Who

A veteran Broadway choreographer, Marshall broke into the big time when he directed the Oscar-winning film version of Chicago. His sister is choreographer Kathleen Marshall.

Backstory

Raised in Pittsburgh by academic parents, Marshall became interested in dance as a teen and took time off from Carnegie Mellon to join the cast of A Chorus Line. In his early 20s, he danced his pants off in musicals like Zorba and The Rink, for which he served as dance captain and supervised veteran hoofers Liza Minnelli and Chita Rivera. When a back injury in Cats ended his dance career at age 27, he switched to choreography, making his debut with the musical version of Kiss of the Spider Woman in 1993 and following up with successes like the 1994 revival of Damn Yankees and Sam Mendes's 1998 revival of Cabaret. Later that year, Marshall had his solo directorial debut with Little Me; in 1999 he lensed his first film, a cutesy TV movie of Annie starring Alan Cumming and Kristin Chenoweth.

It was 2002 that saw Marshall's real breakout, though: Bringing a Broadway sensibility to the silver screen, he directed the film version of Chicago starring Renee Zellweger, Catherine Zeta-Jones, and Richard Gere. The flick won six Oscars, including Best Picture, and Marshall suddenly found himself vaulted to A-list status as a director. His second Hollywood feature was a 2005 adaptation of Arthur Golden's novel Memoirs of a Geisha, which wasn't as hyped as Chicago but won three Oscars nonetheless. Marshall is next slated to direct an adaptation of the 1982 musical Nine—a loose adaptation of Federico Fellini's 1963 film 8 1/2.

For the record

Marshall has been nominated for six Tony Awards, but has yet to win. He was also nominated for a Best Director Oscar for Chicago, but didn't bring home the trophy.

Family ties

Marshall is the older brother of choreographer Kathleen Marshall. The sibs have frequently collaborated over the years, and Rob employed her as an assistant choreographer on early projects like Kiss of the Spider Woman and Damn Yankees. His fraternal twin, Maura Powell, runs an interior design firm in the D.C. area.

Personal

Marshall lives on the Upper West Side with his partner John DeLuca. DeLuca served as second unit director on Chicago and co-produced Memoirs of a Geisha. They have a dog named Gillie.