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Busby Berkeley 1895 - 1976

Busby Berkeley of Palm Desert, Riverside County, California was born on November 29, 1895 at Los Angeles, California, and died at age 80 years old on March 14, 1976 at Palm Desert, CA in Palm Desert. Busby Berkeley was buried on March 18, 1976 at Desert Memorial Park, Cathedral City, California.

Busby Berkeley

Palm Desert, Riverside County, California 92260

November 29, 1895

Los Angeles, California

March 14, 1976

Palm Desert, CA in Palm Desert, Riverside County, California, United States

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Busby Berkeley's History: 1895 - 1976

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11/29

1895

Birthday

November 29, 1895

Birthdate

Los Angeles, California

Birthplace

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Early Life & Education

Early life Berkeley was born in Los Angeles, California, to Francis Enos (who died when Busby was eight) and stage actress Gertrude Berkeley (1864–1946). Among Gertrude's friends, and a performer in Tim Frawly's Stock company run by Busby Berkeley's father, were actress Amy Busby from whom Berkeley gained the appellation "Buzz" or "Busby" and actor William Gillette, then only four years away from playing Sherlock Holmes. Whether he was christened Busby Berkeley William Enos, or Berkeley William Enos, with Busby's being a nickname, is unknown – the "Child's names" entry on his birth certificate is blank. In addition to her stage work, Gertrude played mother roles in silent films while Berkeley was still a child. Berkeley made his stage début at five, acting in the company of his performing family.
Military Service

In 1917, he lived in Athol, Massachusetts, working as an advertising and sales manager. During World War I, Berkeley served in the U.S. Army as a field artillery lieutenant, drilling 1,200 soldiers in complex choreography.
Professional Career

Busby Berkeley Born Berkeley William Enos November 29, 1895 Los Angeles, California, U.S. Died March 14, 1976 (aged 80) Palm Desert, California, U.S. Resting place Desert Memorial Park, Cathedral City, California Occupations Film director and choreographer Years active 1927–1971 Berkeley William Enos, (November 29, 1895 – March 14, 1976) known professionally as Busby Berkeley, was an American film director and musical choreographer. Berkeley devised elaborate musical production numbers that often involved complex geometric patterns. Berkeley's works used large numbers of showgirls and props as fantasy elements in kaleidoscopic on-screen performances. Early life Berkeley was born in Los Angeles, California, to Francis Enos (who died when Busby was eight) and stage actress Gertrude Berkeley (1864–1946). Among Gertrude's friends, and a performer in Tim Frawly's Stock company run by Busby Berkeley's father, were actress Amy Busby from whom Berkeley gained the appellation "Buzz" or "Busby" and actor William Gillette, then only four years away from playing Sherlock Holmes. Whether he was christened Busby Berkeley William Enos, or Berkeley William Enos, with Busby's being a nickname, is unknown – the "Child's names" entry on his birth certificate is blank. In addition to her stage work, Gertrude played mother roles in silent films while Berkeley was still a child. Berkeley made his stage début at five, acting in the company of his performing family. In 1917, he lived in Athol, Massachusetts, working as an advertising and sales manager. During World War I, Berkeley served in the U.S. Army as a field artillery lieutenant, drilling 1,200 soldiers in complex choreography. Career - Early years During the 1920s, Berkeley was a dance director for nearly two dozen Broadway musicals, including hits such as A Connecticut Yankee. As a choreographer, Berkeley was less concerned with the dancing skills of his chorus girls as he was with their ability to form themselves into attractive geometric patterns. His musical numbers were among the larger and better-regimented on Broadway. His earliest film work was in Samuel Goldwyn's Eddie Cantor musicals, where he began developing such techniques as a "parade of faces" (individualizing each chorus girl with a loving close-up), and moving his dancers all over the stage (and often beyond) in as many kaleidoscopic patterns as possible. Berkeley's top shot technique (the kaleidoscope again, this time shot from overhead) appeared seminally in the Cantor films, and also the 1932 Universal film Night World (where he choreographed the number "Who's Your Little Who-Zis?"). Groundbreaking choreographer The "By a Waterfall" production number from Footlight Parade (1933) made use of one of the largest sound stages ever built, specially constructed by Warner Bros. to film Berkeley's creations. Berkeley's numbers were known for starting in the realm of the stage, but quickly exceeding this space by moving into a time and place that could only be cinematic, to return to shots of an applauding audience and the fall of a curtain. He used one camera to achieve this, instead of the usual four, to retain control over his vision so no director could edit the film. As choreographer, Berkeley was allowed a certain degree of independence in his direction of musical numbers, and they were often markedly distinct from (and sometimes in contrast to) the narrative sections of the films. He often didn't even see the other sections of the picture. The numbers he choreographed were mostly upbeat and focused on decoration as opposed to substance, some costing around $10,000 per minute more than the picture they were in. One dramatic exception was the heart-rending and notably martial "Remember My Forgotten Man" from Gold Diggers of 1933, which dealt with the mistreatment of World War I veterans during the Great Depression. Berkeley's popularity with an entertainment-hungry Depression audience was secured when he choreographed five musicals back-to-back for Warner Bros.: 42nd Street, Footlight Parade, the aforementioned Gold Diggers of 1933, Dames, and Fashions of 1934, as well as In Caliente and Wonder Bar with Dolores del Río. Berkeley always denied any deep significance to his work, arguing that his main professional goals were to top himself and never repeat his past accomplishments. As the outsized musicals in which Berkeley specialized became passé, he turned to straight directing. The result was 1939's They Made Me a Criminal, starring John Garfield. Although a success at the box office, it was the only non-musical film Berkeley directed. Berkeley had several well-publicized run-ins with MGM stars such as Judy Garland. In 1943, he was removed as director of Girl Crazy because of disagreements with Garland, but the lavish musical number "I Got Rhythm", which he directed, remained in the picture. Carmen Miranda in The Gang's All Here (1943) His next stop was at 20th Century-Fox for 1943's The Gang's All Here, in which Berkeley choreographed Carmen Miranda's "Lady in the Tutti-Frutti Hat" number. The film made money, but Berkeley and the Fox brass disagreed over budget matters. Berkeley returned to MGM in the late 1940s, where he conceived the Technicolor finales for the studio's Esther Williams films. Berkeley's final film as choreographer was MGM's Billy Rose's Jumbo (1962). Later years In the late 1960s, the camp craze brought the Berkeley musicals back to the forefront. He toured the college and lecture circuit as well as directed a 1930s-style cold medication commercial for Contac capsules titled the "Cold Diggers of 1969", complete with a top shot of a dancing clock. The 75-year-old Berkeley returned to Broadway to direct a successful revival of No No Nanette, starring his old Warner Brothers colleague and 42nd Street star Ruby Keeler; both played cameos in the 1970 film The Phynx the same year. Personal life Berkeley was married six times. His wives included actresses Merna Kennedy, Esther Muir, the starlet Claire James, and Etta Dunn, who survived him. He was involved in an alienation of affections lawsuit in 1938 involving Carole Landis, and he was engaged to Lorraine Stein. Berkeley drank heavily, often having martinis in his daily bath. In September 1935, Berkeley was responsible for an automobile accident in which two people were killed and five seriously injured. Badly cut and bruised, he was brought to court on a stretcher, where Time magazine reported he heard testimony that made him wince: 'Witnesses testified that motorist Berkeley sped down Roosevelt Highway in Los Angeles County one night, changed lanes, crashing headlong into one car, sideswiped another. Some witnesses said they smelled liquor on him'. The first two trials for second degree murder ended with hung juries; he was acquitted in a third. After his mother died and his career began to slow, he attempted suicide, slitting his wrists and taking an overdose of sleeping pills in July 1946. He was admitted to a hospital for an extended stay, an experience which severely affected his mental state. Berkeley died from natural causes on March 14, 1976, in Palm Springs, California at the age of 80. He is buried in the Desert Memorial Park in Cathedral City, California. Legacy Berkeley was inducted into the National Museum of Dance's Mr. & Mrs. Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney Hall of Fame in 1988. Broadway credits A Connecticut Yankee (1927, choreographer) Whoopee! (1928, choreographer) No, No, Nanette (1971, production supervisor) Filmography Whoopee! (1930, choreographer) Kiki (1931, choreographer) Palmy Days (1931, choreographer) Flying High (1931, choreographer) Sky Devils (1932, dance director) The Kid from Spain (1932, choreographer) Night World (1932, choreographer) Bird of Paradise (1932, choreographer, native dances) She Had to Say Yes (1933, directorial debut) 42nd Street (1933, choreographer) Gold Diggers of 1933 (1933, choreographer) Footlight Parade (1933, choreographer) Roman Scandals (1933, choreographer) Fashions of 1934 (1934, director/choreographer of musical numbers) Wonder Bar (1934, designer of musical numbers) Dames (1934, director/choreographer of musical numbers) Gold Diggers of 1935 (1935, director/also created and staged dances) In Caliente (1935, director/choreographer of musical numbers) I Live for Love (1935, director) Gold Diggers of 1937 (1936, director/choreographer of musical numbers) Stage Struck (1936, director) The Go Getter (1937, director) The Singing Marine (1937, director/choreographer of musical numbers) Hollywood Hotel (1937, director) Varsity Show (1937, director of finale) Gold Diggers in Paris (1938, director/choreographer of musical numbers) Men Are Such Fools (1938, director) Comet Over Broadway (1938, director, replaced by John Farrow) Garden of the Moon (1938, director) They Made Me a Criminal (1939, director) Fast and Furious (1939, director) Broadway Serenade (1939, director of finale) Babes in Arms (1939, director) Strike Up the Band (1940, director) Forty Little Mothers (1940, director) Ziegfeld Girl (1941, director of musical numbers) Babes on Broadway (1941, director) Lady Be Good (1941, director of musical numbers) For Me and My Gal (1942, director) Cabin in the Sky (1943, director of "Shine" sequence) Girl Crazy (1943, director of "I Got Rhythm" finale) The Gang's All Here (1943, director) Cinderella Jones (1946, director) Romance on the High Seas (1948, choreographer) Take Me Out to the Ball Game (1949, director) Annie Get Your Gun (1950, uncredited director) Two Weeks with Love (1950, choreographer) Call Me Mister (1951, choreographer) Two Tickets to Broadway (1951, choreographer) Million Dollar Mermaid (1952, choreographer) Small Town Girl (1953, choreographer) Easy to Love (1953, choreographer) Rose Marie (1954, choreographer) Billy Rose's Jumbo (1962, choreographer)
03/14

1976

Death

March 14, 1976

Death date

Natural Causes

Cause of death

Palm Desert, CA in Palm Desert, Riverside County, California United States
Death location

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03/18

1976

Gravesite & Burial

March 18, 1976

Funeral date
Desert Memorial Park, Cathedral City, California
Burial location
Obituary

Busby Berkeley, the Dance Director, Dies By Robert Hanley March 15, 1976 Busby Berkeley, the Dance Director, Dies The New York Times Archives Busby Berkeley, the dance director of the gaudy, grandiose Hollywood musical that awed and charmed Depression‐weary film-goers in the 1930s, died yesterday in his modest retirement home near Palm Springs, Calif. He was 80 years old. Flamboyant, energetic, and ingenious, Busby Berkeley created and perfected a musical genre of extravagant fantasy—multiple spectaculars bulging with outsized props and battalions of beautiful girls dancing in kaleidoscopic patterns or posed in elaborate geometric formations. “My philosophy was purely —call it gigantic entertainment,” he said seven years ago in an interview. “A lot of people used to say I was crazy. But I can truthfully say one thing: I gave ‘em a show.’ Film critics and historians never disputed that. His productions glorified girls playing 100 lighted violins in “Gold Diggers of 1933”; girls as human harp frames in “Fashions of 1934”; girls playing 100 white baby grand pianos in “Gold Diggers of 1935”; girls cascading down the sides of pyramided fountain and swimming in unison in a large reflecting pool in “Footlight Parade” (1933); and Ruby Keeler, Mr. Berkeley's favorite leading lady, tap dancing atop a taxicab in “42d Street” (1933). Innovative Camerawork Gimmickry with the cameras was another of his hallmarks. He invented a monorail to make his cameras more mobile. He devised the so‐called top shot, the technique of filming from just above the action. He shot through holes in the floor in his most notable works, all produced by the mid-1940s. After that period, demand for Mr. Berkeley subsided as soaring production costs and the advent of television helped doom the big Hollywood musical. But, in the late 1960s, the appearance of his major works on late‐night television helped spark a Berkeley revival and assessments by a new generation of his contribution to film. Some admired it as a manifestation of camp. Vincent Canby, the movie critic of The New York Times, questioned that viewpoint. Although he found some of the symmetry in Berkeley's productions overbearing, he argued that Mr. Berkeley had “liberated movie musicals from a sense of oppressive realism, from the restraints of theatrical logic.” Mr. Berkeley, whose original name was William Berkeley Enos, was born in Los Angeles on Nov. 29, 1895. His parents, both show people, moved to New York soon afterward, and the boy made his stage debut at the age of 5. In 1919 he appeared in the hit musical “Irene.” Two years later he began a Broadway directing career that saw him create chorus numbers in 21 musicals before he was brought to Hollywood in 1930 by Samuel Goldwyn as a dance director. Mr. Berkeley's numbers in “Whoopee,” with Eddie Cantor, were the most Nantahala work at that studio. In 1932, he began) a seven‐year association with Warner Brothers that brought him to the pinnacle of his fame. His eclipse began in the war years, though he continued with dance production and some directing through the early 1950s. The renewed interest in Mr. Berkeley's extravaganzas was highlighted with the 1971 Broadway revival of the 1925 musical “No, No, Nanette.” He supervised the production of the musical. The assignment reunited him with Miss Keeler who returned to Broadway after an absence of 41 years to play the lead role. In recent years United Artists revived some of the Berkeley films to capitalize on the high camp craze that swept the film industry. At the reopening of one such replay six years ago, Mr. Berkeley reflected on the tone of his old films. “You know, if someone came along today and made a ‘Gold Diggers of 1970’ he'd make himself a bloody fortune. And I'd like to do it. Wow! What could do with a wide screen and color? I didn't have those things back in the '30s.” Mr. Berkeley is survived by his sixth wife, the former Etta. Dunn, whom he married in 1958. He had no children. Busby Berkeley

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Busby Berkeley lived 5 years longer than the average family member when died at the age of 80.

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6 Memories, Stories & Photos about Busby

Amanda S. Stevenson

17.8k+ favorites

11/28/2023

Busby Berkeley

Famous Hollywood and Broadway Choreographer.

Date & Place: Not specified or unknown.

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Amanda S. Stevenson

17.8k+ favorites

11/28/2023

Busby Berkeley and Chorus Girls.

I was lucky to see them when they were shapely.

Date & Place: Not specified or unknown.

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Busby Berkeley directing girls on airplanes.

Amanda S. Stevenson

17.8k+ favorites

11/28/2023

Busby Berkeley directing girls on airplanes.

Fun scenes.

Date & Place: Not specified or unknown.

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Amanda S. Stevenson

17.8k+ favorites

11/28/2023

Busby Berkeley

Famous Director.

Date & Place: Not specified or unknown.

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Amanda S. Stevenson

17.8k+ favorites

11/28/2023

Busby Berkeley

Gigantic Dance Scenes.

Date & Place: Not specified or unknown.

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Amanda S. Stevenson

17.8k+ favorites

11/28/2023

Busby Berkeley

Huge Productions.

Date & Place: Not specified or unknown.

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Busby Berkeley's Family Tree & Friends

Busby Berkeley's Family Tree

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Busby Berkeley Nov 29, 1895 - Mar 14, 1976

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Other Biographies

Other Berkeley Family Biographies

Berkeley, Thomas (1462 - 1500) Berkeley, Anne (Jun 25, 1921 - May 22, 2004) Berkeley, Leo (May 10, 1902 - Jan 1965) Berkeley, Helen (Feb 6, 1919 - Oct 25, 1990) Berkeley, David (Nov 4, 1914 - Feb 14, 1999) Berkeley, Catherine (Oct 8, 1898 - Feb 23, 1997) Berkeley, David (Nov 25, 1895 - Aug 1965) Berkeley, Marjorie (Oct 29, 1888 - Aug 1973) Berkeley, Ernest (Jul 12, 1906 - Dec 1969) Berkeley, Edward (Dec 14, 1901 - Oct 10, 1988)

Berkeley, James (Jan 21, 1881 - Sep 1968) Berkeley, David (Mar 7, 1919 - Sep 19, 1998) Berkeley, Charles (Feb 21, 1949 - May 23, 2007) Berkeley, Ethel (Mar 27, 1892 - Jun 1979) Berkeley, Patricia (Jul 26, 1919 - Nov 30, 2006) Berkeley, William (Feb 22, 1903 - Oct 1972) Berkeley, Evelyn (May 14, 1921 - Mar 1, 2005) Berkeley, Margaret (Dec 12, 1905 - Jun 25, 1997) Berkeley, Christophe (Dec 14, 1923 - Sep 10, 1995) Berkeley, Hannah (Jul 29, 1905 - Jun 1975)

About the AncientFaces Community

Busby Berkeley 1895 - 1976

Busby Berkeley's History: 1895 - 1976

Birthday

Early Life & Education

Military Service

Professional Career

Death

Gravesite & Burial

Obituary

6 Memories, Stories & Photos about Busby

Busby Berkeley's Family Tree & Friends

Busby Berkeley's Family Tree

Busby's Friends

Other Berkeley Family Biographies