Jerome Robbins, the legendary choreographer of ballet, Broadway musicals and movies, died at his home in New York yesterday at age 79, a spokesman for the New York City Ballet said. He suffered a stroke on Saturday. Robbins choreographed and directed such Broadway hits as The King and I (1951), Peter Pan (1954), West Side Story (1957), Gypsy (1959) and Fiddler on the Roof (1964).
His tough, swaggering steps for the gang members in West Side Story dancing to the music of composer Leonard Bernstein were considered a landmark in American musical theatre, and Robbins won two Academy Awards for the 1960 movie version of the musical.
Born Jerome Rabinowitz in New York, he started his career dancing in musical comedy in 1937 and joined Ballet Theatre in 1940. He became a soloist the following year and joined George Balanchine's New York City Ballet in 1949.
"Jerome Robbins' death truly represents the end of an era, and leaves us in deepest grief," Martins said. "He was the last of the titans in the world of dance."