TOMMY TUNE
Tommy Tune (born February 28, 1939) is an award-winning American actor, dancer,
singer, director, producer, and choreographer.
Born Thomas James Tune in Wichita Falls, Texas, he attended Lamar High School in
Houston.
In 1965, Tune made his Broadway debut as a performer in the musical Baker Street.
His first Broadway directing and choreography credits were for the original
production of The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas in 1978.
Off-Broadway, Tune has directed The Club and Cloud Nine. Tune toured the United
States in the Sherman Brothers musical Busker Alley in 1994-1995 and in the
stage adaptation of the film Dr. Doolittle in 2006.
Tune also appeared in a 1975 TV special along with Lucie Arnaz and Lyle Waggoner
to promote the Walt Disney World Theme Park.
Tune's film credits include Hello, Dolly! and The Boy Friend.
Tune is the only individual to win Tony Awards in the same categories (Best
Choreography and Best Direction of a Musical) in consecutive years (1990 and
1991), and the first to win in four different categories.
In 1997, Tune published Footnotes, a memoir. Despite the disjointed nature of
the autobiography, Tune offers an insightful look into his then thirty-year
career. It is here that he writes intimately about what drives him as a
performer, choreographer and director. His obsession and desire to find
everlasting love is prominent in the memoir, offering many personal stories
about being openly gay and being hurt by other lovers. Ultimately though, it is
his passion for theatre, dance, and people that carry him through a fruitful
career full of many successful projects. Winning numerous Tony Awards and Drama
Desk Awards, Tune writes mostly about his days with Twiggy in My One and Only,
in which he played the part of Billy Buck Chandler for more than 1,000
performances, the struggles in directing Grand Hotel and Cloud Nine, as well as
meeting and working with his many idols.
In the same year, Tune released his first album, Slow Dancing, which featured a
collection of his favorite romantic ballads.
Two years later, he made his Las Vegas debut as the star of EFX at the MGM Grand
Hotel.
In 2003, Tune was presented with the nation's highest honor for artistic
achievement, the National Medal of Arts.
The Tommy Tune Awards are awarded for outstanding work in high school theatre in
Houston.
Tune staged an elaborate musical entitled Paparazzi for the Holland America Line
cruise ship the Oosterdam. He currently is touring with the Manhattan Rhythm
Kings in a Big Band revue entitled Song and Dance Man, and is parodied in Martin
Short's Broadway show Fame Becomes Me by an actor wearing stilts.
Tommy Tune (born February 28, 1939) is an award-winning American actor, dancer,
singer, director, producer, and choreographer.
Born Thomas James Tune in Wichita Falls, Texas, he attended Lamar High School in
Houston.
In 1965, Tune made his Broadway debut as a performer in the musical Baker Street.
His first Broadway directing and choreography credits were for the original
production of The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas in 1978.
Off-Broadway, Tune has directed The Club and Cloud Nine. Tune toured the United
States in the Sherman Brothers musical Busker Alley in 1994-1995 and in the
stage adaptation of the film Dr. Doolittle in 2006.
Tune also appeared in a 1975 TV special along with Lucie Arnaz and Lyle Waggoner
to promote the Walt Disney World Theme Park.
Tune's film credits include Hello, Dolly! and The Boy Friend.
Tune is the only individual to win Tony Awards in the same categories (Best
Choreography and Best Direction of a Musical) in consecutive years (1990 and
1991), and the first to win in four different categories.
In 1997, Tune published Footnotes, a memoir. Despite the disjointed nature of
the autobiography, Tune offers an insightful look into his then thirty-year
career. It is here that he writes intimately about what drives him as a
performer, choreographer and director. His obsession and desire to find
everlasting love is prominent in the memoir, offering many personal stories
about being openly gay and being hurt by other lovers. Ultimately though, it is
his passion for theatre, dance, and people that carry him through a fruitful
career full of many successful projects. Winning numerous Tony Awards and Drama
Desk Awards, Tune writes mostly about his days with Twiggy in My One and Only,
in which he played the part of Billy Buck Chandler for more than 1,000
performances, the struggles in directing Grand Hotel and Cloud Nine, as well as
meeting and working with his many idols.
In the same year, Tune released his first album, Slow Dancing, which featured a
collection of his favorite romantic ballads.
Two years later, he made his Las Vegas debut as the star of EFX at the MGM Grand
Hotel.
In 2003, Tune was presented with the nation's highest honor for artistic
achievement, the National Medal of Arts.
The Tommy Tune Awards are awarded for outstanding work in high school theatre in
Houston.
Tune staged an elaborate musical entitled Paparazzi for the Holland America Line
cruise ship the Oosterdam. He currently is touring with the Manhattan Rhythm
Kings in a Big Band revue entitled Song and Dance Man, and is parodied in Martin
Short's Broadway show Fame Becomes Me by an actor wearing stilts.