Rob MarshallBirth Place: Madison, Wisconsin, USA Date of Birth: October 17, 1960 Heritage: American Famous for: Director of 'Chicago' (2002) Contact Rob Marshall | 
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Director of Chicago Background: Director and choreographer Rob Marshall directed the acclaimed feature adaptation of the popular stage musical “Chicago” (2002), from which he nabbed an Oscar and Golden Globe nomination. Marshall began his career as a Broadway dancer in the early 1980s but stopped dancing because of an injury. He subsequently made the switch to choreography and received Tony nominations for his work on “Kiss of the Spider Woman” (1993), “She Loves Me” (1993), “Damn Yankees” (1994), “Cabaret” (1998), and “Little Me” (1999). Marshall picked up Emmy nominations for his choreography efforts on such TV films as “Mrs. Santa Claus” (1996) and “Cinderella” (1997) and the popular “Annie” (1999), from which he also netted an Emmy nomination for his TV film directing debut. He made his feature directing debut with “Chicago” and subsequent film directing credits include “Memoirs of Geisha” (2005), “Nine” (2009) and “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides” (2011). “As a director, you should choose a project that will educate you and enrich your life because you're going to be doing it for two years.” Rob Marshall Currently, Marshall resides in New York City with his life partner, John DeLuca, who is a stage director and choreographer. He is the older brother of choreographer and theater director Kathleen Marshall.
Childhood and Family: Rob Marshall was born on October 17, 1960, in Madison, Wisconsin. He was raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. His father, Robert D. Marshall, was a professor and then a dean at the University of Pittsburgh. An active youth, Rob made home videos, including a parody of “The Brady Bunch” that starred his sisters, while acting in productions like “The Sound of Music” and “The King and I.” When he was older, he switched his interest to dance and took ballet and jazz classes. After graduating from Taylor Allderdice High School, Rob went to Carnegie Mellon University to study musical theater. Following a year off in 1980, during which time he joined a touring company of the Broadway hit “A Chorus Line,” he returned to school to complete his degree and eventually graduated in 1982. Rob has twin sisters named Maura and Kathleen Marshall.
Career: After graduating college, Rob Marshall made his way to New York City to pursue a career as a Broadway dancer. In 1983, he got a part in the musical “Zorba” (1983), which was choreographed by Graciela Daniele, who soon became his mentor. He went on to work with Daniele in “The Rink” (1984) and “The Mystery of Edwin Drood” (1985) before becoming Daniele's dance captain and assistant in “Edwin Drood.” However, Marshall's dance career abruptly ended after he suffered a back injury while performing in “Cats.” He subsequently quit performing to focus on choreography. “Cats” became his last appearance on Broadway as a performer. Starting out in regional theater, Marshall worked his way up the stage ladder to Broadway when he provided additional choreography on the musical version of “Kiss of the Spider Woman” in 1993. Helmed by director Hal Prince and starring Chita Rivera, the production opened to a mixed reception but ran for 904 performances. It won seven Tonys, including Best Musical, Best Book and Best Original Score. It also brought Marshall his first Tony nomination for Best Choreography, which he shared with fellow choreographer Vincent Patterson. Still in 1993, Marshall choreographed the Broadway revival of “She Loves Me,” assisted by his sister Kathleen. Directed by Scott Ellis, the show ran for 354 performances and 42 previews from June 1993 to June 1994. For his effort, Marshall picked up a Tony nomination for Best Choreography and a Drama Desk nomination for Outstanding Choreography. Marshall also choreographed the West End revival of “She Love Me,” which opened in July 1994 at the Savoy Theatre. He was nominated for a Laurence Olivier for Best Theatre Choreographer for his work. Marshall's next big moment arrived when he choreographed the 1994 Broadway revival of the musical “Damn Yankees,” which starred Bebe Neuwirth and Victor Garber and was directed by Jack O'Brien, who is also credited with revisions to the book. Also assisted by his sister Kathleen, Marshall received his next Tony nomination for Best Choreography for his effort. He was later nominated for a 1998 Laurence Olivier Theatre Award for Best Theater Choreographer for the London production of the play. Marshall rejoined director Scott Ellis to choreograph the dance moves for a Broadway revival of “Company” (1995), which ran for 60 performances. He then choreographed a production of “The Petrified Prince” at the Public Theater. He also choreographed the original Broadway production of “Victor/Victoria” (1995), which was directed by Blake Edwards, who also wrote the book. Starring Julie Andrews, Tony Roberts, Michael Nouri, Rachel York, Richard B. Shull and Rob Ashford, the show opened on October 25, 1995, at the Marquis Theatre, where it ran for 734 performances. The next year, Marshall choreographed the revival of “A Funny Thing Happened On the Way to the Forum.” Directed by Jerry Zaks, the production ran for 715 performances. In 1996, Marshall was recruited to choreograph the dance sequences in the CBS television film “Mrs. Santa Claus,” starring Angela Lansbury and directed by Terry Hughes. For his work on the television film, he received a 1997 Emmy nomination for Outstanding Choreography. He followed it up with a choreography stint in the television film version of Rogers & Hammerstein's “Cinderella,” which earned him another Emmy nomination for Outstanding Choreography. Broadcasted on ABC on November 2, 1997, the movie was directed by Robert Iscove and starred Brandy as Cinderella, Whitney Houston as her fairy godmother, Bernadette Peters as Cinderella's stepmother, Paolo Montalbán as the prince, Whoopi Goldberg as the queen, Victor Garber as the king and Jason Alexander as Lionel, the herald. In 1998, Marshall returned to Broadway to make his co-directorial debut (with Sam Mendes) and choreograph the highly successful revival of “Cabaret,” which starred Alan Cumming. He received a Tony nomination for Best Choreography and Best Director (Musical) for his work on the play. The same year, he also directed the Broadway revival of Neil Simon's “Little Me,” from which he received a Tony nomination for Best Choreography, and “Promises, Promises” for the City Center Encores Series. In 1999, Marshall gained a big breakthrough on television when he made his directing debut and choreographed the ABC television film adaptation of the musical “Annie,” which starred Alicia Morton, Victor Garber and Kathy Bates. The film earned Emmy Awards for Outstanding Music Direction and Outstanding Choreography. Marshall also received an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Directing for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special, a Directors Guild of America nomination for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Musical/Variety and an American Choreography Award in the category of Outstanding Achievement in Television - Variety or Special for his efforts. “Annie” became the most popular television film of 1999. After having unaccredited directing credit on the Broadway musical “Suessical” (2000), which was choreographed by his sister Kathleen, Marshall co-directed the television special “The Kennedy Center Honors: A Celebration of the Performing Arts” (2001), which received a DGA nomination for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Musical/Variety. However, Marshall did not enjoy huge success on the big screen until he was hired to direct and choreograph the film adaptation of the musical “Chicago” (2002), with the screenplay by Bill Condon. Starring Renée Zellweger, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Richard Gere, Queen Latifah, John C. Reilly, Christine Baranski, Taye Diggs and Lucy Liu, the movie version won six Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Zeta-Jones) and was nominated for seven additional categories, including Best Director, Best Actress in a Leading Role and Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay, among other awards and nominations. In addition to his Oscar nomination, Marshall also netted a 2003 DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures, a 2003 American Choreography Award for Outstanding Achievement in Feature Film, a National Board of Review (NBR) Award for Best Debut Director, a Golden Globe nomination for Best Director - Motion Picture, BAFTA's David Lean Award nomination for Direction, a David di Donatello nomination for Best Foreign Film (Miglior Film Straniero), an Amanda nomination for Best Foreign Feature Film (Årets utenlandske spillefilm), an OFCS nomination for Best Breakthrough Filmmaker and Phoenix Film Critics Society nominations for Best Director and Best Newcomer. In 2005, Marshall returned to the director's chair when he directed Zhang Ziyi, Ken Watanabe, Gong Li and Michelle Yeoh on the film “Memoirs of a Geisha,” which was based on the best selling novel of the same name by Arthur Golden. The film won three out of six Academy Award nominations, including Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction and Best Costume Design, and numerous other honors. Marshall was nominated for a Satellite Award for Outstanding Director. In 2006, Marshall produced, directed and choreographed the NBC variety show “Tony Bennett: An American Classic,” from which he won Emmy Awards for Outstanding Directing for a Variety, Music or Comedy Program, Outstanding Choreography (shared with his partner John DeLuca) and Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Special, and a DGA for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Musical/Variety. Marshall revisited the big screen in 2009 when he directed Daniel Day-Lewis, Marion Cotillard, Penélope Cruz, Judi Dench, Stacey Ferguson, Kate Hudson, Nicole Kidman and Sophia Loren on the film adaptation of the Broadway musical “Nine” (2009), which he also produced and choreographed. The film was nominated for Oscars in the categories of Best Supporting Actress, Best Art Direction, Best Costume Design and Best Original Song (“Take It All”). It also earned Marshall a Satellite nomination for Best Director. Recently, in 2011, Marshall directed “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides,” the fourth sequel in the “Pirates of the Caribbean” series. The film was released in the United Kingdom and Italy on May 18, 2011, in Australia on May 19, 2011, and in the United States and Canada on May 20, 2011.
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