Robert Doyle Marshall Jr.http://www.alumni.cmu.edu/s/1410/images/editor_documents/alumnirelations/getinvolved/alumniawards/all_honorees_2018june1.pdf (born October 17, 1960) is an American film and theater director, producer, and

choreographer Choreography is the art of designing sequences of movements of physical bodies (or their depictions) in which Motion (physics), motion or Visual appearance, form or both are specified. ''Choreography'' may also refer to the design itself. A chor ...

. He is best known for directing the film version of the Broadway musical ''

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

'', which was based on the play of the same name by playwright

Maurine Dallas Watkins Maurine Dallas Watkins (July 27, 1896 – August 10, 1969) was an American playwright and screenwriter. Early in her career, she briefly worked as a journalist covering the Courthouse Place, courthouse beat for the ''Chicago Tribune''. This exper ...

. His work on the film earned him the Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directing – Feature Film, as well as nominations for the

Academy Award for Best Director The Academy Award for Best Director (officially known as the Academy Award of Merit for Directing) is an award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is given in honor of a film director who has exhibit ...

, the Golden Globe Award for Best Director, and the

BAFTA Award for Best Direction The BAFTA Award for Best Direction, formerly known as David Lean Award for Achievement in Direction, is a British Academy Film Awards, British Academy Film Award presented annually by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) to a ...

. He also directed the films '' Memoirs of a Geisha'', '' Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides'', ''

Into the Woods ''Into the Woods'' is a 1986 musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by James Lapine. The musical intertwines the plots of several Brothers Grimm fairy tales, exploring the consequences of the characters' wishes and quests. T ...

'', '' Mary Poppins Returns'', and the

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...

live-action remake '' The Little Mermaid''.

Early life and education

Robert Doyle Marshall Jr. was born in

Madison, Wisconsin Madison is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. It is the List of municipalities in Wisconsin by population, second-most populous city in the state, with a population of 269,840 at the 2020 Uni ...

. His father and namesake, Robert Doyle Marshall Sr., was a Ph.D. student at the

University of Wisconsin–Madison The University of Wisconsin–Madison (University of Wisconsin, Wisconsin, UW, UW–Madison, or simply Madison) is a public land-grant research university in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. It was founded in 1848 when Wisconsin achieved st ...

, and his mother Anne was a teacher. Like him, his younger sister Kathleen became a choreographer and director. In 1964, Robert Marshall joined the English department at the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The university is composed of seventeen undergraduate and graduate schools and colle ...

, and the Marshall family relocated to

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

. Anne would later work for Pittsburgh Public Schools and the University of Pittsburgh School of Education, and Robert would become associate professor of English and dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at the same university. Rob Marshall graduated from the Falk School, and then in 1978 from

Taylor Allderdice High School Taylor Allderdice High School is a public high school in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The school was established in 1927 and is part of the Pittsburgh Public Schools district. It was named for industrialist and S ...

, into whose alumni hall of fame he later was inducted. Graduating from

Carnegie Mellon University Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The institution was established in 1900 by Andrew Carnegie as the Carnegie Technical Schools. In 1912, it became the Carnegie Institu ...

in 1982, Marshall worked in the Pittsburgh theatre scene, performing with such companies as Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera.

Career

Marshall went on to perform as a dancer in various Broadway shows, but suffered a herniated disc while performing in ''

Cats The cat (''Felis catus''), also referred to as the domestic cat or house cat, is a small domesticated carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species of the family Felidae. Advances in archaeology and genetics have shown that the ...

'' and after recovering, transitioned into choreography and then directing. He debuted in the film industry with the TV adaptation of the musical '' Annie'' by

Charles Strouse Charles Louis Strouse (June 7, 1928 – May 15, 2025) was an American composer and lyricist best known for writing the music to the Broadway musicals ''Bye Bye Birdie'', ''Applause (musical), Applause'', and ''Annie (musical), Annie''. Backgrou ...

and Martin Charnin. He went on to direct the 2002

adaptation In biology, adaptation has three related meanings. Firstly, it is the dynamic evolutionary process of natural selection that fits organisms to their environment, enhancing their evolutionary fitness. Secondly, it is a state reached by the p ...

of the

Kander and Ebb Kander and Ebb were a highly successful American songwriting team consisting of composer John Kander (born March 18, 1927) and lyricist Fred Ebb (April 8, 1928 – September 11, 2004). Known primarily for their stage musical theatre, musicals, whi ...

musical ''

'', for which he was nominated for an

. His next feature film was the drama '' Memoirs of a Geisha'' based on the best-selling book of the same name by Arthur Golden starring Zhang Ziyi, Gong Li,

Michelle Yeoh Yeoh Choo Kheng (; born 6 August 1962), known professionally as Michelle Yeoh (), is a Malaysian actress. In a career spanning over four decades, Yeoh has appeared Michelle Yeoh filmography, in projects encompassing a wide array of genres, a ...

and Ken Watanabe. The film went on to win three

Academy Awards The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence in ...

and gross $162.2 million at the worldwide box office. Marshall went on to direct the 2009 film ''

Nine 9 (nine) is the natural number following and preceding . Evolution of the Hindu–Arabic digit Circa 300 BC, as part of the Brahmi numerals, various Indians wrote a digit 9 similar in shape to the modern closing question mark without the bot ...

'', an adaptation of the Broadway production with the same name starring

Daniel Day-Lewis Sir Daniel Michael Blake Day-Lewis (born 29 April 1957) is an English actor. Often described as one of the greatest actors in the history of cinema, he is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Daniel Day-Lewis, numerous a ...

, Marion Cotillard,

Nicole Kidman Nicole Mary Kidman (born 20 June 1967) is an Australian and American actress and producer. Known for Nicole Kidman on screen and stage, her work in film and television productions across many genres, she has consistently ranked among the world ...

Sophia Loren Sofia Costanza Brigida Villani Scicolone (; born 20 September 1934), known professionally as Sophia Loren ( , ), is an Italian actress, active in her native country and the United States. With a career spanning over 70 years, she is one of the ...

and Penélope Cruz, who was nominated for an

Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress The Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress is an award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It has been awarded since the 9th Academy Awards to an actress who has delivered an outstanding performanc ...

. In August 2009, it was reported that Marshall was to direct '' Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides'', the fourth chapter of Disney's '' Pirates of the Caribbean'' film series starring

Johnny Depp John Christopher Depp II (born June 9, 1963) is an American actor and musician. He is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Johnny Depp, multiple accolades, including a Golden Globe Award as well as nominations for ...

, Penélope Cruz,

Ian McShane Ian David McShane (born 29 September 1942) is an English actor. His television performances include the title role in the BBC series ''Lovejoy'' (1986–1994), Al Swearengen in '' Deadwood'' (2004–2006) and its 2019 film continuation, and M ...

and

Geoffrey Rush Geoffrey Roy Rush (born 6 July 1951) is an Australian actor. Known for often playing eccentric roles on both stage and screen, he has received List of awards and nominations received by Geoffrey Rush, numerous accolades, including an Academy Aw ...

, which opened on May 20, 2011 and grossed $1 billion worldwide. After working with Disney on ''Pirates'', Marshall directed Disney's

film adaptation A film adaptation transfers the details or story of an existing source text, such as a novel, into a feature film. This transfer can involve adapting most details of the source text closely, including characters or plot points, or the original sou ...

Stephen Sondheim Stephen Joshua Sondheim (; March22, 1930November26, 2021) was an American composer and lyricist. Regarded as one of the most important figures in 20th-century musical theater, he is credited with reinventing the American musical. He received Lis ...

's ''

'' (2014), and produced the film under his Lucamar Productions banner. His next film was the sequel to the 1964 film ''

Mary Poppins Mary Poppins may refer to: * Mary Poppins (character), a nanny with magical powers * Mary Poppins (franchise), based on the fictional nanny ** Mary Poppins (book series), ''Mary Poppins'' (book series), the original 1934–1988 children's fanta ...

'', titled '' Mary Poppins Returns'', reuniting two ''Into the Woods'' actresses:

Emily Blunt Emily Olivia Laura Blunt (born 23 February 1983) is a British actress. The recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Emily Blunt, several accolades, including a Golden Globe Award and two Screen Actors Guild Awards, in addition t ...

as the title character and Meryl Streep in a supporting role. By December 2017, Disney was considering Marshall to direct the live-action/CGI adaptation of '' The Little Mermaid'', which he was officially confirmed to direct in December 2018. In 2024, Marshall was hired to take over for

Bill Condon William Condon (born October 22, 1955) is an American director and screenwriter. Condon is known for writing and/or directing numerous successful and acclaimed films including ''Gods and Monsters (film), Gods and Monsters'', ''Chicago (2002 fi ...

as director of the remake of ''

Guys and Dolls ''Guys and Dolls'' is a musical theater, musical with music and lyrics by Frank Loesser and book by Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows. It is based on "The Idyll of Miss Sarah Brown" (1933) and "Blood Pressure", which are two short stories by Damon Run ...

'', for which he will also co-produce and co-write the screenplay with John DeLuca, John Requa and

Glenn Ficarra Glenn Ficarra (born May 27, 1969) is an American screenwriter, director, and producer. He has frequently collaborated with John Requa. Early life Ficarra is the son of Marianne and Robert F. Ficarra, grandchild of Theresa (née Filippone) and ...

Personal life

Marshall is gay. As of at least 2007, Marshall lives 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 ...

with his husband, producer and choreographer John DeLuca, whom he married in 2012. In 2004, they bought a $4.2 million summer home in Sagaponack, New York, part of

The Hamptons The Hamptons, part of the East End (Long Island), East End of Long Island, consist of the town (New York), towns of Southampton (town), New York, Southampton and East Hampton (town), New York, East Hampton, which together compose the South Fork ...

Works

Theater

Source:

Film

Television

TV movies

Awards and nominations

Theater

Source:

Film and Television

Directed Academy Award performances
Under Marshall's direction, these actors have received

Academy Award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...

nominations for their performances in their respective roles.

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Marshall, Rob 1960 births 20th-century American LGBTQ people 21st-century American LGBTQ people American theatre directors Artists from Madison, Wisconsin Artists from Pittsburgh Carnegie Mellon University College of Fine Arts alumni CAS Filmmaker Award honorees Directors Guild of America Award winners Disney people American fantasy film directors Film directors from Pennsylvania Film directors from Wisconsin American gay men Helpmann Award winners LGBTQ people from Wisconsin LGBTQ theatre directors Living people Musical theatre choreographers People from Sagaponack, New York Primetime Emmy Award winners Taylor Allderdice High School alumni Directors of Best Picture Academy Award winners

Early life and education

Career

Personal life

Works

Theater

Film

Television

Awards and nominations

Theater

Film and Television

See also

References

External links