and a Devil'', 1941]]
In 1937 Robbins made the first of many appearances as a dancer at [[Camp Tamiment]], a resort in the Poconos known for its weekly Broadway-style revues; and he began dancing in the choruses of Broadway shows, including ''Great Lady'' and ''[[Keep Off the Grass]]'', both choreographed by [[George Balanchine]]. Robbins had also begun creating dances for Tamiment's Revues, some of them comic (featuring the talents of [[Imogene Coca]] and [[Carol Channing]]) and some dramatic, topical, and controversial. One such dance, later also performed in New York City at the 92nd Street Y, was ''Strange Fruit'', set to [[Strange Fruit|the song]] of the same name sung by [[Billie Holiday]].

In 1940, Robbins joined Ballet Theatre (later known as [[American Ballet Theatre]]). From 1941 through 1944, Robbins was a soloist with the company, attracting notice for his performance as [[Hermes]] in ''[[Helen of Troy (ballet)|Helen of Troy]]'', the title role in ''[[Petrouchka]]'', the Youth in [[Agnes de Mille]]'s ''Three Virgins and a Devil'', and [[Benvolio]] in ''[[Romeo and Juliet (ballet)|Romeo and Juliet]]''; he also came under the influence of the choreographers [[Michel Fokine]], [[Antony Tudor]], and George Balanchine.
[[File:PaulCadmusTheFleetsIn.jpg|thumb|left|''The Fleet's In!'', painted by [[Paul Cadmus]], 1934, the inspiration for the ballet, ''[[Fancy Free (ballet)|Fancy Free]]'' (1944)]]

During this period, Robbins created ''[[Fancy Free (ballet)|Fancy Free]]'', a ballet with a screwball-comedy plot about sailors on leave that combined classical ballet with 1940s social dancing. He performed in it when it was presented at the [[Metropolitan Opera]] as part of the Ballet Theatre's 1944 season. He said that one of his inspirations for this ballet had been [[Paul Cadmus]]'s 1934 painting ''The Fleet's In!'', even though it was lighthearted, which the painting decidedly was not. Robbins said in an interview with ''[[The Christian Science Monitor]]'': "After seeing ... ''Fleet's In'', which I inwardly rejected though it gave me the idea of doing the ballet, I watched sailors, and girls, too, all over town." Robbins commissioned the score for the ballet from [[Leonard Bernstein]], who was a relatively unknown composer at the time.<ref>Paul R. Laird and David Schiff. "Bernstein, Leonard." Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online. Oxford University Press. Web. August 14, 2014. [http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/grove/music/A2223796 Oxfordmusiconline.com]</ref> He also enlisted [[Oliver Smith (designer)|Oliver Smith]] as set designer.

Later that year, Robbins conceived and choreographed ''[[On the Town (musical)|On the Town]]'' (1944), a musical partly inspired by ''Fancy Free'', which effectively launched his Broadway career. Bernstein wrote the music and Smith designed the sets. The book and lyrics were written by a team that Robbins would work with again, [[Betty Comden]] and [[Adolph Green]], and the director was the Broadway legend [[George Abbott]]. Because Robbins, as choreographer, insisted that his chorus reflect the racial diversity of a New York City crowd, ''On the Town'' broke the color bar on Broadway for the first time. Robbins's next musical was a jazz-age fable, ''[[Billion Dollar Baby]]'' (1945). During rehearsals for it, an incident happened that became a part of Robbins – and Broadway – lore: the choreographer, preoccupied by giving directions to the dancers, backed up onstage until he fell into the orchestra pit.<ref name=green>{{cite news| title=When You're a Shark You're a Shark All the Way| url=https://nymag.com/arts/theater/profiles/55341/index1.html| work=[[New York (magazine)|New York]]| date=March 15, 2009| last=Green| first=Jesse| access-date=February 25, 2014}}</ref> Two years later, Robbins received plaudits for his humorous [[Mack Sennett]] ballet, ''[[High Button Shoes]]'' (1947), and won his first [[Tony Award]] for [[Tony Award for Best Choreography|choreography]]. That same year, Robbins would become one of the first members of New York City's newly formed [[Actors Studio]], attending classes held by founding member [[Robert Lewis (actor)|Robert Lewis]] three times a week, alongside classmates including [[Marlon Brando]], [[Maureen Stapleton]], [[Montgomery Clift]], [[Herbert Berghof]], [[Sidney Lumet]], and about 20 others.<ref name=lewis>{{cite book| quote=At the end of the summer, on Gadget's return from Hollywood, we settled the roster of actors for our two classes in what we called the Actors Studio - using the word 'studio' as we had when we named our workshop in the Group, the Group Theatre Studio... My group, meeting three times a week, consisted of Marlon Brando, Montgomery Clift, Maureen Stapleton, Eli Wallach, Mildred Dunnock, Jerome Robbins, Herbert Berghof, Tom Ewell, John Forsythe, Anne Jackson, Sidney Lumet, Kevin McCarthy, Karl Malden, E.G. Marshall, Patricia Neal, Beatrice Straight, David Wayne, and - well, I don't want to drop names, so I'll stop there. In all, there were about fifty.| first=Robert| last=Lewis| chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EVVX6pynyssC&q=%22Joan+Copeland%22%22Actors+Studio%22&pg=PA183| title=Slings and Arrows: Theater in My Life| year=1996| publisher=Applause Books| location=New York| isbn=1-55783-244-7| page=183| chapter=The Actors Studio, 1947| access-date=February 25, 2014}}</ref> In 1948 he added another credit to his resume, becoming co-director as well as choreographer for ''Look Ma, I'm Dancin'!''; the year after that he teamed with [[Irving Berlin]] to choreograph ''[[Miss Liberty]]''.

While he was forging a career on Broadway, Robbins continued to work in ballet, creating a string of inventive and stylistically diverse ballets, including ''[[Interplay (ballet)|Interplay]]'', which was set to a score by [[Morton Gould]], and ''Facsimile'', which was set to music by Leonard Bernstein and was banned in Boston [CK]. In 1949 Robbins left Ballet Theatre to join George Balanchine and [[Lincoln Kirstein]]'s newly formed [[New York City Ballet]] as Associate Artistic Director. Soon after that he choreographed ''The Guests,'' a ballet about intolerance.

===1950s===
[[File:Jerome Robbins 1951.jpg|thumb|upright|right|alt=close-up portrait shot of a man in his 30s.  The image appears to have been shot from above the man and slightly to the right of him, so his head appears at an angle.  The man has a full head of wavy black hair, he appears to be slightly smiling as he regards the viewer, and enough of his shirt can be viewed to see that his collar is open.|Robbins in 1951]]

At New York City Ballet Robbins distinguished himself immediately as both dancer and choreographer.  He was noted for his performances in Balanchine's 1929 "The Prodigal Son" (revived expressly for him), Til Eulenspiegel, and (with Tanaquil LeClercq) Bouree Fantasque, as well as for his own ballets, such as Age of Anxiety, The Cage, Afternoon of a Faun, and The Concert, in all of which LeClercq played leading roles. He continued working on Broadway, as well as, staging dances for [[Irving Berlin]]'s ''[[Call Me Madam]]'', starring [[Ethel Merman]], [[Rodgers and Hammerstein]]'s ''[[The King and I]],'' in which he created the celebrated "Small House of Uncle Thomas" ballet in addition to other dances, and the revue Two's Company, starring Bette Davis.

He also performed uncredited show doctoring on the musicals ''[[A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (musical)|A Tree Grows in Brooklyn]]'' (1951), ''[[Wish You Were Here (musical)|Wish You Were Here]]'' (1952), ''[[Wonderful Town]]'' (1953), and choreographed and directed several sketches for [[The Ford 50th Anniversary Show]], starring [[Mary Martin]] and Ethel Merman on CBS.<ref name= Harris-23>{{cite book |editor-last1=Harris |editor-first1=Jay S. |title=TV Guide: The First 25 Years | year=1978 |publisher=New American Library |location=New York |isbn=0-452-25225-3 | page=23}}</ref>

In 1954, Robbins collaborated with [[George Abbott]] on ''[[The Pajama Game]]'' (1954), which launched the career of [[Shirley MacLaine]], and created, choreographed, and directed the Mary Martin vehicle, ''[[Peter Pan (1954 musical)|Peter Pan]]''  (which he re-staged for an Emmy Award-winning television special in 1955, earning himself a nomination for best choreography). He also directed and co-choreographed (with [[Bob Fosse]]) ''[[Bells Are Ringing (musical)|Bells Are Ringing]]'' (1956), starring [[Judy Holliday]]. Robbins recreated his stage dances for The King and I for the [[The King and I (1956 film)|1956 film version]]. In 1957, he conceived, choreographed, and directed ''[[West Side Story]]''.

''West Side Story'' is a contemporary version of ''[[Romeo and Juliet]]'', set on the [[Upper West Side]]. The show, with music by Leonard Bernstein, marked the first collaboration between Robbins and [[Stephen Sondheim]], who wrote the lyrics, as well as [[Arthur Laurents]], who wrote the book. Because book, music, and dance were envisioned as an organic whole, the cast, in a Broadway first, had to be equally skilled as actors, singers, and dancers. To help the young cast grow into their roles, Robbins did not allow those playing members of opposite gangs (Jets and Sharks) to mix during the rehearsal process.  He also, according to dancer Linda Talcott Lee, "played psychological games" with the cast: "And he would plant rumors among one gang about the other, so they really hated each other."<ref name=gihring>{{cite news| last1=Gihring| first1=Tim| last2=Scott| first2= Gregory J.| title=July 2011 Arts Calendar| url=http://www.minnesotamonthly.com/media/Minnesota-Monthly/July-2011/July-2011-Arts-Calendar/| work=Minnesota Monthly| date=July 2011| publisher=Greenspring Media Group Inc| access-date=February 25, 2014}}</ref>  Although it opened to good reviews, it was overshadowed by [[Meredith Willson]]'s ''[[The Music Man]]'' at that year's Tony Awards. ''West Side Story'' did, however, earn Robbins his second [[Tony Award]] for [[Tony Award for Best Choreography|choreography]].

The streak of hits continued with ''[[Gypsy: A Musical Fable|Gypsy]]'' (1959), starring [[Ethel Merman]].  Robbins re-teamed with Sondheim and Laurents, and the music was by [[Jule Styne]]. The musical is based (loosely) on the life of stripper [[Gypsy Rose Lee]].

In 1956 Robbins's muse, [[Tanaquil LeClercq]], contracted polio and was paralyzed; for the next decade Robbins largely withdrew from his activities at New York City Ballet, but he established his own small dance company, Ballets USA, which premiered at the inaugural season of Gian Carlo Menotti's Festival of the Two Worlds in Spoleto, Italy in June 1958, toured Europe and the US under the auspices of the State Department, and appeared on television on The Ed Sullivan Show.  Among the dances he created for Ballets USA were N.Y. Export: Opus Jazz and Moves.

==== House Un-American Activities Committee ====
In 1950, Robbins was called to testify before the [[House Un-American Activities Committee|House Committee on Un-American Activities]] (HUAC), suspected of Communist sympathies. Robbins, though willing to confess to past party membership, resisted naming names of others with similar political connections; he held out for three years until, according to two family members in whom he confided, he was threatened with public exposure of his homosexuality.<ref name=pbs>{{cite web| title=Jerome Robbins-About the Artist| last=Vaill| first=Amanda| date=January 27, 2009| url=https://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/episodes/jerome-robbins/about-the-artist/1099/| work=[[American Masters]]| publisher=[[PBS]]| access-date=February 25, 2014}}</ref> Robbins named the names of persons he said were Communists, including actors Lloyd Gough and Elliot Sullivan, dance critic Edna Ocko, filmmaker Lionel Berman, playwright Jerome Chodorov, his brother Edward Chodorov, Madeline Lee Gilford and her husband [[Jack Gilford]], who were blacklisted for their perceived political beliefs and had their careers suffer noticeably, to the point Gilford and his wife often had to borrow money from friends to make ends meet.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.nysun.com/obituaries/madeline-lee-gilford-84-actress-and-activist/74950/|title=Madeline Lee Gilford, 84, Actress and Activist - April 18, 2008 - The New York Sun|work=The New York Sun |date=October 12, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081012193912/http://www.nysun.com/obituaries/madeline-lee-gilford-84-actress-and-activist/74950/|archive-date=October 12, 2008}}</ref> Because he cooperated with HUAC, Robbins's career did not visibly suffer and he was not blacklisted.<ref name=vaill>{{cite book| first=Amanda| last=Vaill| title=Somewhere: The Life of Jerome Robbins| location=New York| publisher=Broadway Books| date=May 6, 2008| url=https://archive.org/details/somewherelifeofj00vail| isbn=978-0767904216| url-access=registration}}</ref>

===1960s===
[[File:Robbins rehearsal61.jpg|thumb|{{center|Rehearsals for ''West Side Story'', 1960}}]]<!-- Robbins's work on the film started and ended in 1960. The film was released the following year, 1961. -->
In 1960,<!-- Robbins's work on the film started and ended in 1960. The film was released the following year, 1961. --> Robbins co-directed, with [[Robert Wise]], the [[West Side Story (1961 film)|film adaptation of ''West Side Story'']]. After about 45 days of shooting, he was fired when the production was considered 24 days behind schedule.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Acevedo-Muñoz |first1=Ernesto |title=West Side Story as Cinema: The Making and Impact of an American Masterpiece |date=2013 |publisher=University Press of Kansas |location=Lawrence, Kansas |isbn=978-0-7006-1921-4 |page=48 |url=https://kansaspress.ku.edu/978-0-7006-1921-4.html |access-date=September 4, 2020 |archive-date=August 3, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200803100045/https://kansaspress.ku.edu/978-0-7006-1921-4.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> However, when the film received 10 Academy Awards for the 1961 award year, Robbins won two, one for his Direction and one for "Brilliant Achievements in the Art of Choreography on Film".

In 1962, Robbins directed [[Arthur Kopit]]'s non-musical play ''[[Oh Dad, Poor Dad, Mamma's Hung You in the Closet and I'm Feelin' So Sad]]''. The production ran over a year [[off-Broadway]] and was transferred to Broadway for a short run in 1963, after which Robbins directed [[Anne Bancroft]] in a revival of [[Bertolt Brecht]]'s ''[[Mother Courage and Her Children]]''.

Robbins was still highly sought after as a show doctor.  He took over the direction of two troubled productions during this period and helped turn them into successes.  In 1962, he saved ''[[A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum]]'' (1962), a musical farce starring [[Zero Mostel]], [[Jack Gilford]], [[David Burns (actor)|David Burns]], and [[John Carradine]]. The production, with book by [[Burt Shevelove]] and [[Larry Gelbart]], and score by [[Stephen Sondheim]], was not working. Sondheim wrote and Robbins staged an entirely new opening number, "Comedy Tonight", which explained to the audience what was to follow, and the show played successfully from then on.  In 1964, he took on a floundering ''[[Funny Girl (musical)|Funny Girl]]'' and devised a show that ran 1348 performances.  The musical helped turn lead [[Barbra Streisand]] into a superstar.

That same year, Robbins won [[Tony Award]]s for his [[Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical|direction]] and [[Tony Award for Best Choreography|choreography]] in ''[[Fiddler on the Roof]]'' (1964). The show starred Zero Mostel as [[Tevye]] and ran for 3242 performances, setting the record (since surpassed) for longest-running Broadway show. The plot, about Jews living in Russia near the beginning of the 20th century, allowed Robbins to return to his religious roots.

===1970s and 1980s===
He continued to choreograph and stage productions for both the [[Joffrey Ballet]] and the [[New York City Ballet]] into the 1970s.  Robbins became ballet master of the [[New York City Ballet]] in 1972 and worked almost exclusively in classical dance throughout the next decade, pausing only to stage revivals of ''[[West Side Story]]'' (1980) and ''[[Fiddler on the Roof]]'' (1981). In 1981, his [[Chamber Dance Company]] toured the People's Republic of China.

The 1980s saw an increased presence on TV as [[NBC]] aired ''[[Live From Studio 8H: An Evening of Jerome Robbins' Ballets]]'' with members of the New York City Ballet, and a retrospective of Robbins's choreography aired on [[PBS]] in a 1986 installment of ''[[Dance in America]]''. The latter led to his creating the anthology show ''[[Jerome Robbins' Broadway]]'' in 1989 which recreated the most successful production numbers from his 50-plus year career. Starring [[Jason Alexander]] as the narrator (a performance that would win Alexander a Tony), the show included stagings of cut numbers like [[Irving Berlin]]'s ''[[Mr. Monotony]]'' and well-known ones like the "Tradition" number from ''[[Fiddler on the Roof]]''. He was awarded a fifth [[Tony Award]] for it.

=== 1990s ===
Following a bicycle accident in 1990 and heart-valve surgery in 1994, in 1996 he began showing signs of a form of [[Parkinson's disease]], and his hearing was quickly deteriorating. He nevertheless staged ''[[Les Noces]]'' for City Ballet in 1998, his last project.

===Death===
Robbins suffered a stroke in July 1998, two months after the premiere of his re-staging of ''Les Noces''. He died at his home in New York on July 29, 1998. On the evening of his death, the lights of Broadway were dimmed for a moment in tribute. He was [[cremation|cremated]] and his ashes were scattered on the Atlantic Ocean.