Matt Mattox
Harold Henry Mattox, better known by his stage name Matt Mattox, (August 16, 1921 – February 18, 2013) was an American dancer, choreographer, and dance educator. Born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, he moved with his family to California in the early 1930s where he trained in ballet, tap, and modern dance. He made his stage debut at the age of 11 in Los Angeles, and after graduating from San Bernardino High School in 1936 attended San Bernardino Valley College. His dance career was interrupted during World War II when he spent two years in United States Army Air Forces from 1942-1944.
After his war service ended, Mattox became a performer in Broadway musicals; making his New York debut in Are You with It? in 1945. He worked on Broadway as a performer through 1960; creating parts in such musicals as Park Avenue (1946), Magdalena: a Musical Adventure (1948), Carnival in Flanders (1953), The Vamp (1955), Say, Darling (1958), and Once Upon a Mattress (1959). He also choreographed three Broadway musicals: Say, Darling, Jennie (1963), and What Makes Sammy Run? (1965). He concurrently had a prolific career as a dancer in Hollywood musical films from 1942 through 1960. His best-known film role was as Caleb Pontipee in the 1954 film Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. Some of the other films in which he was a featured dancer included Yolanda and the Thief, The Band Wagon, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, There's No Business Like Show Business, and Guys and Dolls to name just a few.
After 1960, Mattox re-oriented his career toward working as a dance educator and choreographer. In the 1960s he worked in the United States as a choreographer with the Brooklyn Ballet and New Jersey Ballet, and taught dance at the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre. In 1970 he relocated to London where he founded the dance company Jassart and taught on the faculty at The Dance Centre. In 1975 he relocated Jazzart to Paris, and thereafter resided in that country. With his second wife, the Catalan jazz dancer Martine Limeul, he co-founded the École de Dance in Perpignan.
Similar Artists