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Ann Reinking 1949 - 2020

Ann Reinking was born on November 10, 1949 in Seattle, King County, Washington United States, and died at age 71 years old on December 12, 2020 at Seattle, WA, USA in Seattle. Family, friend, or fan, this family history biography is for you to remember Ann Reinking.

Ann Reinking
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November 10, 1949
Seattle, King County, Washington, United States
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December 12, 2020
Seattle, WA, USA in Seattle, King County, Washington, United States
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Updated: June 10, 2022
Biography ID: 192863757 What's this
Ann Reinking Ann Reinking (1949 - 2020)
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Ann Reinking's History: 1949 - 2020

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  • Introduction

    About Ann Reinking was an American dancer, actress, choreographer and singer. She worked extensively in musical theater, starring in Broadway productions such as Coco, Over Here!, Goodtime Charley, Chicago, Dancin', and Sweet Charity. Born: November 10, 1949, Seattle, WA Died: December 12, 2020, Seattle, WA Height: 5′ 7″ Spouse: Peter Talbert (m. 1994–2020) Children: Christopher Reinking Stuart Awards: Tony Award for Best Choreography
  • 11/10
    1949

    Birthday

    November 10, 1949
    Birthdate
    Seattle, King County, Washington United States
    Birthplace
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  • Professional Career

    Ann Reinking PERFORMER, CHOREOGRAPHER BORN: NOV 09, 1949 IN SEATTLE, WA DEATH: DEC 11, 2020 IN WOODINVILLE, WA ROLES (23) Pb Listing Placeholder BROADWAY V4 THE VISIT OPENED NOVEMBER 30, 2011 CHOREOGRAPHER An Evening With Patti Lupone and Mandy Patinkin Playbill - Opening Night AN EVENING WITH PATTI LUPONE AND MANDY PATINKIN OPENED NOVEMBER 21, 2011 DANCE CONSULTANT An Evening With Patti Lupone and Mandy Patinkin Playbill - Opening Night The Look of Love Playbill - Opening Night, April 2003 THE LOOK OF LOVE OPENED MAY 04, 2003 CONCEPTION CHOREOGRAPHER The Look of Love Playbill - Opening Night, April 2003 Fosse Playbill - Opening Night, Jan 1999 FOSSE OPENED JANUARY 14, 1999 CONCEIVER CO-DIRECTOR CO-CHOREOGRAPHER PERFORMER Fosse Playbill - Opening Night, Jan 1999 Chicago Playbill - June 2022 CHICAGO OPENED NOVEMBER 14, 1996 AS ROXIE HART (ORIGINAL) CHOREOGRAPHY IN THE STYLE OF BOB FOSSE Chicago Playbill - June 2022 Tommy Tune Tonite Playbill - Opening Night, Dec 1992 TOMMY TUNE TONITE! OPENED DECEMBER 28, 1992 CHOREOGRAPHIC CONTRIBUTIONS The 40th Annual Tony Awards Playbill - June 1, 1986 THE 40TH ANNUAL TONY AWARDS - 1986 OPENED JUNE 01, 1986 AS PARTICIPATING ARTIST (ORIGINAL) Sweet Charity Playbill - Opening Night, April 1986 SWEET CHARITY OPENED APRIL 27, 1986 AS CHARITY (REPLACEMENT) ARRIVED ON OCT 28, 1986 Dancin' Playbill - June 1982 DANCIN' OPENED MARCH 27, 1978 PERFORMER A Chorus Line Playbill - July 1975 A CHORUS LINE OPENED OCTOBER 19, 1975 AS CASSIE (REPLACEMENT) ARRIVED ON APR 25, 1976 Chicago Playbill - June 1975 CHICAGO OPENED JUNE 03, 1975 AS ROXIE HART (REPLACEMENT) ARRIVED ON FEB 07, 1977 Goodtime Charley Playbill - March 1975 GOODTIME CHARLEY OPENED MARCH 03, 1975 AS JOAN OF ARC (ORIGINAL) Over Here! Playbill - March 1974 OVER HERE! OPENED MARCH 06, 1974 AS MAGGIE (ORIGINAL) Pippin Playbill - Nov 1972 PIPPIN OPENED OCTOBER 23, 1972 AS PLAYER (ORIGINAL) AS CATHERINE (ORIGINAL) Wild and Wonderful Playbill - Opening Night, Dec 1971 WILD AND WONDERFUL OPENED DECEMBER 07, 1971 AS ENSEMBLE (ORIGINAL) Coco Playbill - Opening Night, Dec 1969 COCO OPENED DECEMBER 18, 1969 AS ENSEMBLE (ORIGINAL) Cabaret Playbill - Jan 1967 CABARET OPENED NOVEMBER 20, 1966 AS LULU (REPLACEMENT) INSIDE THE PLAYBILL AWARDS DRAMA DESK AWARD 1999 OUTSTANDING DIRECTOR OF A MUSICAL FOSSE NOMINEE 1997 OUTSTANDING CHOREOGRAPHY CHICAGO WINNER 1975 OUTSTANDING ACTRESS IN A MUSICAL GOODTIME CHARLEY NOMINEE OUTER CRITICS CIRCLE 1999 OUTSTANDING DIRECTOR OF A MUSICAL FOSSE NOMINEE 1999 OUTSTANDING CHOREOGRAPHY FOSSE NOMINEE 1974 OUTSTANDING ACTRESS IN A MUSICAL OVER HERE! WINNER THEATRE WORLD AWARDS 1974 THEATRE WORLD AWARD OVER HERE! WINNER TONY AWARD 1999 BEST DIRECTION OF A MUSICAL FOSSE NOMINEE 1978 BEST FEATURED ACTRESS IN A MUSICAL DANCIN' NOMINEE 1975 BEST ACTRESS IN A MUSICAL GOODTIME CHARLEY NOMINEE

  • Personal Life & Family

    NEW YORK — Ann Reinking, the Tony Award-winning choreographer, actress and Bob Fosse collaborator who helped spread a cool, muscular hybrid of jazz and burlesque movement to Broadway and beyond, has died. She was 71. Reinking died Saturday while visiting family in Seattle, said her manager, Lee Gross. No cause of death was disclosed. Tributes poured in from the Broadway community, including from Tony Yazbeck, who called her “an absolute inspiration” and Leslie Odom, Jr., who thanked Reinking for being a mentor: “She honored the calling for real. RIP to a legend.” Bernadette Peters took to Twitter to say her heart was broken and Billy Eichner said she was “one of the most mesmerizing people I’ve ever seen on stage. A singular genius. RIP.” Trained as a ballet dancer, Reinking was known for her bold style of dance epitomized by her work in the revival of the Kander and Ebb musical “Chicago,” complete with net stockings, chair dancing and plenty of pelvic thrusts. Reinking co-starred as Roxie Hart along with Bebe Neuwirth’s Velma, and created the choreography “in the style of Bob Fosse,” the show’s original director and choreographer who died in 1987. She and Fosse worked together for 15 years and she was also his lover for several of them. Her work on “Chicago” earned her a 1997 Tony, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle awards. Reinking replicated its choreography in productions throughout the world — England, Australia, Austria, Sweden, the Netherlands and elsewhere. She was portrayed by Margaret Qualley in the recent FX series “Fosse/Verdon.” The musical’s revival was first done in a concert version at City Center’s “Encores” series in 1996 and then moved to Broadway, where in 2011 it became the second longest-running show in Broadway history. FILE - Ann Reinking holds her Tony Award for best choreography for the musical "Chicago" at the 51st annual Tony Awards on June 1, 1997, in New York. Reinking, the Tony Award-winning choreographer, actress and Bob Fosse collaborator who helped spread a cool, muscular hybrid of jazz and burlesque movement to Broadway and beyond, has died. She was 71. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File) “You know how you hear sometimes a woman goes into labor and 10 minutes later she’s got this beautiful baby? You couldn’t believe that it was materializing in such a beautiful way,” she told The Associated Press in 2011 about the early days of the revival. In 1998, she co-directed “Fosse,” a salute to the man who had the largest influence, both professionally and personally, on her life. He once called her “one of the finest dancers in the jazz-modern idiom.” Her movie credits include “Annie” (1982), “Movie, Movie” (1978) and the documentary “Mad Hot Ballroom” (2005), which portrayed Reinking as a ballroom-dance competition judge for New York City kids. Reinking’s career began in Seattle, where she grew up. In the beginning, she wanted to be a ballet dancer, “like all girls,” she said. As a student, she won a scholarship in San Francisco with the Joffrey Ballet, but at many of the students’ after-hours improvisations, she would just sing and not dance. Robert Joffrey said that with her outgoing personality and other abilities, she should pursue musical theater. “I waited tables to save up enough money to get here,” she said of New York City, where she arrived with a round-trip ticket back to Seattle and $500. She didn’t need the return trip. “You wouldn’t get into this if you had a guarantee. People who get into this have a certain sense of the high stakes,” she said. “You need the break and when you get it, you’d better be ready for it.” Reinking’s break was strung out over several shows. She was in the ensemble for Broadway’s “Coco,” which starred Katharine Hepburn as Coco Chanel, in 1969, and was in the chorus of “Pippin” in 1972, picked by its director and choreographer, Fosse. The ensemble was so small — there were only eight — that the dancers were really seen. Choreographer Pat Birch was one who noticed, and in 1974 put her in “Over Here,” a World War II musical starring two of the three Andrews Sisters and featuring another unknown, John Travolta. It led to a starring role in “Goodtime Charley,” a musical about Joan of Arc opposite Joel Grey. The musical was not a success, but it did make theatergoers look at Reinking as a principal performer and not just a member of the chorus. Her other big break, she said, was in “Dancin’” in 1978, “because I realized you had to be in an original part and that show has to be a hit.” The music-and-dance revue directed and choreographed by Fosse was, running more than three years and earned her a 1978 Tony nomination. But it was her work on the revival of “Chicago” where Reinking basked in the most attention. The original, a dark indictment of celebrity and hucksterism, opened in the summer of 1975 and ran for about 900 performances. Though not in the opening night cast, Reinking eventually slipped into the role of Roxie Hart, taking over the part from Gwen Verdon, Fosse’s third wife and dancing alter ego. In the 1996 revival, which is still on Broadway, Reinking kept the part of Hart opposite Gray and Neuwirth. Reinking also gained experience — and stayed in shape — by replacing stars in hit shows: Donna McKechnie in “A Chorus Line”; Gwen Verdon in Fosse’s original “Chicago”; and Debbie Allen in the 1986 revival of “Sweet Charity.” And she embarked on an eclectic film career — from playing Roy Scheider’s lover in Fosse’s 1979 semi-autobiographical film “All That Jazz,” to the screen version of “Annie” to Blake Edwards’ “Micki and Maude.” She also created dances for a revival of “Pal Joey” at Chicago’s Goodman Theater and a musical about first lady Eleanor Roosevelt called “Eleanor.” She was on the national tour of “Bye Bye Birdie” opposite Tommy Tune. After “Eleanor,” offers to choreograph “kept falling in my lap,” Reinking said. She created dances for a pre-Encores “Chicago” in Long Beach, California, with Neuwirth and Juliet Prowse. In one of the more cringe-worthy moments in her career, Reinking was asked to sing and perform the Oscar nominated song “Against All Odds” by Phil Collins at the 1985 telecast. Reinking lip-synched as she danced a bombastic, cheesy rendition marred by fog. In recent years, she choreographed “The Look of Love” on Broadway and the Roger Rees-directed off-Broadway “Here Lies Jenny” (2004), starring Neuwirth. In 2011, she helped choreograph “An Evening with Patti LuPone and Mandy Patinkin” on Broadway. Reinking also produced a documentary called “In My Hands,” about working with children of Marfan’s Syndrome, a rare genetic disorder of the connective tissues that often leaves its victims with limbs that are disproportionately long. She also produced the film “Two Worlds, One Planet,” about “high-functioning” autism. Reinking’s first three marriages ended in divorce. Since 1994, she had been married to Peter Talbert. She also is survived by a son, Christopher, who has been diagnosed with Marfan syndrome and autism. “If there is a heaven, I think Bob can look down and be satisfied. He really did have an exponential effect on the next generation of choreographers and dancers,” Reinking once said. “He demanded the best from you and you wanted to give it. So you got better. All great directors — however, they do it — make you want to be good. I hope I do it. It’s like being a parent, a psychiatrist, a disciplinarian and a friend. You really have to know when to hold them and when to show them.”
  • 12/12
    2020

    Death

    December 12, 2020
    Death date
    Unknown
    Cause of death
    Seattle, WA, USA in Seattle, King County, Washington United States
    Death location
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  • Obituary

    Ann Reinking Dies at 71; Dancer, Actor, Choreographer and Fosse Muse From the ensembles of “Cabaret” and “Pippin,” she stepped into the role of Roxie Hart in “Chicago,” and the rest is Tony-winning history. Ann Reinking as a character based on herself in Bob Fosse’s autobiographical 1979 movie. “All That Jazz.” “I think I came off as a good person,” she said, “and as someone who meant something to him.” Ann Reinking, a dancer, actor and Tony Award-winning choreographer who performed for three decades on Broadway, where she was known for her long association with Bob Fosse and his work, died on Saturday in Woodinville, Wash., near Seattle. She was 71. Ms. Reinking had been visiting her older brother when she died in her sleep in a hotel room, said Dahrla King, her sister-in-law. The cause was not yet known. As a performer, Ms. Reinking was perhaps best known for playing Roxie Hart in the hit John Kander-Fred Ebb musical “Chicago.” She stepped into the role in 1977, at 27, and it helped make her a star. In 1996, when she was in her 40s, she returned to the role triumphantly for a hugely successful Broadway revival, which she also choreographed. Her success onstage in the original production fascinated audiences in part because of a romantic subplot playing out offstage. When Ms. Reinking, an ingénue, took on the role of Roxie, she was romantically involved with Fosse, the show’s director and choreographer. And the star she was replacing was Gwen Verdon, who had been married to Fosse and who had separated from him several years earlier. (“Annie taking over had extraordinary symmetry,” Ms. Verdon later recalled. “Pieces simply fell into place.”) Ann Reinking: Playful, Refined and With Legs for Days Dec. 15, 2020 By the time Ms. Reinking returned to the role two decades later, she had become a formidable choreographer herself. She won the Tony Award for best choreography for the “Chicago” revival, which continued its run into this year. She imagined her dance movements as an updated tribute to Fosse’s earlier choreography. (Fosse died of a heart attack in 1987 at 60.) “Ms. Reinking, a former dancer for Fosse (and, for a time, his companion), has brought her own light-handed sparkle in evoking the Fosse spirit,” Ben Brantley wrote in his review in The New York Times, “and the corps de ballet couldn’t be better, physically capturing the wry, knowing pastiche of some of Kander and Ebb’s best songs.” She continued to keep the Fosse flame burning in 1999 by co-directing and co-choreographing the Broadway musical “Fosse,” a revue of his work, which won the Tony for best musical.(She briefly returned to the stage for a few performances of “Fosse” in 2001.) “He lived to wake people up, to make them really live,” she said of Fosse in 1996. “He taught me how hard you have to work to do that.” Ms. Reinking described Fosse’s work as having “influenced a generation,” but she said her own choreographic style was different — more balletic and quirky. In 1979, she played a character based on herself in Fosse’s fantasy-filled but frankly autobiographical film, “All That Jazz,” with Roy Scheider as an intense Fosse-like director and choreographer. “It was me, and it wasn’t me,” she said of her character, the director’s girlfriend, in an interview with The Times in 1980. “Basically I was very flattered. I think I came off as a good person and as someone who meant something to him.” Ann Reinking was born on Nov. 10, 1949, in Seattle to Walter and Frances Reinking. Her father was a hydraulics engineer and salesman; her mother was a homemaker. Ann started ballet classes when she was 8, her mother told The Seattle Times. She was a teenager when she appeared in her first professional show, “Bye Bye Birdie,” at the Seattle Opera House, in 1965. Ms. Reinking studied at the San Francisco Ballet School as a scholarship student and, after graduating from high school, attended a Joffrey Ballet summer residency in Tacoma, Wash. There, by her mother’s account, Robert Joffrey, the co-founder of the company, urged her to go to New York, telling her that her talents extended beyond dance to singing and acting. In New York, Ms. Reinking was a member of the corps de ballet at Radio City Music Hall. Her first Broadway role was in the ensemble of “Cabaret” in 1969. She went on to appear in “Coco,” which starred Katharine Hepburn as Coco Chanel, and “Pippin,” which Fosse choreographed. Ms. Reinking starred as Joan of Arc, opposite Joel Grey, in the short-lived 1975 musical “Goodtime Charley.” The next year, she joined the cast of the smash-hit “A Chorus Line,” then went on to appear in “Dancin’,” a musical revue directed and choreographed by Fosse, starting in 1978. When “Dancin’” opened, The Times’s dance critic Jennifer Dunning wrote that Ms. Reinking had successfully made the leap from the chorus line to leading roles. “There could be no doubt that Miss Reinking had joined the ranks of Broadway’s brightest stars,” Ms. Dunning wrote. “With her long legs, mane of silky, flying hair and feline intensity, Ms. Reinking is a standout in some very fast company.” (Fosse said that he had choreographed one part of that show, “Trumpet Solo,” just so he could feature Ms. Reinking’s leggy extensions.) In 1986, Ms. Reinking starred in a revival of “Sweet Charity,” a production that also featured Bebe Neuwirth, who went on to perform opposite Ms. Reinking as Velma Kelly in the “Chicago” revival.
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8 Memories, Stories & Photos about Ann

Ann Reinking - Tony Award Winner
Photo of Amanda S. Stevenson Amanda S. Stevenson
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Ann Reinking - Tony Award Winner
Dancer - Choreographer - Actress - Singer
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Ann Reinking.
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Ann Reinking.
Choreographer.
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Lovely and Graceful.
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Star Quality.
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Natural Beauty.
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Other Reinking Family Biographies

Reinking, Esther (Nov 30, 1903 - Dec 1975) Reinking, Mary (Oct 8, 1948 - Oct 23, 2008) Reinking, Mary (Mar 25, 1947 - Apr 1975) Reinking, Arthur (Apr 20, 1904 - Sep 1982) Reinking, Clemens (Sep 15, 1913 - Apr 21, 1991) Reinking, Frances (Nov 1, 1917 - Dec 7, 1996) Reinking, Scott (Jun 1, 1944 - May 30, 2004) Reinking, Wendell (Feb 17, 1919 - Mar 6, 2000) Reinking, Koos (Jul 12, 1903 - Apr 1966) Reinking, John (Oct 28, 1900 - Dec 1986)
Reinking, Mary (Jul 21, 1904 - May 4, 1991) Reinking, Milton (Mar 9, 1907 - Apr 1987) Reinking, Nancy (Sep 30, 1945 - Apr 15, 2006) Reinking, Winifred (Jan 21, 1908 - Sep 1979) Reinking, Arthur (Apr 15, 1910 - Mar 1978) Reinking, Clara (Feb 21, 1881 - Oct 1967) Reinking, William (Apr 27, 1914 - Oct 19, 1988) Reinking, Edward (Feb 28, 1885 - May 1966) Reinking, William (Nov 28, 1890 - Feb 1983) Reinking, Paul (Jul 3, 1900 - Jun 1965)
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