JEROME ROBBINS
Name: Jerome Rabinowitz
Born: 11 October 1918 New York City, New York
Died: 29 July 1998 New York City, New York
Jerome Robbins (October 11, 1918 - July 29, 1998) was an American Academy Award
winning film director and choreographer whose work has included everything from
classical ballet to contemporary musical theater. Among the numerous stage
productions he worked on were On the Town, High Button Shoes, The King And I,
The Pajama Game, Bells Are Ringing, West Side Story, Gypsy: A Musical Fable and
Fiddler on the Roof.
Robbins was born Jerome Wilson Rabinowitz, on October 11, 1918, exactly one
month before the end of World War I, in the Jewish Maternity Hospital in the
heart of Manhattan’s Lower East Side – a neighborhood populated by many
immigrants. The Rabinowitz family lived in a large apartment house at 51 East 97th
at the northeast corner of Madison Avenue. Known as "Jerry" to his loved ones,
Robbins was given a middle name that reflected his parents' patriotic enthusiasm
for the then-president. Rabinowitz, however, translates to “son of a rabbi”, a
name Robbins never liked, since it marked him as the son of an immigrant.
In the early 1920s, the Rabinowitz family moved to Weehawken, New Jersey. 10
years earlier, Fred and Adele Astaire had lived there briefly as children, only
a block away from one of Robbins’ boyhood homes. His father and uncle opened the
“Comfort Corset Company,” a unique venture for the family, which had many show
business connections, including vaudeville performers and theater owners.
Robbins began college studying chemistry at New York University (NYU) but
dropped out after a year for financial reasons and to pursue dance. He studied
at the New Dance League, learning ballet with Ella Daganova, Antony Tudor and
Eugene Loring; modern dance; Spanish dancing with the famed Helen Veola; folk
dance with Yeichi Nimura; and dance composition with Bessie Schoenberg.
Name: Jerome Rabinowitz
Born: 11 October 1918 New York City, New York
Died: 29 July 1998 New York City, New York
Jerome Robbins (October 11, 1918 - July 29, 1998) was an American Academy Award
winning film director and choreographer whose work has included everything from
classical ballet to contemporary musical theater. Among the numerous stage
productions he worked on were On the Town, High Button Shoes, The King And I,
The Pajama Game, Bells Are Ringing, West Side Story, Gypsy: A Musical Fable and
Fiddler on the Roof.
Robbins was born Jerome Wilson Rabinowitz, on October 11, 1918, exactly one
month before the end of World War I, in the Jewish Maternity Hospital in the
heart of Manhattan’s Lower East Side – a neighborhood populated by many
immigrants. The Rabinowitz family lived in a large apartment house at 51 East 97th
at the northeast corner of Madison Avenue. Known as "Jerry" to his loved ones,
Robbins was given a middle name that reflected his parents' patriotic enthusiasm
for the then-president. Rabinowitz, however, translates to “son of a rabbi”, a
name Robbins never liked, since it marked him as the son of an immigrant.
In the early 1920s, the Rabinowitz family moved to Weehawken, New Jersey. 10
years earlier, Fred and Adele Astaire had lived there briefly as children, only
a block away from one of Robbins’ boyhood homes. His father and uncle opened the
“Comfort Corset Company,” a unique venture for the family, which had many show
business connections, including vaudeville performers and theater owners.
Robbins began college studying chemistry at New York University (NYU) but
dropped out after a year for financial reasons and to pursue dance. He studied
at the New Dance League, learning ballet with Ella Daganova, Antony Tudor and
Eugene Loring; modern dance; Spanish dancing with the famed Helen Veola; folk
dance with Yeichi Nimura; and dance composition with Bessie Schoenberg.