Herbert Ross

For the British-Canadian systematic entomologist, see Herbert Holdsworth Ross.

Herbert Ross
Born	Herbert David Ross (1927-05-13)May 13, 1927 New York City, New York, U.S.
Died	October 9, 2001(2001-10-09) (aged 74) New York City, New York, U.S.
Resting place	Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery
Occupations	Film director, theatre director, film producer, theatre producer, choreographer, dancer
Years active	1942–1995
Spouses	Nora Kaye ​ ​ (m. 1959; died 1987)​ Lee Radziwill ​ ​ (m. 1988; div. 2001)​

Herbert David Ross (May 13, 1927 – October 9, 2001) was an American choreographer, director, and producer, who was active in both theatre and film. He was known for his work on Broadway as a choreographer for productions for Barbra Streisand, Stephen Sondheim, Richard Rodgers, and Arthur Laurents. His credits included A Tree Grows in Brooklyn in 1951, Finian's Rainbow in 1960, I Can Get It for You Wholesale in 1962, and Do I Hear a Waltz? in 1965. He was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Choreography for Anyone Can Whistle in 1964.

On screen, he was known for directing musicals and comedies such as Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1969), The Owl and the Pussycat (1970), Play It Again, Sam (1972), The Sunshine Boys, Funny Lady (both 1975), The Goodbye Girl (1977), California Suite (1978), and Pennies From Heaven (1981). His later films included Footloose (1984), and Steel Magnolias (1989). For the drama The Turning Point (1977), he received two Academy Award nominations for Best Picture and Best Director and received the Golden Globe Award for Best Director.

Early life

Ross was born on May 13, 1927, in Brooklyn, New York, the son of Louis Chester Ross,^[1] a postal clerk, and his wife Martha (née Grundfast). His parents were Russian-Jewish immigrants.^[2] When Ross was nine, his mother died and his father moved the family to Miami and opened a luncheonette.^[3]

After dropping out of high school, Ross went to New York to pursue an acting career but became smitten with dance and studied dance.

Career

Theatre

Dancer

In 1942, Ross' stage debut came as "Third Witch" in a touring company of Macbeth. The next year brought his first Broadway performance credits with Something for the Boys, as a dancer. Ross was a dancer in Follow the Girls (1943–44), Laffing Room Only (1944–45), Beggar's Holiday (1946–47), and Look, Ma, I'm Dancin'!.

Choreographer

By 1950, he was a choreographer with the American Ballet Theatre and choreographed his first Broadway production, the Arthur Schwartz-Dorothy Fields musical adaptation of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1951). For TV he choreographed All Star Revue, The Milton Berle Show, and The Steve Allen Plymouth Show. Ross's first film assignment came as an uncredited choreographer on Carmen Jones (1954).^[4]

Back on Broadway he choreographed House of Flowers (1954) for Peter Brook, and The Body Beautiful (1958). He choreographed some TV specials: The Jerry Lewis Show (1957), Wonderful Town (1958), Meet Me in St Louis (1959) and A Christmas Festival (1959). On Broadway Ross directed and choreographed a revival of Finian's Rainbow (1960). In 1965, Ross choreographed the original production of On a Clear Day, You Can See Forever and, without credit, took over the helm from the director of record, Robert Lewis, when the musical ran into trouble in Boston during its pre-Broadway tryout tour.

Ross went to England where he choreographed the feature film The Young Ones (1961), starring Cliff Richard. He returned to Broadway to be musical director on The Gay Life (1961–62) and I Can Get It for You Wholesale (1962), the latter directed by Arthur Laurents and starring Barbra Streisand. He choreographed The Bacchantes (1961) in Italy. Ross then choreographed a second Cliff Richard musical in England, Summer Holiday (1963). On Broadway he choreographed Tovarich (1963) with Vivien Leigh and Anyone Can Whistle (1964) with Laurents. For TV he did musical numbers for The Fantasticks (1964), The Bell Telephone Hour, Delia Scala Show (1962), Rinaldo in campo (1963), and The Nut House!! (1964) and staged numbers for the films Inside Daisy Clover (1965), Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966) and Doctor Dolittle (1967).

On Broadway Ross directed and choreographed Kelly (1965), and choreographed Do I Hear a Waltz? (1965) and On a Clear Day You Can See Forever (1965-66). He did some additional staging on The Apple Tree (1966–67) directed by Mike Nichols. Ross was choreographer and director of musical numbers for Funny Girl (1968), produced by Ray Stark.^[4][5]

Film

His film directorial debut came with the musical version of Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1969), made by MGM-British, with Peter O'Toole and Petula Clark. It was produced by Arthur P. Jacobs who had made Doctor Dolittle two years prior, and just like that film, Goodbye, Mr. Chips was a box-office disappointment. However, Ross' second feature as director, The Owl and the Pussycat (1970), was a big hit. The film was produced by Ray Stark and stars Streisand.

Ross did T.R. Baskin (1971) then Play It Again, Sam (1972), the latter produced by Jacobs and starring Woody Allen based on his play. Ross made The Last of Sheila (1973) co-written by Stephen Sondheim and Anthony Perkins, and Funny Lady (1975) with Stark and Streisand. Ross directed The Sunshine Boys (1975) based on a play and script by Neil Simon, starting a long collaboration between the two men; Stark produced. Ross directed The Seven-Per-Cent Solution (1976), and The Turning Point (1977); Ross produced the latter.^[5]

Ross had two big hits with Simon scripts produced by Stark, The Goodbye Girl (1977) and California Suite (1978). Ross returned to Broadway to direct Neil Simon's Chapter Two (1977–79). After doing the ballet film Nijinsky (1980) he directed Simon's I Ought to Be in Pictures (1980–81) on Broadway. He followed this with Pennies from Heaven (1981) and the film version of I Ought to Be in Pictures (1982). His last film with Simon was Max Dugan Returns (1983).

Later career

Ross had a huge hit with Footloose (1984). He followed this with two comedies, Protocol (1984) with Goldie Hawn and The Secret of My Success (1987) with Michael J. Fox. Less successful was Dancers (1987).^[6][7][8]

Ross had one last big hit with another play adaptation, Steel Magnolias (1989). In the 1990s, he directed My Blue Heaven (1990), True Colors (1991), Undercover Blues (1993) and Boys on the Side (1995).

Personal life

In 1959, he married Nora Kaye, a ballerina,^[9] with whom he produced four films.^[10] In 1987, his wife Nora died of cancer.^[3][11]

In September 1988, he married for the second time to Lee Radziwiłł,^[12] the younger sister of former First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis.^[13] The marriage ended in divorce in 2001, shortly before his death.^[14] In 2013, Radziwiłł described their relationship as follows:^[15]

He was certainly different from anybody else I'd been involved with, and the film world sounded exciting. Well, it wasn't. I hated Hollywood, and the provincialism of the industry ... Herbert had been married to the ballerina Nora Kaye until she died, and unbeknownst to me was still obsessed by her. It was 'Nora said this, Nora did it like that, Nora liked brown and orange.'^[15]

Death

On October 9, 2001, Ross died from heart failure in New York City.^[16] A memorial was held for him at the Majestic Theater on West 44th Street in New York where Leslie Browne, Barbara Cook, Arthur Laurents, Marsha Mason, Mike Nichols and Mary-Louise Parker spoke of Ross.^[17] He was interred with Kaye in the Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles.^[18]

The 2011 remake of Footloose was dedicated to Ross' memory.

Stage credits

Year	Title	Contributed to				Role	Notes
		Directing	Choreo.	Acting	Dancing
1942	Macbeth	No	No	Yes	No	3rd Witch	Touring
1943-44	Something for the Boys	No	No	No	Yes
1944-46	Follow the Girls	No	No	Yes	Yes	Dancing Boy
1944-45	Laffing Room Only	No	No	No	No	Ensemble member
1946-47	Beggar's Holiday	No	No	Yes	Yes
1948	Look, Ma, I'm Dancin'!	No	No	Yes	Yes
1951	A Tree Grows in Brooklyn	No	Yes	No	No
1952	Three Wishes for Jamie	No	Yes	No	No
1954-55	House of Flowers	No	Yes	No	No
1955-56	The Amazing Adele	No	Yes	No	No
1958	The Body Beautiful	No	Yes	No	No
1960	Finian's Rainbow	Yes	Yes	No	No
1961-62	The Gay Life	No	Yes	No	No		Musical staging
1962	I Can Get It for You Wholesale	No	Yes	No	No
1963	Hot Spot	Yes	Yes	No	No
	Tovarich	No	Yes	No	No
1964	Anyone Can Whistle	No	Yes	No	No
	Dylan	No	Yes	No	No
	Anyone Can Whistle	No	Yes	No	No
1965	Do I Hear a Waltz?	No	Yes	No	No
	Kelly	Yes	Yes	No	No
1965-65	On a Clear Day You Can See Forever	No	Yes	No	No
1966-67	The Apple Tree	No	Yes	No	No		Addt. Musical staging
1977-79	Chapter Two	Yes	No	No	No
1980-81	I Ought to Be in Pictures	Yes	No	No	No
1985	Follies	Yes	No	No	No
	The Boys of Winter	Yes	No	No	No		Left during previews[19]
1995	Anyone Can Whistle	Yes	No	No	No

Sources:^[19][20]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Contributed to			Note
		Directing	Producing	Choreo.
1954	Carmen Jones	No	No	Yes	Uncredited
1961	The Bacchantes	No	No	Yes
	The Young Ones	No	No	Yes
1963	Summer Holiday	No	No	Yes
1965	Inside Daisy Clover	No	No	Yes	Musical staging
1966	Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?	No	No	Yes	Uncredited
1967	Doctor Dolittle	No	No	Yes	Musical staging
1968	Funny Girl	No	No	Yes
1969	Goodbye, Mr. Chips	Yes	No	No	Directorial Debut
1970	The Owl and the Pussycat	Yes	No	No
1971	T.R. Baskin	Yes	No	No
1972	Play It Again, Sam	Yes	No	No
1973	The Last of Sheila	Yes	Yes	No
1975	The Sunshine Boys	Yes	No	No
	Funny Lady	Yes	No	Yes	Musical staging
1976	The Seven-Per-Cent Solution	Yes	Yes	No
1977	The Turning Point	Yes	Yes	No
	The Goodbye Girl	Yes	No	No
1978	California Suite	Yes	No	No
1980	Nijinsky	Yes	No	No
1981	Pennies From Heaven	Yes	Yes	No
1982	I Ought to Be in Pictures	Yes	Yes	No
1983	Max Dugan Returns	Yes	Yes	No
1984	Footloose	Yes	No	No
	Protocol	Yes	No	No
1987	The Secret of My Success	Yes	Yes	No
	Dancers	Yes	No	No
1989	Steel Magnolias	Yes	No	No
1990	My Blue Heaven	Yes	Yes	No
1991	True Colors	Yes	Yes	No
	Soapdish	No	Executive	No
1993	Undercover Blues	Yes	No	No
1995	Boys on the Side	Yes	Yes	No

Television

Year	Title	Contributed to			Notes
		Directing	Producing	Choreo.
1953	All Star Revue	No	No	Yes
1953-54	Texco Berle Theater	No	No	Yes
1954	Wonderful Town	Yes	No	No	Television film
	The Paul Winchell Show	No	No	Yes
1954-56	The Martha Raye Show	No	No	Yes
1956	The Steve Allen Show	No	No	Yes
1957	The Jerry Lewis Show	No	No	Yes	Special
1959	Meet Me in St. Louis	No	No	Yes	Television film
	A Christmas Festival	No	No	Yes
1963	Rinaldo in campo	No	No	Yes
1964-66	The Bell Telephone Hour	No	Yes	No	6 episodes
1964	The Nut House!!	No	No	Yes	Special
	Hallmark Hall of Fame	No	No	Yes	Episode: "The Fantasticks"
	Perry Como's Kraft Music Hall	No	No	Yes
1986	Great Performances	Yes	No	No	Episode: "Follies in Concert"
1994	Placido Domingo's Tales from the Opera	Yes	No	No	Episode: "La bohème"

Awards and nominations

Institution	Year	Category	Work	Result
American Choreography Awards	1997	Career Achievement Award	—N/a	Won
Academy Awards	1977	Best Picture	The Turning Point	Nominated
		Best Director		Nominated
David di Donatello	1978	Best Foreign Director	The Goodbye Girl	Nominated[a]
Directors Guild of America Awards	1977	Outstanding Directing - Feature Film	The Turning Point	Nominated
Giffoni Film Festival	1971	Golden Gryphon	Goodbye, Mr. Chips	Won
Golden Globe Awards	1977	Best Director	The Turning Point	Won
Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards	1977	Best Director		Won
Moscow International Film Festival	1995	Golden St. George	Boys on the Side	Nominated
Tokyo International Film Festival	1987	Grand Prix	Dancers	Nominated
Tony Award	1964	Best Choreography	Anyone Can Whistle	Nominated
Valladolid International Film Festival	1976	Best Film	The Sunshine Boys	Nominated

Awards and nominations for Ross' directed motion pictures

Year	Film	Academy Awards		BAFTAs		Golden Globes
		Nominations	Wins	Nominations	Wins	Nominations	Wins
1969	Goodbye, Mr. Chips	2				3	1
1970	The Owl and the Pussycat					1
1975	Funny Lady	5				6
	The Sunshine Boys	4	1	2		5	4
1976	The Seven-Per-Cent Solution	2
1977	The Turning Point	11		1		6	2
	The Goodbye Girl	5	1	3	1	5	4
1978	California Suite	3	1	1		2	1
1981	Pennies from Heaven	3				3	1
1984	Footloose	2				1
1987	The Secret of My Success					1
1989	Steel Magnolias	1		1		2	1
Total		38	3	8	1	35	14

Directed Academy Award Performances

Under Ross' direction, these actors have earned Oscar nominations and wins for their performances in these respective roles.

Year	Performer	Film	Result
Best Actor Oscar
1970	Peter O'Toole	Goodbye, Mr. Chips	Nominated
1976	Walter Matthau	The Sunshine Boys	Nominated
1978	Richard Dreyfuss	The Goodbye Girl	Won
Best Actress Oscar
1978	Anne Bancroft	The Turning Point	Nominated
	Shirley MacLaine		Nominated
	Marsha Mason	The Goodbye Girl	Nominated
Best Supporting Actor Oscar
1976	George Burns	The Sunshine Boys	Won
1978	Mikhail Baryshnikov	The Turning Point	Nominated
Best Supporting Actress Oscar
1978	Leslie Browne	The Turning Point	Nominated
	Quinn Cummings	The Goodbye Girl	Nominated
1979	Maggie Smith	California Suite	Won
1990	Julia Roberts	Steel Magnolias	Nominated

References

1. "Herbert Ross Biography (1927-2001)".
2. Janos, Leo (November 12, 1978). "That Hollywood Touch". The New York Times.
3. Lyman, Rick (October 11, 2001). "Herbert Ross, Broadway Choreographer Turned Hollywood Director, Dies at 74". The New York Times. Retrieved January 26, 2017.
4. Kisselgoff, Anna (January 6, 1994). "Review/Dance; From Perfectionism to Pastiche In the Films of Herbert Ross". The New York Times. Retrieved January 26, 2017.
5. Bosworth, Patricia (November 20, 1977). "On Stage and Screen, It's All Coming Up Ross's". The New York Times. Retrieved January 26, 2017.
6. Kisselgoff, Anna (October 25, 1987). "DANCE VIEW; Dancers': More Than Meets The Eye". The New York Times. Retrieved January 26, 2017.
7. Maslin, Janet (February 3, 1995). "FILM REVIEW; Another Buddy Story, With a Twist or Two". The New York Times. Retrieved January 26, 2017.
8. Gates, Anita (February 19, 1995). "TAKING THE CHILDREN; Zipping Through School, but, Boy, Is He Dumb". The New York Times. Retrieved January 26, 2017.
9. Martin, John (June 26, 1943). "NORA KAYE MAKES 'SWAN LAKE' DEBUT; Her Performance High Point of Ballet Program at the Lewisohn Stadium EGLEVSKY AS THE PRINCE Markova, Massine, Laing and Tudor Dance in 'Aleko' --'Bluebeard' Also Seen". The New York Times. Retrieved January 26, 2017.
10. Kisselgoff, Anna (June 8, 1977). "Nora Kaye Recollects". The New York Times. Retrieved January 26, 2017.
11. Anderson, Jack (January 5, 1988). "Nora Kaye Honored In Memorial Tribute By Artist Colleagues". The New York Times. Retrieved January 26, 2017.
12. Nemy, Enid (August 12, 1999). "Anthony Stanislas Radziwill, 40, Award-Winning TV Producer". The New York Times. Retrieved January 26, 2017.
13. "Lee Bouvier Radziwill Weds Herbert Ross, Film Director". The New York Times. September 24, 1988. Retrieved January 26, 2017.
14. "Lee Bouvier Radziwill Weds Herbert Ross, Film Director". New York Times. September 24, 1988. Retrieved June 21, 2007.
15. Haslam, Nicky (February 7, 2013). "The Real Lee Radziwill". The New York Times Magazine. Retrieved January 26, 2017.
16. "Paid Notice: Deaths ROSS, HERBERT D." The New York Times. October 12, 2001. Retrieved January 26, 2017.
17. "Memorial for Herbert Ross". The New York Times. December 14, 2001. Retrieved January 26, 2017.
18. NNDB
19. https://www.abouttheartists.com/artists/348020-herbert-ross
20. "Herbert Ross – Broadway Cast & Staff | IBDB". www.ibdb.com. Retrieved March 12, 2026.

Notes

1. Tied with Ridley Scott for The Duellists.

External links

• Herbert Ross at Find a Grave
• Herbert Ross at the Internet Broadway Database
• Herbert Ross at IMDb