Ann Reinking (1949-2020)
Monday, December 14, 2020 at 11:06PM 
Ann Reinking in "All That Jazz"
The musical form has lost a bonafide legend. Ann Reinking, actress, director, choreographer, mentor, Roxie Hart revivalist, and Fosse expert nonpareil, passed away this weekend in her sleep at the age of 71...
the titular characters in Micki + Maude
Reinking's film career was very short, stretching through just six years and four films (1978's Golden Globe nominated Movie Movie, 1979's Oscar-nominated masterpiece All That Jazz in which she played a fictionalized version of herself, 1982's Annie as Grace Farrell, and the Golden Globe nominated romantic comedy Micki + Maude) in which she was one of two pregnant women who weren't aware that their husband was a polygamist.
It was impossible to forget her if you saw her -- all legs for days, formidable cheekbones, and long stick-straight hair. Despite a short heyday in the movies she was never out of style with that ultra modern chic physicality, inimitable voice, with her enduring stage contributions (4 Tony nominations, 1 win), and as the long-time carrier of Fosse's never-extinguished torch.
All That Jazz's warmest endearing scene
Happily Reinking had been getting renewed attention for her own place in his legendary career quite recently. In the miniseries Fosse/Verdon she was played by Margaret Qualley who felt nothing but reverence for her, telling The Hollywood Reporter
I grew up really idolizing Ann Reinking; it was one of the most surreal opportunities for me to try to play her. I was really fortunate because I had the opportunity to talk with her on the phone before we started shooting; we ended up talking for two hours. It was the coolest thing just to get her blessing. At the end of the conversation, I basically said, "I have to be honest, I feel nervous, I've looked up to you for so long." She was really, really sweet and said, "Well, be honest and trust yourself, I believe in you. And if you ever want to call me, I'm here." I definitely abused that power and ended up calling her once or twice a week.
Ann Reinking won the Tony for choreography for recreating / reinterpreting Fosse's work in the 1970s Chicago for 1997's revival -- and she made an excellent Roxie Hart.
Since hearing the sad news I've been thinking a lot about All That Jazz (1979) and how so much of it is the artful seductive guiding of Fosse to accept his own death, with Reinking as one the chief guides. But I've also been trying to imagine her dancing her way out of this life. There would undoubtedly be a brief but exuberant shimmy, impossibly precise enormously stylized 'walking' with sharp knee bends, and before the curtain, a tip of a bowler hat.
She will be missed. We throw flowers to her memory.
Reader Comments (21)
Rest in power, Ann Reinking. You created pluriverses when you dance, when you move.
The gasp that came out of me when I saw this headline in my RSS. Somehow she seemed immortal to me - All That Jazz, Annie and the Chicago revival cast album were all big parts of my preteen and teen cultural engagement. This one hurts!
She fucking killed it in All That Jazz. A true legend. She will be missed.
I wish Reinking had made more movies, not to begrudge Broadway audiences of her talent, but I do. Most of us couldn't get there to see her in our teens and twenties much. She seems like she could have owned American film in the 80s along with Meryl, Jessica, Sigourney, and Susan. My parents dragged me to ANNIE one day when I was a depressed kid, thinking it would cheer me up. I did really love Carol Burnett from TV so I thought I'd like it. I hated it (Burnett overacted egregiously, to the point of being painfully unfunny) and my depression got worse as I was watching it. The one saving grace was Reinking. Her big number "We've Got Annie" was a joyful interlude in a sea of pushiness and bad mediocrity. When I saw Nicole Kidman (who I love) and Jo Ellen Pellman in THE PROM with "Zazz," basically trying to do Reinking and Erzsebet Foldi's "Everything Old is New Again" from ALL THAT JAZZ, I thought: "Ugh. I hope Reinking doesn't see this." I hope she didn't.
Other weird connection to THE PROM: Reinking was, no lie, in a musical about our former first lady called ELENOR. At least there was no exclamation point, but I don't. want. to know.... You see? In the time she wasted on that, whatever it was, she should have done two films. Sigh.
No! Not the news I wanted to see.
What a sensational dancer.
R.I.P.
She's quite terrific in ALL THAT JAZZ, which is sadly all I have seen of hers (as noted, she didn't make much and obviously can't have seen her stage work except for the filmed production of FOSSE). I was stunned when I heard Margaret Qualley's voice as her in Fosse/Verdon. It was spot on. Such a talent and that scene you posted from ATJ is such a perfectly reflection of the "Zazz" scene from THE PROM which is so garishly lit and badly filmed.
Beautiful, elegant... the best dancer we will get to see in our lifetime.
RIP! Her moves were stunning and she captured everything great about the Fosse style.
Saw The Prom and decided to exit this planet.
Is she the one who performed "Against All Odds" at the Academy Awards?
The number of times I have watched All That Jazz and that clip in particular over the years... Thank you Ann Reinking for your beautiful dancing. R.I.P.
Poor Nicole’s zazz killed Ann.
I know she wasn't a big enough box office star, but I wish she would have been cast as Roxie in the film version of Chicago (I don't even know if she would have wanted such a thing or if she was considered).
My lasting impression of Annie as a kid was always her version of "Let's Go to the Movies," which I still recall to this day.
Reinking was a beautiful and stunning dancer if she had been born in the golden age of MGM musicals she would have been a superstar.
The Dr Mistery -YES. lol. i'd totally forgotten about that. not her finest hour.
"Micki and Maude" was on HBO every five minutes back in the day. It's lower tier Blade Edwards, but still pretty funny. Rest in Peace.
When "All That Jazz" first arrived in theatres I went to see it by myself one afternoon. I was swept away by the whole film, but Ann Reinking in particular. I dragged friends to see it with me again the following evening. They were as impressed as I was. She is a knockout in that film.
I own that dvd, and thankfully we have some performances on film, what a talent!
She was a legend, and this year continues to suck.
"She was a legend, and this year continues to suck" about sums it up.
I, too, only saw Reinking in All That Jazz, but that was enough. The clip you include was definitely the most charming in an otherwise quite sad movie.
I thought I had long legs, but then I saw that too photo of Ann Reinking.
She's wonderful in All That Jazz. I've always been curious what that production was like for her, since she's playing a version of herself and the film is somewhat harsh in it's depiction of that relationship (it's harsh about everything).
All That Jazz is my favorite musical film by a mile.
The dance sequences in the alucination scene played by Erzsebet Foldi, Leland Palmer and Ann Reinking it proves that you don't need a crowd of people to do a great choreography, just great dancers and moves.
Rest In Peace