October 10
Born Today:
Ben Vereen
Broadway and film performer Ben Vereen (1946-) attended the High School for Performing Arts (“The Fame School”) and his first real break came not long after graduation. Indeed, in the ten year span between appearing as an unnamed dancer in Bob Fosse’s movie version of Sweet Charity (1969) and starring in All That Jazz (1979), Vereen danced on Broadway in Jesus Christ Superstar (1971), won a Tony award for Pippin (1972) and appeared in the TV miniseries Roots (1977). He made many TV appearances in the 1980s and returned to headlining on Broadway in Jelly’s Last Jam (1992), Fosse (1999), and Wicked (2005), where he played the role of the Wizard of Oz.