Dame Gillian Barbara Lynne was an English ballerina, dancer, choreographer, actress, and theatre-television director, noted for her theatre choreography associated with two of the longest-running shows in Broadway history, Cats and The Phantom of the Opera.
20 Facts About Gillian Lynne
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Gillian Barbara Pyrke was born in Bromley, Kent, and was a precocious dance talent from an early age, teaming with her childhood friend Beryl Grey while still at school, and dancing to blot out the tragedy of the violent death of her mother on 8 July 1939 in Coventry, when Lynne was just 13 years old.
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Gillian Lynne had been underperforming at school, so her mother took her to the doctor and explained about her fidgeting and lack of focus.
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Gillian Lynne then encouraged her mother to look at Lynne, who was dancing to the radio.
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Gillian Lynne went on to become an admired dramatic ballerina in the soon to be renamed Royal Ballet, renowned for her Black Queen in de Valois's Checkmate, Queen of the Wilis in Giselle and in roles created for her by Frederick Ashton and Robert Helpmann.
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Gillian Lynne appeared in the film The Master of Ballantrae as Mariane, in which she was cast opposite Errol Flynn and directed by William Keighley.
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Gillian Lynne appeared as both a dancer and actress on early British Television.
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Gillian Lynne was a prolific television choreographer and director notably for The Muppet Show series and winning the 1987 BAFTA Huw Wheldon Award for her direction and choreography of A Simple Man, which starred Moira Shearer.
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Gillian Lynne choreographed the Royal Shakespeare Company production of The Secret Garden, which ran at Stratford in 2000 and then transferred to the West End, running at the Aldwych Theatre from February 2001 to June 2001.
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In 2002, Gillian Lynne choreographed the Sherman Brothers' stage musical Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
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In October 2011, Gillian Lynne choreographed the 25th Anniversary production of The Phantom of the Opera at the Royal Albert Hall.
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Gillian Lynne was both choreographer and director for the musical Dear World, which played an engagement at The Charing Cross Theatre, London, in February and March 2013, and starred Betty Buckley.
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Gillian Lynne died on 1 July 2018 at a London hospital from pneumonia, aged 92.
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Gillian Lynne has won, and been nominated for, numerous awards for her work.
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Gillian Lynne has received the Silver Order of Merit, Golden Rose of Montreux Award, BAFTA, Moliere Award and The Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Award by the Royal Academy of Dance.
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Gillian Lynne received a Special Award at the 2013 Olivier Awards.
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Gillian Lynne was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 1997 Birthday Honours and Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 2014 New Year Honours for services to dance and musical theatre.
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Gillian Lynne was nominated for the Tony Award twice for Choreography, for Cats and The Phantom of the Opera, and for the Drama Desk Award for Cats.
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Gillian Lynne received the Olivier Award in 1981, for Outstanding Achievement of the Year in Musicals, for Cats.
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In 2018, The New London Theatre was renamed the Gillian Lynne Theatre, making it the first theatre in the West End of London to be named after a non-royal woman.