Bob Fosse

Born: June 23 1927
Where: Chicago, USA

Died: September 23 1987, Washington DC (heart attack)

The popular dance stylist is acknowledged by critics and audiences alike as one of the musical theatre's greatest choreographers and directors.

Taking inspiration from Fred Astaire, George Ballanchine, Jerome Robbins and vaudeville, he developed a distinctive style that was urban and sexual and irrepressibly rooted in jazz.

The silhouette of the Fosse dancer is unmistakable: sharply bent elbows away from the body, tilted pelvis supported on one leg crooked to the side, a hand to the rim of a hat.

It was the attention to detail and attitude in synchronizing his undulating corps that made Fosse the unchallenged king of razzle-dazzle.

The style also translated well to the screen, enabling him in 1973 to become the first director to win the triple crown: Oscar (Cabaret), Tony (Pippin) and Emmy (Liza With a Z).

The son of a vaudeville entertainer, Fosse began his career as a hoofer in vaudeville and by the age of 13 was a seasoned veteran of many burlesque shows in his native Chicago.

Moving to NYC, he acted and danced on stage before becoming an MGM contract player in musical films of the early 50s.

He rose through the studio's ranks, and, though Hermes Pan allowed him to create his own dance sequence (From This Moment On) opposite Carol Haney in Kiss Me Kate.

My Sister Eileen brought him his first chance to choreograph a film while he also crafted dances for his first Broadway show, The Pyjama Game in 1954.

The outstanding stage to screen adaptation of Cabaret, which won eight Academy Awards, established Fosse as a force in Hollywood.

Though its narrative sections outside the Kit Kat Club leave something to be desired, it is the action inside the club that makes the picture tick.

Lenny, despite its absence of musical numbers, was structurally very similar to Cabaret with its scenes of comic Lenny Bruce "riffing" in nightclubs.

All That Jazz was a self-important, egomaniacal, wonderfully choreographed, film which portrayed the energetic life of a workaholic, womanizing genius.

Fosse's final film, 1983's Star 80, was a stark, uncompromising biopic of slain Playboy Playmate Dorothy Stratten.

It could just as easily have turned out a black masterpiece with a little more humour and a little less helpless despair.

Though he helmed a mere five films, Fosse proved himself an excellent director of actors in movies, bringing his talent for eliciting outstanding portrayals on stage to the pictures.

Liza Minnelli's finest screen moments were as Sally Bowles in Cabaret and Hollywood had pretty much written Valerie Perrine off before his revelation of her as Lenny Bruce's wife.

He also restored Jessica Lange (All That Jazz) to respectability, as well as drawing great performances from Dustin Hoffman (Lenny) and Eric Roberts (Star 80).

The Oscar-winning film version of Chicago, starring Catherine Zeta Jones and Renee Zellwegger included a dedication to Fosse, who was also given a writing credit.