Marge and Gower Champion sunbathing by the swimming pool at the Flamingo Hotel, Las Vegas, 1953
Photo by Maurice Terrell
Gower Champion was born 103 years ago today.
An actor, theatre director, choreographer and dancer, Champion was born in Geneva, Illinois. He studied dance from an early age and, at the age of fifteen, toured nightclubs with a friend, Jeanne Tyler. There were billed as "Gower and Jeanne, America's Youngest Dance Team."
In 1939, "Gower and Jeanne" danced to the music of Larry Clinton and his Orchestra in a Warner Brothers & Vitaphone film short-subject, "The Dipsy Doodler" (released in 1940).
During the late 1930s and early 1940s, Champion worked on Broadway as a solo dancer and choreographer. After serving in the U.S. Coast Guard during World War II, Champion met Marjorie Belcher, who became his new partner. The two were married in 1947.
In the early 1950s, Marge and Gower Champion made seven film musicals: Mr. Music (1950, with Bing Crosby), the 1951 remake of Show Boat (with Howard Keel and Kathryn Grayson), 1952's Lovely to Look At (a remake of Roberta, also with Keel and Grayson), the autobiographical Everything I Have Is Yours (1952), Give a Girl a Break (1953, with Debbie Reynolds and Bob Fosse), Jupiter's Darling (1955, with Keel and Esther Williams) and Three for the Show (1955, with Betty Grable and Jack Lemmon).
All were made for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer except Mr. Music (Paramount) and Three for the Show (Columbia). Throughout the 1950s, they performed on a number of television variety shows, and in 1957 they starred in their own short-lived CBS sitcom, The Marge and Gower Champion Show, which was based on their actual career experiences.
In 1948, Champion had begun to direct as well, and he won the first of eight Tony Awards for his staging of Lend An Ear, the show that introduced Carol Channing to New York theater audiences. During the 1950s, he only worked on two Broadway musicals — choreographing Make a Wish in 1951 and directing, staging and starring in 3 For Tonight in 1955.
Champion preferred to spend most of his time in Hollywood. However, in the 1960s, he directed a number of Broadway hits that put him at the top of his profession. He had a solid success in 1960 with Bye Bye Birdie, a show about an Elvis-like rock star about to be inducted into the Army. The show starred relative unknowns Chita Rivera and Dick Van Dyke along with a youthful cast.
It ran 607 performances and won four Tony awards, including Best Musical and two for Champion's direction and choreography.
Next came Carnival! in 1961, which ran 719 performances and garnered seven Tony nominations, including one for Champion's direction.
In 1964, he directed one of Broadway's biggest blockbusters, Hello, Dolly! It ran for 2844 performances — almost seven years. Starring Carol Channing, it's best remembered for the title number, where Dolly is greeted by the staff of a restaurant after having been away for years. The show won ten Tony Awards, including Best Musical, as well as two for Champion's direction and choreography.
Champion had his fourth consecutive hit musical with I Do! I Do! in 1966. It featured a cast of two — veterans Mary Martin and Robert Preston — playing a couple seen throughout the years of their marriage. The show ran for 560 performances and got seven Tony nominations, including one for Champion's direction.
In early 1979, Champion received from his doctors at the Scripps Institute a diagnosis of Waldenström macroglobulinemia, a rare form of blood cancer. He began treatment at Cedars of Lebanon Hospital in Los Angeles and was advised not to take on work.
Champion died at age 61 on August 25, 1980 in New York City at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.
Champion's death came only ten hours before the opening-night curtain of “42nd Street,” the Broadway musical he directed. It would be his greatest success, running nine years. Producer David Merrick asked Champion's family to keep the news secret from everyone, including the show's cast.
During the enthusiastic curtain calls, he came onstage and melodramatically made the shocking announcement amidst the applause. “No, no. This is tragic. You don’t understand. Gower Champion died this morning.”
Here, Marge and Gower Champion dance in the final scene of “Lovely to Look At” in 1952