Tony-Winning Choreographer Michael Kidd Dies

Michael Kidd, a five-time Tony Award winner for choreographing classic musicals of the 1950s, died of cancer on December 23 in Los Angeles. His age was generally listed as 88, but his nephew, Robert Greenwald, told The New York Times that Kidd was actually 92.

Born in Brooklyn, the son of immigrant barber Abraham Greenwald, Kidd began studying modern dance while still in high school. After briefly studying chemical engineering at City College, he won a scholarship to the School of American Ballet and spent much of the 1940s as a soloist with Ballet Theater. He choreographed his first piece for the company, "On Stage!" in 1945, and left ballet for Broadway in 1947.

Kidd won a Tony for his first Broadway show as a choreographer, Finian's Rainbow 1947. His other Tonys came for Guys and Dolls 1951, Can-Can 1954, L'il Abner 1957 and Destry Rides Again 1960. His other Broadway credits as a choreographer and/or director included Wildcat 1960, Subways Are for Sleeping 1961, Breakfast at Tiffany's 1966, The Rothschilds 1972 and The Goodbye Girl 1993.

The huge success of Guys and Dolls led Kidd to an equally celebrated career choreographing Hollywood musicals, beginning with Where's Charley? 1952. He worked with Fred Astaire and Cyd Charisse in The Band Wagon 1953, which led to Seven Brides for Seven Brothers 1954 and the film version of Guys and Dolls 1955. As a performer, Kidd appeared in It's Always Fair Weather and as a faded director and choreographer in the cult 1975 film Smile. In the 1960s, he choreographed the films Star! and Hello, Dolly! In 1997, Kidd received a special Academy Award "in recognition of his services to the art of dance in the art of the screen."

Kidd is survived by his second wife, Shelah Hackett, a former dancer he worked with on Broadway, and four children.