Inside Bob Fosse and Gwen Verdon’s True Love Story

It’s hard to imagine the Broadway world without thinking about legendary dancer Gwen Verdon and famed choreographer and director Bob Fosse. Both had a lasting impact on stage and cinema, and their personal and professional drama will be documented in FX’s upcoming drama Fosse/Verdon.

Eight-time Tony award winner and one-time Academy Award winner Fosse and Broadway legend Verdon left a legacy on the Broadway world. Michelle Williams Opens a New Window. and Sam Rockwell Opens a New Window. take on the iconic roles of Verdon and Fosse, respectively. In order to prepare, they worked closely with Nicole Fosse, the pair’s daughter who is a consultant on the series.

“We are looking to do something that is authentic, and having Nicole is an incredible asset because she’s able to share not only the facts as she remembers them, but the emotional experience,” executive producer Joel Fields told said at the Television Critics Association press tour in February. “There’s also a book, and there’s archival material and all sorts of other stuff to look at. Our goal is to explore a relationship between these two characters and to do it in an authentic way, and we are never looking to, kind of, whip something up.”

Nicole revealed that the series shows a new side of Verdon, one that many didn’t know. “She was absolutely lovable, and everyone’s memory of her is only fond memories. But, like everybody, there was an edge sometimes,” she said at TCA. “She would find herself in a situation at different times in her life that was very difficult, and we are trying to show the whole human being, not just the fun and the laughter, which was predominant and extremely lovable.”

Learn more about the story of Fosse and Verdon below.

The Early Days

Bob was given his first choreography job by Jerry Lewis who saw him perform with his first wife, Mary Ann Niles, in Call My Mister and Your Hit Parade. In the late 40s, he starred in many films but then decided to transition into theater. In 1954 he choreographed his first musical, The Pajama Game, then one year later, Damn Yankees, starring Gwen Verdon.

Credit: John Springer Collection/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images

Meeting Verdon

Five years after Damn Yankees – which Verdon won a Tony for – Fosse and Verdon married. Following Damn Yankees, he choreographed every Broadway production she was in, including New Girl in Town and Redhead, which also resulted in two Tony Award wins for Verdon.

Credit: Hulton Archive/Getty Images

The Relationship

In 1693, the couple had a daughter, Nicole. However, rumors of Fosse’s affairs put a major strain on their relationship at home; he reportedly also suffered from depression and an addiction to prescription pills and drinking. They decided to formally separate – but not divorce – in 1971. “They knew they could trust each other, even when their marriage was no longer really a marriage. It was no longer a romantic marriage but they still had a romance together and a lifelong relationship with each other. I don’t really know how that happened but they had a lot of trust with each other and a lot of loyalty,” Nicole told reporters in March. “If you exclude the bedroom part, they were loyal to each other their entire lives. They spoke every day, twice a day, on the telephone.”

Credit: Craig Blankenhorn/FX

Continuing Their Work

While not together, Verdon still helped Bob with the film version of Cabaret, which starred Liza Minnelli. He also signed on for to choreograph Pippin, which he later won Tony Awards for both directing and choreographing. At the time, he had a romantic relationship with Ann Reinking, whom he met when she auditioned for Pippin. In 1973, Fosse’s mental battles were revealed to the public when he entered a psychiatric clinic for treatment for depression. Two years later, Bob and Verdon teamed up again for Chicago.

Credit: Craig Blankenhorn/FX

The End

In 1983, Bob directed his final film, All That Jazz. In 1987, he died of a heart attack at age 60, reportedly collapsing into Verdon’s arms in Washington, D.C. In 2000, Verdon died of a heart attack at age 75. The Verdon Fosse Legacy arts center was later created to “promote, preserve, and protect the artistic and intellectual property of Bob Fosse and Gwen Verdon,” according to its mission statement. Many dancers from the Legacy are part of the series.

Fosse/Verdon premieres on FX Tuesday, April 9, at 10 p.m. ET.

Credit: Craig Blankenhorn/FX

Source: Read Full Article