Busby Berkeley biography 2022
Busby Berkeley biography
Busby Berkeley (William Berkeley Enos) was born November 29, 1895, in Los Angeles, California, USA.
He was an American film director and choreographer famous for his dances in 1930s American musicals.
Enlisted as a soldier in France during World War I, he revolutionized the US Army's parades and formations and later choreographed major dances on Broadway.
In 1930 he came to Hollywood and created a musical choreography unparalleled in film history. As the general of the chorus girls, he directed his endless rows of girls in often exquisite costumes and sent the camera into the mind-boggling figures that unfold and transform with infectious musical precision. His choreography approached the intensely erotic, but the most important thing was the visual joy of the very vivid patterns.
His most outstanding achievements are seen in Mervyn LeRoy's Gold Diggers of 1933 (1933) with the tracks "Pettin' in the Park," "We're in the Money," "Remember My Forgotten Man," and "The Shadow Waltz." From Lloyd Bacon's 42nd Street (1933), we remember "Shuffle off to Buffalo," the title dance, and "Young and Healthy," from Ray Enright's Dames (1934), "I only have eyes for you" and from his own Gold Diggers of 1935 (1935) the refined choreographic metropolitan drama "Lullaby of Broadway."
Died March 14, 1976, in Palm Springs, California, USA.
last updated October 2022
