Petite, saucy redheaded star of Broadway musicals during their golden age in the 1950s, 60s and 70s. A child tap dancer and daughter of a Hollywood studio gaffer, Verdon took a stab at a variety of careers--from dance instruction to reviewing the nightclub scene for The Hollywood Reporter where she first saw the legendary jazz choreographer Jack Cole's work in the late 1940s. She worked both as his assistant choreographer and principal dancer before making her adult film debut in a small part in the "Popo the Puppet" number with Danny Kaye in "On the Riviera", followed by a bit as a slave girl
