Herbert Ross

Herbert Ross choreographed for Barbra Streisand, Stephen Sondheim, and Richard Rodgers on Broadway before moving into film direction, where his range spanned the musical comedy of Funny Lady, the ensemble drama of The Turning Point — which earned him Academy Award nominations for both picture and director — and the teen dance hit Footloose. He closed his career directing Steel Magnolias, guiding an ensemble female cast through grief and friendship in small-town Louisiana with the same choreographer's eye for staging that had built his reputation.