Bob Fosse was a legendary dancer, actor and choreographer who revolutionized the way we think of dance. Perhaps the first true media triple threat; at one point of his career he received an Academy award for directing, an Emmy for a television special, and a Tony for Broadway choreography in the same year! (1973) Fosse was a vibrant, colourful character who lived and breathed dance. His pieces are as relevant today as they were the day he created them.

His style was all his own; one knows a Fosse piece when he sees one. Some of his trademarks include his ever-present hat (skewed at an angle over his eyes) and gloves. His swaggering way of gliding across the floor, snapping his fingers and rolling his hips is also unmistakable. Fosse himself often called the combination of these moves the "amoeba", and that word as much as any describes his particular style, one at once fluid and angular.

Robert Fosse was born in Chicago on June 23, 1927, the son of a vaudevillian. He also performed in vaudeville as a child and by his early teens was on stage in a variety of burlesque shows. For a time he studied dance at a small neighbourhood institution but soon outgrew it and moved on to the Frederick Weaver Ballet School, an academy where he was the only male enrolled.

Fosse's Hollywood career began in 1953 when he signed a contract with MGM. There, he danced and sang in three musicals including Kiss Me Kate. He also appeared in (and choreographed) My Sister Eileen and married his second wife, dancer/performer Joan McCracken, at that time.

During a slow point in his acting career, Fosse returned to New York where he was hired by legendary Broadway producer/director George Abbott. He hired him to work out the dance numbers for The Pajama Game. Meeting a kindred spirit in Abbott, Fosse finally found the right vehicle for his style of dancing.

He went on to produce a slew of Broadway hits, including Sweet Charity (1965), Chicago (1975) and Dancin' (1978). He was married three times, most famously to his dance partner Gwen Verdonj( Roxie in Chicago). However, his extra marital affairs and non-conformist lifestyle gained him as much notoriety as his work. He famously put his own story into a movie in All That Jazz (1979).

Fosse never denied the film being autobiographical (as he did co-write the screenplay). And there is an eerily prophetic theme, with the character Gideon suffering heart trouble, a disease to which Fosse himself would eventually succumb to. His apparent honesty and accurate portrayal of his life has helped the movie to reach a cult-like status among his fans.

As foreshadowed in All That Jazz, Fosse did die of a heart attack in Washington D.C. September 23, 1987. He collapsed on the street during the run of a revival of his 1965 show Sweet Charity. Over ten years following his death, his most famous dance works were collected into a 1998 revue, Fosse.

In the 21st century, Fosse continues to collect new fans following the 2002 release of the film version of Chicago, which won the Academy Award as the year's best picture. It was directed by Rob Marshall and starred Renee Zellweger as Roxie Hart, the role originated by Verdon.