Hollywood choreographer Miriam Nelson, with a career spanning seven decades, dies at 98

Miriam Nelson, who worked as a choreographer for Broadway, Hollywood, and television, died on 12 August aged 98 at her Beverly Hills residence. Her death was confirmed by her friend James Gray, reports Variety.  [caption id=“attachment_5010211” align=“alignnone” width=“825”] Miriam Nelson. Twitter @RayHesselink[/caption] Nelson’s choreographed sequences for Breakfast at Tiffany’s, The Jolson Story, Picnic, Hawaii, Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice, and The Apartment. She also acted in films like Double Indemnity, Cover Girl, The Jolson Story, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, and Pillow Talk, writes Variety. In her career, which spanned over seven decades, she was also Disneyland’s first choreographer and also worked for SuperBowl halftime shows as well as Academy Awards telecasts. The Hollywood Reporter writes that in a male-dominated industry, Nelson was one of the few female choreographers. In 1939, she made her Broadway debut with Sing Out the News and later danced in Yokel Boy, Very Warm for May, Higher and Higher, Panama Hattie and Let’s Face It! Nelson choreographed Judy Garland’s 1955 TV special and has worked on some iconic shows including Father Knows Best, The Love Boat, Ziegfeld: The Man and His Woman and Murder, She Wrote. She is also the founding member of a non-profit SHARE (Share Happily and Reap Endlessly) which raises funds for developmentally disabled, abused and neglected children.