Alex Romero, a dancer and choreographer who
directed Elvis Presley's dancing for the movie
"Jailhouse Rock" and also worked with Presley on
three other films, has died. He was 94.
Romero died of natural causes at the Motion
Picture and Television Fund home, according to
Mark Knowles, a dance writer and friend. He had
been a resident of the home for several years.
A gracefully athletic dancer, Romero got his
start in movies in the early 1940s. He was a
featured dancer in "On the Town," a 1949 film
that starred Gene Kelly and Frank Sinatra. He
also performed in the 1951 film "An American in
Paris," which also starred Kelly.
He worked as an assistant choreographer before
he went out on his own. His earliest solo
credits include "The Affairs of Dobie Gillis,"
starring Bobby Van and Debbie Reynolds in 1953.
Romero was named staff choreographer for MGM in
the late 1940s and held the position for almost
20 years. "Alex was the last link to the Golden
Age of movie musicals," said Larry Billman,
author of the encyclopaedia "Film Choreographers
and Dance Directors" (1997). "Fortunately,
before Alex left he moved movie choreography
into the next generation."
Romero was known for his humour and imaginative
use of props in dances he choreographed. In "The
Fastest Gun Alive," a 1956 western, he
choreographed Russ Tamblyn, who danced with a
shovel as a prop. Romero also worked with
Tamblyn on "Tom Thumb" in 1958. His other film
credits include "The Wonderful World of the
Brothers Grimm," a 1962 movie with a number of
dance scenes, and "Love at First Bite," a 1979
comedy starring George Hamilton and Susan Saint
James.
For Elvis, Romero choreographed "Double Trouble"
and "Clambake" in 1967 as well as "Speedway" the
next year. Their most memorable collaboration
remained "Jailhouse Rock" in 1957. "Jailhouse
became a signature piece for Elvis, and it
helped make rock 'n' roll an acceptable dance
form for films," Knowles said.
The production number for the movie's title song
was Presley's first choreographed routine,
according to "Down at the End of Lonely Street:
The Life and Death of Elvis Presley," by Peter
Harry Brown and Pat H. Broeske (1997).
"I guess he thought that I was going to give him
some slick dancing steps," Romero said in the
book. "I chose steps that were foreign to him,
but that were also like him, so he could pick
them up."
Posted: 24th. September 2007