Biography
Born on 28 February 1903 in Chicago, Illinois, Vincente Minnelli died on 25 July 1986 at his Beverly Hills residence in Los Angeles, California. Renowned for an elegant directorial approach and a particular gift for deploying color while choreographing elaborate dance numbers, he shares with Gene Kelly primary responsibility for shaping the landmark MGM musicals of the 1950s. Minnelli performed as a youngster in productions mounted by the family’s Minnelli Bros. Tent Theatre during its tours across the American Midwest. After departing school at sixteen he enrolled at the Art Institute of Chicago, later designing windows and costumes until relocating to New York, where he created scenery and costumes for the 1932 Broadway presentations Earl Carroll Vanities and The DuBarry. Between 1933 and 1935 he served as art director at Radio City Music Hall, mounting a succession of ballets and musical revues. In 1935 he both staged and designed the Beatrice Lillie vehicle At Home Abroad; throughout the decade he contributed to further stage successes including Ziegfeld Follies, The Show Is On, Hooray For What! and Very Warm For May (1939). From 1940 to 1942, under MGM producer Arthur Freed, Minnelli acquired comprehensive knowledge of Hollywood production methods and oversaw specialty sequences in Strike Up The Band, Babes On Broadway and Panama Hattie. His feature debut arrived in 1943 with the all-black musical Cabin In The Sky, followed the next year by I Dood It. Meet Me In St. Louis (1944) offered affectionate period Americana that quickly became one of the era’s most cherished musicals. Minnelli married its star, Judy Garland, in 1945; the marriage ended in 1951, yet their daughter Liza Minnelli was born the following year. Across the subsequent quarter-century he guided numerous musicals whose reception ranged widely. Yolande And The Thief (1945) starred Fred Astaire; the all-star Ziegfeld Follies appeared in 1946. Two further projects with Gene Kelly, the undervalued The Pirate (1948) and An American In Paris (1951)—frequently cited as Minnelli’s finest achievement—followed. Some observers place equal significance on his later Astaire collaborations The Band Wagon (1953) and the charming Gigi (1958). In contrast, Brigadoon (1954), Kismet (1955), Bells Are Ringing (1960) and On A Clear Day You Can See Forever (1970) seldom rank among his strongest accomplishments. The final title, made at Paramount after more than twenty-five years at MGM, concluded his studio tenure. The bulk of Minnelli’s output lay outside the musical genre; he worked across an extensive range of tones and subjects. One longstanding goal was realized when he directed daughter Liza Minnelli in his final film, A Matter Of Time (1976). By that point his characteristic style, especially in musicals, had come to seem outdated, and he spent his remaining years in quiet retirement. The year of his birth remains disputed; the date given here matches the one published in Variety’s detailed obituary. In 1993 cabaret performer Jeff Harnar mounted the solo revue Dancing In The Dark - Vincente Minnelli’s Hollywood in New York.