Marge Champion
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| Marge Champion | |
|---|---|
| Born | Marjorie Celeste Belcher 2 September 1919 Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Spouse(s) | Art Babbitt (1937-1940) Gower Champion (1947-1973) Boris Sagal (1977-1981) |
Marge Champion (born Marjorie Celeste Belcher on September 2, 1919) is an American dancer and choreographer.
[edit] Biography
Marge was born in Los Angeles, California and began dancing when she was very young. She was a ballet teacher at her father's studio when she was 12. As a teenager, she was hired at Disney as a dance model for their newest film, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. They copied her movements to enhance the realism of Snow White's movement. She later modelled for the Blue Fairy in Pinocchio and the Dancing Hippo in Fantasia. She first married Art Babbitt (1907-1992), one of Walt Disney's top animators.
She became a legend in Hollywood with her second husband, Gower Champion (June 22, 1921 Geneva, Illinois - August 25, 1980, New York City), as an accomplished dancing team of the 1940s and 1950s during the Golden Age for MGM.
MGM wanted them to redo Astaire and Rogers films, but they only redid one (Roberta, which was remade as Lovely To Look At). However, they refused to remake any of the others, the rights to which were still owned by RKO. They still appeared in many successful films for MGM. Together, they were featured in MGM musicals such as the 1951 film version of Show Boat and in the aforementioned Lovely to Look At (1952). They eventually appeared in their own starring vehicle, Everything I Have Is Yours. They had two sons, Blake and Gregg Champion, but the marriage ended in divorce.
Marge Champion's last husband was Boris Sagal, to whom she was married from January 1, 1977, until his death on May 22, 1981. By him she was stepmother to Boris' four children, including actress Katey Sagal.
Since retiring, Marge Champion works as a dance teacher and choreographer in New York City. In 1982, she made a rare television acting appearance on the dramatic series Fame, playing a ballet teacher with a prejudice against African-American dance students. In 2001 she appeared as Emily Whitman in a Broadway revival of Follies.
[edit] External links
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