Rob Marshall
Marshall in April 2011
Born
Robert Doyle Marshall Jr.

(1960-10-17) October 17, 1960 (age 63)
Madison, Wisconsin, U.S.
EducationCarnegie Mellon University (BFA)
Occupations
  • Film director
  • film producer
  • theater director
  • choreographer
PartnerJohn DeLuca (c. 1983–present)
RelativesKathleen Marshall (sister)
AwardsDirectors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directing – Feature Film
Chicago (2002)

Robert Doyle Marshall Jr.[1] (born October 17, 1960)[2] is an American film and theater director, producer, and choreographer. He is best known for directing the film version of the Broadway musical Chicago, which was based on the play of the same name by playwright Maurine Dallas Watkins. His work on the film earned him the Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directing – Feature Film, as well as nominations for the Academy Award for Best Director, the Golden Globe Award for Best Director, and the BAFTA Award for Best Direction. He also directed the films Memoirs of a Geisha, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, Into the Woods, Mary Poppins Returns, and the Disney live-action remake The Little Mermaid.

Early life and education

Robert Doyle Marshall Jr. was born in Madison, Wisconsin.[2] His father and namesake, Robert Doyle Marshall Sr., was a Ph.D. student at the University of Wisconsin–Madison,[3][4] and his mother Anne was a teacher.[5] Like him, his younger sister Kathleen became a choreographer and director.[6]

In 1984, Robert Marshall joined the English department at the University of Pittsburgh,[7] and the Marshall family relocated to Pittsburgh.[5] Anne would later work for Pittsburgh Public Schools and the University of Pittsburgh School of Education, and Robert would become associate professor of English and dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at the same university.[5]

Rob Marshall graduated from the Falk School,[8] and then in 1978 from Taylor Allderdice High School, into whose alumni hall of fame he later was inducted.[9] Graduating from Carnegie Mellon University in 1982,[1][10] Marshall worked in the Pittsburgh theatre scene, performing with such companies as Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera.[11]

Career

Marshall went on to perform as a dancer in various Broadway shows, but suffered a herniated disc while performing in Cats and after recovering, transitioned into choreography and then directing.[12]

He debuted in the film industry with the TV adaptation of the musical Annie by Charles Strouse and Martin Charnin. He went on to direct the 2002 adaptation of the Kander and Ebb musical Chicago, for which he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Director. His next feature film was the drama Memoirs of a Geisha based on the best-selling book of the same name by Arthur Golden starring Zhang Ziyi, Gong Li, Michelle Yeoh and Ken Watanabe. The film went on to win three Academy Awards and gross $162.2 million at the worldwide box office.[13]

Marshall went on to direct the 2009 film Nine, an adaptation of the Broadway production with the same name starring Daniel Day-Lewis, Marion Cotillard, Nicole Kidman, Sophia Loren and Penélope Cruz, who was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. On August 2009, it was reported that Marshall was to direct Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, the fourth chapter of Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean film series starring Johnny Depp, Penélope Cruz, Ian McShane and Geoffrey Rush,[14] which opened on May 20, 2011 and grossed $1 billion worldwide.[15]

After working with Disney on Pirates, Marshall directed Disney's film adaptation of Stephen Sondheim's Into the Woods (2014), and produced the film under his Lucamar Productions banner.[16][17] His next film was the sequel to the 1964 film Mary Poppins, titled Mary Poppins Returns, reuniting two Into the Woods actresses: Emily Blunt as the title character and Meryl Streep in a supporting role.[18]

By December 2017, Disney was considering Marshall to direct the live-action/CGI adaptation of The Little Mermaid,[19] which he was officially confirmed to direct in December 2018.[20][21]

Personal life

Marshall is gay. As of at least 2007, Marshall lives in New York City with his partner, producer John DeLuca.[22] In 2004, they bought a $4.2 million summer home in Sagaponack, New York, part of The Hamptons.[23]

Filmography

Film

Year Title Director Producer Choreographer Notes
2002 Chicago Yes No Yes
2005 Memoirs of a Geisha Yes No No
2009 Nine Yes Yes Yes
2011 Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides Yes No No
2014 Into the Woods Yes Yes Yes Also musical stager
Chicago in the Spotlight:
A Retrospective with the Cast and Crew 		Yes No No Making-of documentary
2018 Mary Poppins Returns Yes Yes Yes Also story writer
2023 The Little Mermaid Yes Yes No

Television

Year Title Choreographer Director Notes
2001 The Kennedy Center Honors:
A Celebration of the Performing Arts 		No Yes TV event
2013 85th Academy Awards Yes No TV special;
Segment "All that Jazz" from Chicago

TV movies

Year Title Choreographer Director Executive
Producer 		Notes
1995 Victor/Victoria Yes No No
1996 Mrs. Santa Claus Yes No No
1997 Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella Yes No No Also musical stager
1999 Annie Yes Yes No
2006 Tony Bennett: An American Classic Yes Yes Yes

Awards and nominations

Year Title Academy Awards BAFTA Awards Golden Globe Awards
Nominations Wins Nominations Wins Nominations Wins
2002 Chicago 13 6 12 2 8 3
2005 Memoirs of a Geisha 6 3 6 3 2 1
2009 Nine 4 1 5
2014 Into the Woods 3 2 3
2018 Mary Poppins Returns 4 3 4
Total 30 9 24 5 18 4
Year Title Award/nomination
1996 Mrs. Santa Claus Nominated — Emmy Award for Outstanding Choreography
1997 Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella Nominated — Emmy Award for Outstanding Choreography
1999 Annie Emmy Award for Outstanding Choreography
Nominated — Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a TV Movie
2001 The Kennedy Center Honors:
A Celebration of the Performing Arts 		Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Musical/Variety
2002 Chicago Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directing
Nominated — Academy Award for Best Director
Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Director
Nominated — BAFTA Award for Best Direction
Nominated — David di Donatello for Best Foreign Film
Nominated — Online Film Critics Award for Best Breakthrough
2005 Memoirs of a Geisha Nominated — Satellite Award for Best Director
2006 Tony Bennett: An American Classic Emmy Award for Outstanding Variety Special,
Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Variety, Music or Comedy Program
Emmy Award for Outstanding Choreography
2009 Nine Nominated — Satellite Award for Best Director

List of Tony Award nominations

Year Show Category
1993 Kiss of the Spider Woman Best Choreography
1994 Damn Yankees Best Choreography
1994 She Loves Me Best Choreography
1998 Cabaret Best Choreography
Best Direction of a Musical

See also

References

  1. ^ a b http://www.alumni.cmu.edu/s/1410/images/editor_documents/alumnirelations/getinvolved/alumniawards/all_honorees_2018june1.pdf[dead link]
  2. ^ a b "Rob Marshall Biography (1960-)". FilmReference.com. Retrieved December 3, 2018.
  3. ^ Marshall, Robert Doyle (1965). Dogmatic formalism to practical humanism: changing attitudes towards the passion of Christ in medieval English literature (Ph.D.). University of Wisconsin–Madison.
  4. ^ "Faculty of Arts and Sciences".
  5. ^ a b c Vancheri, Barbara (May 20, 2011). "Director Rob Marshall dove into 'Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides'". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Archived from the original on November 8, 2014.
  6. ^ Rawson, Christopher (August 22, 2007). "Two Marshalls win Governor's Awards for the Arts". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
  7. ^ "1787-1819 Footnotes | English | University of Pittsburgh". Archived from the original on 2019-04-28. Retrieved 2019-04-28.
  8. ^ Vancheri, Barbara (November 11, 2011). "Rob Marshall proves you can go home again". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Archived from the original on December 3, 2018. Retrieved December 3, 2018.
  9. ^ "Allderdice to induct 6 to Alumni Hall of Fame". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. October 31, 2011. Archived from the original on May 18, 2018. Retrieved December 3, 2018.
  10. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2019-04-28.((cite web)): CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  11. ^ Conner, Lynne (2007). Pittsburgh In Stages: Two Hundred Years of Theater. University of Pittsburgh Press. pp. 204. ISBN 978-0-8229-4330-3. Retrieved 2011-06-06
  12. ^ Feinberg, Scott (5 January 2015). "Rob Marshall on Movie Musicals and His Journey 'Into the Woods' (Q&A)". The Hollywood Reporter. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved 7 January 2015.
  13. ^ "Memoirs of a Geisha (2005) - Box Office Mojo". boxofficemojo.com.
  14. ^ Michael Fleming (2009-08-02). "Rob Marshall circles 'Pirates'". Variety. Retrieved 2009-08-03.
  15. ^ "Pirates of the Caribbean presented by Disney". Pirates of the Caribbean.
  16. ^ "Disney Sets Rob Marshall To Direct Adaptation Of 'Into The Woods'". Deadline Hollywood. January 11, 2012. Retrieved December 14, 2013.
  17. ^ "Rob Marshall". Variety. Archived from the original on 2017-07-31. Retrieved 2017-12-13.
  18. ^ Snetiker, Marc (September 14, 2015). "Exclusive: Disney developing new original musical featuring Mary Poppins; Rob Marshall to direct". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved September 21, 2015.
  19. ^ Fleming, Mike Jr. (December 6, 2017). "Rob Marshall Top Choice To Helm Disney's Live Action 'The Little Mermaid'". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved December 6, 2017.
  20. ^ "Rob Marshall on Mary Poppins Returns and the Live-Action Little Mermaid". Collider. 21 December 2018.
  21. ^ "'Little Mermaid' Live-Action Director Rob Marshall Shares Production Update (Exclusive) | Entertainment Tonight".
  22. ^ Urban, Robert (January 23, 2007). "Powerful Gay Men in Hollywood". AfterElton.com. p. 3. Archived from the original on May 3, 2007.
  23. ^ David, Mark (August 4, 2015). "Rob Marshall Scoops Up Gotham Co-op". Variety. Retrieved April 27, 2019.

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