Gregg Burge (November 14, 1957 – July 4, 1998) was an American tap dancer, choreographer, actor and singer.

Early life

Burge was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

and raised on Long Island, N.Y. He chose a career in song and dance after seeing

Sammy Davis Jr Samuel George Davis Jr. (December 8, 1925 – May 16, 1990) was an American singer, actor, comedian, dancer, and musician. At age two, Davis began his career in Vaudeville with his father Sammy Davis Sr. and the Will Mastin Trio, which tou ...

. on the

Ed Sullivan Show ''The Ed Sullivan Show'' is an American television variety show that ran on CBS from June 20, 1948, to March 28, 1971, and was hosted by New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan. It was replaced in September 1971 by the '' CBS Sunday Nig ...

. At age 7, he persuaded his parents to enroll him in tap classes at the Red Slipper Dance Studio in Merrick, N.Y. By age 10, he was winning local talent shows and was a three-time winner on ''The Ted Mack Amateur Hour'' on television. By 13, Burge was earning $30,000 a year. Burge won a

scholarship A scholarship is a form of Student financial aid, financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, Multiculturalism, diversity and inclusion, athleti ...

to study at the

Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a Private university, private performing arts music school, conservatory in New York City. Founded by Frank Damrosch as the Institute of Musical Art in 1905, the school later added dance and drama programs and became ...

when he was 17. He graduated from New York's Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Performing Arts in 1975.

Career

His credits ranged from television's ''

The Electric Company ''The Electric Company'' is an American educational children's television series produced by the Children's Television Workshop (CTW, now known as Sesame Workshop). It was co-created by Paul Dooley, Joan Ganz Cooney, and Lloyd Morrisett. ...

'' to the film version of ''

A Chorus Line ''A Chorus Line'' is a 1975 musical conceived by Michael Bennett with music by Marvin Hamlisch, lyrics by Edward Kleban, and a book by James Kirkwood Jr. and Nicholas Dante. Set on the bare stage of a Broadway theater, the musical is cent ...

'' (1985), for which he served as assistant to choreographer

Jeffrey Hornaday Jeffrey Hornaday is an American choreographer and film director. He has choreographed films such as ''Flashdance'', ''Dick Tracy'', ''Captain Eo'' and ''A Chorus Line'' . Hornaday was nominated for a Directors Guild of America Award for his dir ...

and performed the role of Richie. He reprised his role of Richie on Broadway. Television commercials followed, along with a job as a regular on ''The Electric Company'' and, at 13, a stint in the Off Broadway musical ''Bojangles.'' There he learned dance history firsthand, appearing with tap stars like Chuck Green, Rhythm Red and Mabel Lee, who taught him to improvise rather than simply dance steps. Mr. Burge received formal training in ballet and tap from the High School of the Performing Arts and the Juilliard School. Burge was nominated for two Drama Desk Awards, twice won the

Fred Astaire Fred Astaire (born Frederick Austerlitz, May 10, 1899 – June 22, 1987) was an American dancer, actor, singer, musician, choreographer, and presenter, whose career in stage, film, and television spanned 76 years. He is widely regarded as the "g ...

Award for his Broadway performances in ''

Song and Dance ''Song and Dance'' is a musical comprising two acts, one told entirely in "Song" and one entirely in "Dance", tied together by a unifying love story. The "Song" act is '' Tell Me on a Sunday'', with lyrics by Don Black and music by Andrew Ll ...

'' and '' Oh, Kay!''. He received a

Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ce ...

nomination for his role in ''Oh, Kay!''. He performed as the Scarecrow for four years in the Broadway production of ''

The Wiz ''The Wiz: The Super Soul Musical "Wonderful Wizard of Oz"'' is a musical with music and lyrics by Charlie Smalls (and others) and book by William F. Brown. It is a retelling of L. Frank Baum's children's novel '' The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' ...

'' and appeared in the long-running '' Sophisticated Ladies''. Burge choreographed

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Michael Jackson, one of the most culturally significan ...

's "

Bad Bad or BAD may refer to: Common meanings *Evil, the opposite of moral good * Erroneous, inaccurate or incorrect * Unhealthy, or counter to well-being *Antagonist, the threat or obstacle of moral good Acronyms * BAD-2, a Soviet armored trolley ...

" music video with

Jeffrey Daniel Jeffrey Glen Daniel (born August 24, 1955) is an American dancer, singer-songwriter, and choreographer, and a founding member of the R&B vocal group Shalamar. In Nigeria, he is best known as a judge on the first three seasons of '' Nigerian ...

and a video for reggae band

Steel Pulse Steel Pulse are a roots reggae band from the Handsworth area of Birmingham, England. They originally formed at Handsworth Wood Boys School, and were composed of David Hinds (lead vocals, guitar), Basil Gabbidon (lead guitar, vocals), and Ro ...

. He operated a dance studio on

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...

Death

Burge died of a brain tumor in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

on July 4, 1998, at age 40.

Filmography

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Burge, Gregg 1957 births 1998 deaths 20th-century American male actors 20th-century American singers African-American choreographers 20th-century African-American male actors African-American male dancers African-American male singers American choreographers American male dancers American male film actors American male musical theatre actors American male singers American male stage actors American tap dancers Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School alumni Neurological disease deaths in Georgia (U.S. state) People from Merrick, New York