Seymour Felix

Seymour Felix (October 23, 1892 – March 16, 1961) was an American performer, choreographer, and director whose career spanned Broadway, vaudeville, and Hollywood. A native of New York City, Felix accumulated sixteen Broadway credits over the course of his career.

Felix entered show business as a professional dancer in vaudeville at the age of fifteen. His Broadway career began in 1908 with an appearance in The Mimic World. By the 1920s he had transitioned into the role of dance director in New York, staging numbers for productions including Hit the Deck (1927), Rosalie (1928), and Whoopee! (1928). His final Broadway credit was Strike Me Pink in 1933.

In 1929, Felix relocated to Hollywood to work in musical films. He directed two features during this period, Girls Demand Excitement (1931) and Stepping Sisters (1932), though his most significant contributions in Los Angeles came through choreography. Among the films he choreographed were The Great Ziegfeld (1936), Alexander's Ragtime Band (1938), Rose of Washington Square (1939), Cover Girl (1944), and Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942), the last of which he choreographed alongside LeRoy Prinz and Jack Boyle.

Felix received the Academy Award for Best Dance Direction for his staging of "A Pretty Girl Is Like a Melody" in The Great Ziegfeld. The award was presented by the Academy from 1935 to 1937. He died on March 16, 1961, in Los Angeles.