Jerome Robbins

Jerome Robbins was born Jerome Wilson Rabinowitz in New York City in 1918. He was the second child of Harry and Lena Rabinowitz; his father had emigrated from Poland in 1904. In the 1920s, the family moved to Weehawken, New Jersey where his father established a corset company. The family made many show business connections through their business and, in the 1940s, changed their surname to Robbins.

In 1953, Robbins shocked the theatrical community by giving a testimony before the House Un-American Activities Committee. He admitted to being a former member of the Communist Party and named eight other individuals who he claimed were also former members. Robbins refused to justify or explain his actions, although it is believed he may have been threatened with being exposed as homosexual.

Robbins was bisexual and is known to have had relationships with several well-known actors and dancers, including Nora Kaye, Montgomery Clift, and Buzz Miller. However, he never married. He began to show signs of Parkinson’s Disease in the mid 1990s and his hearing deteriorated, although he continued to work. Robbins suffered a stroke in 1998 and he died at home in New York on July 29, 1998. The lights on Broadway were dimmed on the evening of his death.

Key Dates & Events

• 1935 - Robbins graduates from Woodrow Wilson High School.
• 1940 - Robbins is accepted into the Ballet Theatre (later known as the American Ballet Theatre).
• 1944 - Robbins choreographs his first ballet called Fancy Free.
• 1947 - Robbins choreographs High Button Shoes, for which he won his first Tony Award.
• 1948 - Robbins gains his first co-director credit for Look Ma, I’m Dancin!.
• 1949 - Robbins joins the newly formed New York City Ballet, where he is appointed Associate Artistic Director.
• 1953 - Robbins testified before the House Un-American Activities Committee.
• 1957 - Robbins wins his second Tony Award for Choreography for West Side Story.
• 1958 - Robbins establishes the Jerome Robbins Foundation.
• 1963 - Robbins directs the Broadway premiere of Bertolt Brecht’s Mother Courage and her Children, which stars Anne Bancroft and is nominated for four Tony Awards (including Best Play).
• 1964 - Robbins wins the Tony Awards for Best Director of a Musical and Best Choreographer for Fiddler on the Roof.
• 1979 - Robbins is admitted into the American Theater Hall of Fame.
• 1981 - Robbins is awarded the Kennedy Center Honors.
• 1988 - Robbins is awarded the National Medal of Arts.
• 1989 - Robbins’ final Broadway production, Jerome Robbins’ Broadway, wins six Tony Awards including Best Musical and Best Director.