Texie Jane Waterman (November 25, 1931 – October 14, 1996) was an American choreographer, dancer, and dance teacher. She was the first choreographer for the

Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders The Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders (sometimes initialized as DCC, and officially nicknamed "America's Sweethearts") are the National Football League Cheerleading, National Football League cheerleading squad representing the Dallas Cowboys team. The ...

Early life

Waterman was born in

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

on November 25, 1931, to Robert Harold Waterman and Texie Willis Waterman. She attended Highland Park High School. Her mother was a dance instructor who co-founded the Dallas Civic Ballet. Waterman grew up taking dance classes and, at the age of 17, started teaching dance in various towns in Texas, including Mineola.

Career

Waterman performed in summer musicals and, by the time she was twenty years old, she was performing on

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street ** Broadway Theatre (53rd Stre ...

in New York City. In the 1950s, she was a dancer at the Copacobana and Versailles nightclubs in New York City. She also danced on

Sid Caesar Isaac Sidney Caesar (September 8, 1922 – February 12, 2014) was an American comic actor and comedian. With a career spanning 60 years, he was best known for two pioneering 1950s live television series: ''Your Show of Shows'' (1950–1954) ...

's variety show ''

Your Show of Shows ''Your Show of Shows'' is a live 90-minute variety show that was broadcast weekly in the United States on NBC from February 25, 1950, through June 5, 1954, featuring Sid Caesar and Imogene Coca. Other featured performers were Carl Reiner, Ho ...

''. Waterman eventually moved back to Dallas and took up teaching in the two dance studios owned by her mother. She owned her own dance studio in Casa View, Dallas, where she taught jazz dance and musical theatre. In 1954, Watterman met Dee Brock while the two were performing in the summer musical ''Wish You Were Here''. Brock went on to become the director of the

and, in 1972, she hired Waterman as their first choreographer in an effort to change the image of the squad. She choreographed for the cheerleaders from 1972 to 1983. She made appearances with members of the team on ''

The Love Boat ''The Love Boat'' is an American romantic comedy-drama television series created by Wilford Lloyd Baumes that originally aired on ABC from September 24, 1977, to May 24, 1986. In addition, three TV movies aired before the regular series pre ...

'' in 1977 and the 1979 film ''Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders'' and the 1989 film ''Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders II''. She retired in 1983 and was succeeded as choreographer by Shannon Baker Werthmann, a former squad member.

Personal life

While dancing in the Poconos, Waterman met the actor

Arte Johnson Arthur Stanton Eric Johnson (January 20, 1929 – July 3, 2019) was an American actor and comedian who was best known for his work as a regular on television's ''Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In''. Biography Early life Johnson was born January 20, 19 ...

. They married in 1957 and later divorced. She married a second time, but that marriage also ended in divorce. Waterman married a third time to Hugh Howard, an advertising executive. She died of

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma, is a malignant tumor that begins in the lung. Lung cancer is caused by genetic damage to the DNA of cells in the airways, often caused by cigarette smoking or inhaling damaging chemicals. Damaged ...

in Dallas in 1996. She is buried at

Restland Memorial Park Restland Memorial Park is a cemetery located in an unincorporated area of Dallas County, Texas between Dallas and Richardson, Texas, Richardson, that was established in 1925. It is the final resting place of many prominent figures in the Dallas– ...

outside Dallas.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Waterman, Texie 1931 births 1996 deaths American female dancers American women choreographers American choreographers Dallas Cowboys personnel American dance teachers Dancers from Texas Highland Park High School (University Park, Texas) alumni Entertainers from Dallas