Marge Champion

Marge Champion

Marjorie Celeste Champion was an American dancer and actress. Her father, Ernest, was a Hollywood dance director who taught Shirley Temple, Betty Grable, Cyd Charisse, and Joan Crawford. The Champions performed in MGM musicals of the 1940s and 50s, including their first MGM musical Till the Clouds Roll By.

About Marge Champion in brief

Summary Marge ChampionMarjorie Celeste Champion was an American dancer and actress. At 14, she was hired as a dance model for Walt Disney Studios animated films. Later, she performed as an actress and dancer in film musicals, and in 1957 had a television show based on song and dance. She also did creative choreography for liturgy, and served as a dialogue and movement coach for the 1978 TV miniseries, The Awakening Land, set in the late 18th century in the Ohio Valley. Her father, Ernest, was a Hollywood dance director who taught Shirley Temple, Betty Grable, Cyd Charisse, and Joan Crawford. Her mother was Gladys Lee Baskette; she had an older half sister, Lina Basquette, who was already acting in silent films at the age of twelve. She credited her good health and long career to her father’s teaching principles: careful, strict progression of activity, emphasis on correct alignment, precise placement of body, attention to detail and to the totality of dynamics and phrasing.

The Champions performed in MGM musicals of the 1940s and 50s, including their first MGM musical Till the Clouds Roll By, Show Boat and Everything I Have Is Yours. Other films with Gower included Mr. Music, Give a Girl a Break, Jupiter’s Darling, and Three for the Show. They appeared as the Mystery Guests on the May 15, 1959, airing of What’s On My Line. Mary Healy guessed who they were on the February 8, 1959 airing of the show, Martin Gabel guessing. During the summer of 1957, the Champions had their own TV series, The Champion and Gower Show, The Champions had a number of dance numbers. In the 1970s, Marilee Zdenek, actress, was featured as a fictional drummer named Cozy.