Gwyneth Evelyn Verdon (January 13, 1925 – October 18, 2000) was an acclaimed Tony Award-winning American dancer and actress, known professionally as Gwen Verdon.
Verdon was born in Culver City, California, the second child of Joseph William Verdon (December 31, 1896-June 23, 1978) and Gertrude Lilian Standring (October 24, 1896-October 16, 1956), who were British emigrants to the United States by way of Canada. Her brother was William Farrell Verdon (August 1, 1923-June 10, 1991). The Verdon family could be described as "showpeople." Her father was an electrician at MGM Studios, and her mother was a former vaudevillian of the Denishawn dance troupe, as well as a dance teacher.
As a child, Gwen was afflicted with rickets, leaving her legs so badly misshapen she was called "Gimpy" by other children and spent her early years in orthopedic boots and rigid leg braces. Her mother put three-year-old Gwen in dance classes; ballet training strengthened her legs and improved her carriage....
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Last updated: 11/17/09 at 11:15 PM
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Alice is a 1990 film directed by Woody Allen and starring Joe Mantegna, Mia Farrow and Alec Baldwin. The film is loosely a reworking of Federico Fellini's 1965 film Juliet of the SpiritsAlice Tate, the mother of two, with a marriage of sixteen years, finds herself falling for handsome, married saxophonist Joe.
Stricken with a backache, she consults Dr. Yang, an Asian herbalist who realizes that her problems are not related to her back, but in her mind and heart. Dr. Yang's magical herbs give Alice wondrous powers, taking her out of a well-established rut.
...,
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0099012
Cocoon: The Return is a 1988 science fiction film that is the sequel to the feature film, Cocoon. Most of the original actors from the first film reprised their roles in this film.
Five years after they left, the Antereans return to Earth to rescue the cocoons that were left behind. Before they can be retrieved, one of the cocoons is discovered by a science research team and taken to a secure laboratory for testing. The aliens and their human allies must find a way to retrieve the cocoon in time for their rendezvous with the rescue ship.
Having returned with the aliens, the elderly couples from the original film face indecision about whether to return to Anteres or stay on Earth and become mortal again. Joe learns that his leukemia has returned, but he knows it will be cured again as soon as he and Alma leave Earth. However, when Alma is hit by a car, Joe gives up the last of his lifeforce to save her. Arthur and Bess learn that Bess is pregnant, and decide to raise the child on...
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094890
Bob Fosse & Gwen Verdon divorced
Cocoon is a 1985 science fiction film, directed by Ron Howard about a group of elderly people who are rejuvenated by aliens. The movie starred Don Ameche, Wilford Brimley, Hume Cronyn, Brian Dennehy, Jack Gilford, Steve Guttenberg, Maureen Stapleton, Jessica Tandy, Gwen Verdon, Herta Ware, Tahnee Welch, and Linda Harrison.
The movie was filmed in and around St. Petersburg, Florida: locations included the St Petersburg Shuffleboard Club, The Coliseum, and Snell Arcade buildings.
It spawned one sequel, Cocoon: The Return, in which almost all of the original cast reprised their roles.
Around 10,000 years ago, a group of peaceful alien lifeforms, from the planet Anterea, formed an outpost on the planet Earth on an island known to mankind as the mythical civilization Atlantis. As per legend, this outpost sank due to an earthquake, and in order for them to leave, 20 members remained behind so that the rest would have enough lifeforce to return to their home planet.
Eventually, a group of...
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088933
The Cotton Club is a movie, released in 1984, centered around a popular real-life Harlem jazz club in the 1930s, the Cotton Club.The movie was co-written (with William Kennedy) and directed by Francis Ford Coppola, choreographed by Henry LeTang, and starred Richard Gere, Diane Lane, and Gregory Hines. Other notable actors that appeared included Nicolas Cage, Bob Hoskins, Laurence Fishburne, Fred Gwynne, and Maurice Hines, James Remar. Despite performing poorly at the box office, the film was nominated for several awards, including Golden Globes for Best Director and Best Picture (Drama) and the Oscar for best Film Editing.Gere plays a musician named Dixie Dwyer who begins working with mobsters to advance his career but falls in love with the girlfriend (Lane) of gangland kingpin Dutch Schultz. Hines and Lonette McKee play dancers at the Cotton Club in a sub-plot of the movie. The movie features many song and dance numbers including fictional performances by Cab Calloway and Duke...,
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0087089
Creepshow is a classic 1982 anthology horror movie directed by George A. Romero (of Night of the Living Dead and Dawn of the Dead fame), and written by Stephen King (The Shining, Misery, The Stand). It was considered a sleeper hit at the box office when released in November 1982, earning over $21 million domestically, and remains a popular film among horror fans. The film was shot on location in Pittsburgh and surrounding areas. It consists of five short "Jolting Tales of Horror": "Father's Day", "The Lonesome Death of Jordy Verrill", "Something to Tide You Over", "The Crate" and "They're Creeping Up On You!". Two of these stories, "The Crate" and "The Lonesome Death of Jordy Verrill" (originally titled "Weeds"), were adapted from previously published Stephen King short horror tales. The segments are tied together by animated sequences. The film is bookended by scenes featuring a young boy named Billy (played by Stephen King's own son, Joe King) who is punished by his father for...,
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083767
All That Jazz is a 1979 musical film directed by Bob Fosse. It is a semi-autobiographical fantasy based on aspects of Fosse's life. The screenplay is by Robert Alan Aurthur and Bob Fosse.Choreographing and casting for dancers for his next Broadway show, while editing his severely over budget and over schedule Hollywood production about a standup comic is getting to Joe Gideon. He is a workaholic choreographer and theater director who chain-smokes and chain-sleeps with all his dancers. Without a daily dose of Visine, Vivaldi, Dexedrine and sex, he wouldn't have the energy to keep up the biggest show of them all - his life. His girlfriend Katie, his ex-wife Audrey and daughter Michelle try to pull him back from the brink, but it is too late for his exhausted body and stress-ravaged heart. Decades of overworking and constant tremendous stress have gotten to Gideon. In his imagination he already flirts with an angel of death named Angelique. Gideon's condition gets worse, as after a...,
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0078754
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band is an American musical film released in 1978. Its soundtrack, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, features new versions of songs originally written and performed by The Beatles. The film draws primarily from two of their albums, the 1967 album of the same name and 1969's Abbey Road.
The production is somewhat adapted from Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band on the Road, a 1974 off-Broadway production directed by Tom O'Horgan.
It tells the loosely-constructed story of a band as they wrangle with the music industry and battle evil forces bent on stealing their instruments and corrupting their home town of Heartland. The film is presented in the form of a rock opera with the Beatles' songs providing "dialogue" to carry the story.The film's tagline is "A splendid time is guaranteed for all".
The film was produced by Robert Stigwood, founder of RSO Records, who had earlier produced Saturday Night Fever. RSO Records also released the...,
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0078239
Gwen Verdon has a child, Nicole Fosse
Bob Fosse & Gwen Verdon married
David and Bathsheba is a 1951 historical epic film about King David made by 20th Century Fox. It was directed by Henry King, produced by Darryl F. Zanuck, from a screenplay by Philip Dunne. The music score was by Alfred Newman and the cinematography by Leon Shamroy. King David was the second king of Israel and this film is based on the second Old Testament book of Samuel from the Bible. Gregory Peck stars as King David and the film follows King David's life as he adjusts to ruling as a King, and about his relationship with Uriah's wife Bathsheba (Susan Hayward).While Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corp. owned the rights to the 1943 book David written by Duff Cooper, the film is not based on that book. It was, though, the inspiration that led the studio to this film project. The production of the film started on November 24, 1950 and was completed in January of 1951 (with some additional material shot in February 1951). The film premiered first in New York City August 14th, and later in...
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0043455
On the Riviera is a 1951 comedy musical film made by 20th Century Fox. It was directed by Walter Lang, produced by Sol C. Siegel from a screenplay by Valentine Davies and Phoebe and Henry Ephron, based on the play The Red Cat by Rudolph Lothar and Hans Adler.The film was the third version of the same story. The original was entitled Folies Bergere (1935) and starred Maurice Chevalier, Merle Oberon and Ann Sothern. The remake in 1941 was That Night in Rio and starred Don Ameche, Alice Faye and Carmen Miranda.This version stars Danny Kaye, Gene Tierney and Corinne Calvet with Marcel Dalio, Henri Letondal and Sig Ruman....
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0043882
Damn Yankees is a musical comedy with a book by George Abbott and Douglass Wallop and music and lyrics by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross. The story is a modern retelling of the Faust legend set during the 1950s in Washington, D.C., during a time when the New York Yankees dominated Major League Baseball. The musical is based on Wallop's novel The Year the Yankees Lost the Pennant.
Damn Yankees ran for 1,019 performances in its original 1955 Broadway production. Adler and Ross's success with The Pajama Game and Damn Yankees seemed to point to a bright future for them, but Ross suddenly died of chronic bronchiectasis, at the age of twenty-nine, a few months after Damn Yankees opened.
The producers Harold Prince, Robert Griffith, and Frederick Brisson had decided that the lead actress for the part of "Lola" had to be a dancer. They offered the role to both the movie actress Mitzi Gaynor and ballet dancer Zizi Jeanmaire, each of whom turned down the role. Although Gwen Verdon had not...
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0051516
James Henaghan & Gwen Verdon divorced
James Henaghan & Gwen Verdon married
Gwen Verdon was born in Culver City, California, Los Angeles County
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