Choreographer Michael Kidd dies

LOS ANGELES, Dec. 25 (UPI) -- Michael Kidd, the award-winning choreographer for Broadway and Hollywood musicals, has died at his home in Los Angeles.

Kidd died Sunday of cancer, nephew Robert Greenwald told The New York Times. Biographical information lists Kidd's age as 99, but Greenwald said his age was actually 92.

On Broadway, Kidd's exuberant style won five Tony Awards for "Finian's Rainbow," "Guys and Dolls." "Can-Can," "Li'l Abner" and "Destry Rides Again."

On the big screen, Kidd was best known for "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers" and "The Band Wagon." He received a special 1997 Academy Award in recognition of his services to "the art of dance in the art of the screen," the Times reported Tuesday.

In the 1970s and '80s, he choreographed and directed television specials and music videos, such a scenes for Janet Jackson in "When I Think Of You." He also acted in a few films notably as a faded director and choreographer trying to rescue a beauty pageant in the 1975 cult film "Smile."

He is survived by his second wife, Shelah Hackett, and four children from his first and second marriages.