Swen Swenson (January 23, 1930 - June 23, 1993) was a

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 Stree ...

dancer and singer. Born in

Inwood, Iowa Inwood is a city in Lyon County, Iowa, United States. The population was 928 at the time of the 2020 census. Geography Inwood's longitude and latitude coordinates in decimal form are 43.308770, -96.432531. According to the United States Census ...

, Swenson was trained by dancer

Mira Rostova Mira Rostova (''née'' Rosovskaya; April 10, 1909 – January 28, 2009) was a Russian American actress turned acting teacher, best known for her own variation of method acting that she used in coaching Montgomery Clift. Her other students incl ...

and at the

School of American Ballet The School of American Ballet (SAB) is the most renowned ballet school in the United States. School of American Ballet is the associate school of the New York City Ballet, a ballet company based at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New ...

Openly gay Coming out of the closet, often shortened to coming out, is a metaphor used to describe LGBT people's self-disclosure of their sexual orientation, romantic orientation, or gender identity. Framed and debated as a privacy issue, coming out of ...

, he had featured and co-starring roles on Broadway in such musicals such as ''

Wildcat The wildcat is a species complex comprising two small wild cat species: the European wildcat (''Felis silvestris'') and the African wildcat (''F. lybica''). The European wildcat inhabits forests in Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus, while the ...

'' with

Lucille Ball Lucille Désirée Ball (August 6, 1911 – April 26, 1989) was an American actress, comedienne and producer. She was nominated for 13 Primetime Emmy Awards, winning five times, and was the recipient of several other accolades, such as the Golden ...

, '' Little Me'' (for which he received a

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

nomination, and in which he introduced the standard " I've Got Your Number"), ''

A Joyful Noise ''A Joyful Noise'' is a musical with a book by Edward Padula and music and lyrics by Oscar Brand and Paul Nassau. The 1966 Broadway production was a flop but introduced choreographer Michael Bennett in his Broadway debut. Based on Mississipp ...

'', ''

Annie Annie may refer to: People and fictional characters * Annie (given name), a given name and a list of people and fictional characters with the name * Annie (actress) (born 1975), Indian actress * Annie (singer) (born 1977), Norwegian singer The ...

'', '' No, No Nanette'', '' I Remember Mama'' and the 1981 revival of '' Can-Can''. He appeared in movies and on television variety shows, including ''

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, Howar ...

'' and ''

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

''. Swenson died in 1993 of

AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual m ...

-related illness."Swen Swenson believed one person could make a difference"
'' poz.com'', October 1995.

References

External links

* 1932 births 1993 deaths American male musical theatre actors AIDS-related deaths in California American gay actors American LGBT singers LGBT dancers 20th-century American male actors Male actors from Iowa Singers from Iowa American gay musicians People from Lyon County, Iowa American male film actors American male television actors School of American Ballet alumni American male ballet dancers 20th-century American singers LGBT people from Iowa 20th-century American male singers 20th-century LGBT people 20th-century American ballet dancers {{US-screen-actor-1930s-stub