Danced in vaudeville and burlesque as an adolescent in his native Chicago

As a sailor during World War II, performed in variety shows put together by Joseph Papp

After WWII formed a dance act with first wife Mary Ann Niles

Moved to NYC

Stage debut in chorus of national touring company of "Call Me Mister"

Broadway debut in revue, "Dance Me a Song"; met future second wife Joan McCracken

Moved to Hollywood

Signed MGM contract and appeared in "Give a Girl a Break", "The Affairs of Dobie Gillis" and "Kiss Me Kate"

Choreographed onscreen dance for himself and Carol Haney in "From This Moment On" number in "Kiss Me Kate"

First Broadway play as choreographer, "The Pajama Game"; received first Tony Award

First film as choreographer, "My Sister Eileen"; also acted

Choreographed "New Girl in Town", a musical adaptation of "Anna Christie", starring third wife Gwen Verdon

Made Broadway musical directing debut with "Redhead", starring Gwen Verdon and Richard Kiley

Directed "Little Me"; first collaboration with Neil Simon as book writer

Returned to stage as a performer in City Center revival of "Pal Joey"

Only Fosse show to close before reaching Broadway, "Pleasures and Palaces", bombed at Detroit's Fisher Theatre

Had success on Broadway with the musical "Sweet Charity", with book by Neil Simon and starring Verdon

Film directing debut, "Sweet Charity", starring Shirley MacLaine

Won what showbiz folks refer to as the triple crown: the Oscar for directing "Cabaret" (1972); the Tony for directing "Pippin" (and another for choregraphing it), and the Emmy for directing (and two others, for choreographing and producing) the NBC variety special "Liza With a Z"

Helmed fine adaptation of Julian Berry's play "Lenny", a powerful biography of troubled nightclub comic Lenny Bruce; earned second Oscar nomination as Best Director

Co-choreographed and appeared as the Snake in the film musical "The Little Prince"

"Chicago", conceived and directed by Fosse (with book by Fosse and lyricist Fred Ebb and music by John Kander), opened on Broadway, starring Verdon and Chita Rivera; the song "All That Jazz" would become the title of his autobiographical fantasy film; an even more successful revival of "Chicago" would open in 1996

His dance spectacular "Dancin'" opened on Broadway, pointing the way to shows that could play easily to foreign business travelers, without the language barrier

Directed "All That Jazz", starring Roy Scheider, Jessica Lange and Ann Reinking; also wrote screenplay and choreographed; earned Oscar nominations as Best Director and for Best Original Screenplay

Wrote and directed "Star 80", the story of Dorothy Statton's life and tragic murder; Fosse's last movie, he re-edited it for TV

Adapted musical book, "Big Deal", from the Italian film "Big Deal on Madonna Street"

Stage the popular revival of "Sweet Charity", featuring Debbie Allen, Bebe Neuwirth and Michael Rupert

Collapsed on the street in Washington DC, dying within sight of the National Theatre where his dancers were dressing for a touring revival of "Sweet Charity"

"Fosse: A Celebration in Song and Dance", an ambitious retrospective co-conceived by Richard Maltby, Ann Reinking and Chet Walker (with Gwen Verdon as artistic advisor); show's title shortened to "Fosse" for its Broadway run