Bob Fosse's Real Name: Robert Louis Fosse

Quick answer: He was known as Bob Fosse. Encyclopaedia Britannica says Bob Fosse is the byname of Robert Louis Fosse, born June 23, 1927, in Chicago. The Los Angeles Times obituary independently says Robert Louis Fosse was born on that date in Chicago. Both sources record his death in Washington, D.C., on September 23, 1987, at age 60.

Real name and early life

Britannica gives "Byname of: Robert Louis Fosse," with a birth date of June 23, 1927, in Chicago. The Los Angeles Times, in an obituary by Ted Thackrey Jr., says "Robert Louis Fosse was born June 23, 1927, in Chicago," the son of a vaudeville singer turned salesman. A Library of Congress name record gives the same full name, date, and city.

Britannica says he attended dance schools as a child and began dancing professionally at 13. The Times says that at 13 he teamed with another young dancer as the Riff Brothers in vaudeville and burlesque. Britannica says he served in a U.S. Navy entertainment unit, moved to New York after his 1947 discharge, studied acting at the American Theatre Wing, and made his Broadway debut in the chorus of Dance Me a Song (1950).

Career highlights

Britannica says that after early film roles, including Kiss Me Kate (1953), he returned to Broadway to choreograph The Pajama Game (1954), earning his first Tony, followed by Damn Yankees, which starred Gwen Verdon, who became his third wife in 1960. It describes his signature style: props such as chairs, canes, and bowler hats, turned-in knees, rolled shoulders, and "jazz hands."

Britannica says he directed his first Broadway show, Redhead, in 1959 and later Sweet Charity, which he also filmed in 1969. Both sources say he won the Academy Award for directing Cabaret (1972), and both cite Emmys for the television special Liza with a Z. Britannica says he won Tonys for directing and choreographing Pippin in 1973, making him the first person to win an Oscar, a Tony, and an Emmy in the same year. The Times counts seven Tonys for directing or choreography.

Britannica also lists the film Lenny (1974), the stage musical Chicago (1975–77), which he co-wrote, directed, and choreographed, and Dancin' (1978). Its notable works also include All That Jazz.

Death

The Times says that on Wednesday, September 23, 1987, he suffered an apparent heart attack in Washington while preparing a revival of Sweet Charity at the National Theater, and that a hospital spokeswoman said he was pronounced dead of cardiac arrest at George Washington University Hospital. Britannica gives the same date and city and his age as 60.

Name notes for searchers

People looking up Bob Fosse or Robert Louis Fosse are looking for the same choreographer and director. Gwen Verdon was his wife and frequent collaborator.