Tune, Tommy

Tune, Tommy, 1939–, American dancer, choreographer, and director, b. Wichita Falls, Tex. An unusually lanky 6 ft 6 in., Tune began his Broadway dancing career in the chorus of several mid-1960s musicals, then performed as a tap dancer in musical films, including Hello Dolly! (1969) and The Boy Friend (1971). His innovative choreography in such Broadway musicals as Seesaw (1973), The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (1978), My One and Only (1983), Grand Hotel (1990), The Will Rogers Follies (1991), and the revival of Grease (1994) won him critical acclaim as well as nine Tony Awards in the categories of dancer, director, choreographer, and actor. He has also worked in television, toured the United States and Canada, and performed in a series of one-man revues.

See his memoir, Footnotes (1997).

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