Biography
Born as William Berkeley Enos on 29 November 1895 in Los Angeles, California, the future innovator died on 14 March 1976 in Palm Springs, California. Celebrated as a groundbreaking choreographer and director whose inventive staging defined the Depression-era musicals of the 1930s, he earned legendary status through anecdotes describing a custom-built monorail that carried cameras along improbable trajectories and a studio roof he once opened simply to capture a single desired angle. Though his mother worked as an actress and he took part in several small stage productions while young, Enos received no structured theatrical education; instead he studied at the Mohegan Lake Military Academy near New York and spent three years employed in a shoe factory. Following a short period of service in the US Army during 1917, he accepted minor parts in various plays and musicals before turning to direction in the early 1920s. Throughout most of that decade his primary role was dance director for Broadway productions that included Holka Polka, A Connecticut Yankee, Present Arms, Good Boy, Street Singer and The International Review (1930). Samuel Goldwyn brought him to Hollywood in 1930 to create the musical sequences for the Eddie Cantor film Whoopee!, where his signature overhead shots and tight framing of the chorus line first appeared; those techniques were refined in further United Artists projects—Palmy Days, The Kid From Spain and Roman Scandals. Full recognition arrived only with 42nd Street, his initial Warner Brothers assignment in 1933, whose intricate formations of dancers shifting through constantly changing kaleidoscopic designs drew widespread notice. Dick Powell and Ruby Keeler starred in that modest backstage tale and in several later vehicles that displayed his distinctive imagination, among them Gold Diggers Of 1933, Footlight Parade, Dames, Go Into Your Dance, Gold Diggers Of 1937 and Gold Diggers In Paris (1938). After departing Warner Brothers in 1939, Berkeley continued to create and stage dances and ensembles for MGM and additional studios on titles such as Broadway Serenade, Ziegfeld Girl, Lady Be Good, Born To Sing, Girl Crazy, Two Weeks With Love, Call Me Mister, Two Tickets To Broadway, Million Dollar Mermaid, Small Town Girl, Easy To Love and Rose Marie (1954). Although his elaborate production style had fallen out of favor by then, he returned in 1962 to arrange the dance numbers for his final screen assignment, Billy Rose’s Jumbo. Beginning with Gold Diggers Of 1935 he also served as overall director on several features, including the musicals Bright Lights, Babes In Arms, Strike Up The Band, Babes On Broadway, For Me And My Gal, The Gang’s All Here and Take Me Out To The Ball Game. Renewed interest in 1930s cinema during the mid-1960s prompted retrospective screenings of his work across the United States and abroad. In 1971 he acted as production supervisor for the Broadway revival of No, No, Nanette, which featured Ruby Keeler and completed 861 performances. Reflecting on his career he remarked, “What I mostly remember is stress and strain and exhaustion.” His private life stood in stark contrast to these professional accomplishments—he entered into at least five marriages—and in 1946 he attempted suicide following his mother’s death. Reports also indicate that in 1935 he faced a second-degree murder charge after a car crash that killed three people; two trials concluded with hung juries before he was ultimately acquitted.