Trivia

In May, 1953, Robbins was called before the House Un-American Activities Committee. He admitted to having belonged to the American Communist Party's Theatrical Transient Group between 1943 and 1947, and also named eight colleagues as members.

The only individual to win the Best Director Academy Award for their sole feature film directorial credit.

Along with Delbert Mann, Robert Redford, James L. Brooks, Kevin Costner and Sam Mendes, he is one of only six people to win the Academy Award for Best Director for their directorial debut: Mann for Marty (1955), Robbins for West Side Story (1961) (which he co-directed with Robert Wise, Redford for Ordinary People (1980), Brooks for Terms of Endearment (1983), Costner for Dances with Wolves (1990) and Mendes for American Beauty (1999).

He was bisexual; he had a relationship with actor Montgomery Clift, but he never married.

It is thought that the reason why Robbins co-operated with the House Un-American Activities Committee was that he was being blackmailed by them; the Committee had obtained love letters that had passed between Robbins and the actor Montgomery Clift and were prepared to make these public if he did not name names.

Ballet choreographer.

Co-Ballet Master at the New York City Ballet.

When he and Robert Wise won the Best Director Oscar in 1962 for West Side Story (1961), it was the first time that a directing Oscar was shared among collaborators.

Joined the New York City Ballet in 1948 at the prompting of its artistic director George Balanchine.

Studied at New York University and at the Dance Center in Manhattan. Made his debut on the stage in a 1937 production of the Yiddish Art Theater.

A precocious talent, he played piano at the age of three.

His first ballet, "Fancy Free", served as the basis for the stage musical and motion picture On the Town (1949)).

Known to be emotionally volatile and ruthlessly demanding of his collaborators.

Won five Tony Awards: as Best Choreographer, in 1948 for "High Button Shoes" and in 1958 for "West Side Story;" as both Best Director (Musical) and Best Choreographer, in 1965 for "Fiddler on the Roof;" and as Best Director (Musical) in 1989 for "Jerome Robbins' Broadway." He was nominated four other times: as Best Choreographer, in 1957 with Bob Fosse for "Bells Are Ringing;" as Best Director (Musical), in 1960 for "Gypsy;" and, two in 1963, as Producer (Dramatic) and as co-producer of Best Play nominee "Mother Courage and Her Children"

He was awarded the American National Medal of the Arts in 1988 by the National Endowment of the Arts in Washington D.C.

Only three times in Academy Award history have director-collaborators been nominated for Best Directing Oscars: Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins for West Side Story (1961), Warren Beatty and Buck Henry for Heaven Can Wait (1978) and Joel Coen and Ethan Coen for No Country for Old Men (2007). (Wise/Robbins and the Coens actually won the award).

The only winner of an Academy Award as Best Director to get it for a film from which he was fired.

Alumnus of Stella Adler Studio of Acting.

Biography in: "American National Biography". Supplement 1, pp. 517-519. New York: Oxford University Press, 2002.

Arthur Laurents, Leonard Bernstein and his musical, "West Side Story" at the Paramount Theatre in Chicago, Illinois was awarded the 2016 Joseph Jefferson (Equity) Award for Large Musical Production.

Jerome Robbins who did the stage production of West Side Story was signed to direct the film but while he was rehearsing the dancers Robert Wise was brought in to direct the musical numbers and eventually took control of the full film pushing Robbins off. At the Oscars they were named as the only joint directors in the history of the awards, Neither mentioned or thanked the other.

He was awarded 61 Honorary Oscars for his dancing and choreography (Gene Kelly got 51, Fred Astaire got 49 and Oona White 68.