Jerome Robbins

Jerome Robbins, born Jerome Wilson Rabinowitz, lived from 11 October 1918 to 29 July 1998 and was an American dancer, choreographer, film director, theatre director and producer who worked in classical ballet and on stage, film and television. He grew up on Manhattan's Lower East Side and in Weehawken, New Jersey, studied modern dance in high school and left New York University after a year to dance full time. He joined Ballet Theatre in 1940 and created the ballet Fancy Free to a score by Leonard Bernstein, which led to the musical On the Town in 1944. His stage work includes High Button Shoes, The King and I, The Pajama Game, West Side Story, Gypsy and Fiddler on the Roof. He won five Tony Awards, received the Kennedy Center Honors and shared the 1961 Academy Award for Best Director for West Side Story.