Rob Marshall

Born: October 17 1960
Where: Madison, Wisconsin, USA

The former dancer and choreographer reached a career high when he was Oscar-nominated for directing the big screen version of Chicago.

He first began making home movies as a teenager with his sisters, including a parody of The Brady Bunch.

However, he chose to concentrate on dance and starred in shows including Cats and Zorba after graduating from Carnegie-Mellon University.

His first choreography on Broadway was providing additional direction for The Kiss of the Spider Woman, working with legendary director Hal Prince.

Subsequent successes included Damn Yankees (which won an LA Drama Critics gong in 1994) and his choreography on the Julie Andrews stage version of Victor/Victoria.

After a number of successes on TV, Marshall returned to the stage and co-directed the popular revival of Cabaret with Sam Mendes.

Alan Cumming starred as the Master of Ceremonies and Natasha Richardson was Sally Bowles in the show, which picked up both a Tony and Drama Desk Awards.

Following the success of a new Broadway production of the seventies smash-hit musical Chicago, Marshall began to give serious considering into making it a film.

He had already made his feature directorial debut in 1999 with a TV movie version of Annie.

Marshall's 2002 screen take on Chicago became a huge hit, winning Golden Globes for its stars, Renee Zellweger and Richard Gere, as well as an Oscar nomination for Best Director.

Recent work includes the big screen adaptation of Arthur Golden's bestseller Memoirs of a Geisha, starring Gong Li and Michelle Yeoh.