[Deathwatch] Michael Kidd, choreographer, 92

[Deathwatch Central <cdw@slick.org>]

Oscar-winning choreographer Michael Kidd dies
http://www.cnn.com/2007/SHOWBIZ/Movies/12/25/obit.kidd.ap/index.html

LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- Choreographer Michael Kidd, whose
joyously athletic dances for ballet, Broadway and Hollywood delighted
audiences for half a century and won him five Tonys and an Oscar, has
died.

Kidd's nephew, Robert Greenwald, told The New York Times that Kidd died
at his Los Angeles home Sunday night of cancer. Kidd's age is often
listed as 88, but Greenwald told the Times that his uncle was actually
92.

Messages left with Kidd's former publicists were not immediately
returned Monday, and a call to Kidd's home went unanswered.

To moviegoers, Kidd was best known for the 1954 film "Seven Brides for
Seven Brothers," in which a bunch of earthy backwoodsmen (some of them
really stage dancers) prance exuberantly with their prospective brides.


He also directed dances for Danny Kaye in "Knock on Wood," took Fred
Astaire out of his top hat to play a private eye in a Mickey Spillane
spoof in "The Band Wagon," and taught Marlon Brando how to hoof for
"Guys and Dolls."

There is no Oscar category for choreography, so the Academy of Motion
Picture Arts and Sciences presented Kidd with a special award in 1997
for "his services in the art of the dance in the art of the screen."

"It's a total shock -- this came from out of the blue," he said of the
honor.

For his work in theater, Kidd won Tonys for "Finian's Rainbow" (1947),
"Guys and Dolls" (1951), "Can-Can" (1954), "Li'l Abner" (1957) and
"Destry Rides Again" (1960).

In one of his few ventures into television, he directed Mikhail
Baryshnikov in "Baryshnikov in Hollywood," which was nominated for an
Emmy in 1981.

"I was amazed by his energy and his willingness to reinvent all the
time if the situation didn't work," Baryshnikov said.

Originally a dancer with the Ballet Theater in New York, Kidd was given
a chance to choreograph in 1945 and devised a sentimental story, "On
Stage!" in which he also played the male lead. In it, a shy young
dancer learns her craft with the help of a backstage worker who returns
to sweeping the floor after she achieves her success.

Two years later Kidd was hired to stage the dances for the hit
"Finian's Rainbow" and his career soared.

"Dancing," Kidd told The New York Times in 1954, "should be completely
understandable -- every move, every turn should mean something, should
be crystal clear to the audience. If you can make them laugh or cry,
move them emotionally ... you've done your job."

Kidd's other stage work included "Love Life," "Arms and the Girl,"
"Wildcat" (with Lucille Ball), "Ben Franklin in Paris" (Robert Preston)
and "The Rothchilds" (Hal Linden).

He began his movie work in 1952 with "Where's Charley," starring Ray
Bolger. Other films included "Star!" with Julie Andrews and "Hello
Dolly" with Barbra Streisand and Walter Matthau.

Kidd also choreographed and directed "Merry Andrew" starring Kaye and
appeared on-screen dancing with Gene Kelly and Dan Dailey in "It's
Always Fair Weather."

The great New York City Ballet dancer Jacques d'Amboise, who was in
"Seven Brides for Seven Brothers," told The New York Times at the time
that Kidd was "willing to do anything himself that he expects of his
dancers. And he's a great dancer himself -- we respect that."

Born Milton Greenwald in New York City, Kidd was the son of a barber.
He studied chemical engineering at City College but quit after three
years finding it "too impersonal."

"It didn't deal with human beings," he complained.

He eventually won a scholarship to the American Ballet school.

Kidd married Mary Heater in 1940 and they had two daughters, Kristine
and Susan.

Kidd is survived by his second wife, the former dancer Shelah Hackett.
The couple had two children, Amy Kidd and Matthew Kidd, The New York
Times reported.

Many thanks to TheLenGuy for posting this obituary