RIP MARGE CHAMPION

1919-2020

Marjorie Celeste Champion (née Belcher) was a dancer and actress. She performed as an actress and dancer in film musicals, and in 1957 had a television show based on song and dance. She made her New York stage debut in 1943. In 2001, she appeared as Emily Whitman in the Broadway revival of Follies.  

In 1937 she was paid $10 a day to be the live action model for Snow White in the animated film. Her first husband was Disney animator Art Babbit. The marriage lasted just three years. 

In 1947 she married dancer Gower Champion. Together, they had two sons. They were even on the cover of LIFE together in 1949. They divorced in January 1973.  

She married a third time to TV and film director Boris Segal, who died after four years of marriage. 

At the 24th Annual Academy Awards in March 1952, Marge and Gower Champion were presenters…

…along with red heads Danny Kaye and Lucille Ball. George Stevens brought home the Oscar for Best Achievement in Direction for A Place in the Sun , Humphrey Bogart won Best Performance by an Actor in The African Queen, Vivien Leigh won Best Performance by an Actress for her role in A Streetcar Named Desire, and An American in Paris won Best Motion Picture.

Marge was mentioned on “I Love Lucy” in the 1956 episode “Lucy and Bob Hope” (ILL S6;E1). The song “Nobody Likes the Ump” includes a soft shoe dance break.

HOPE (aside): “If Marge sees this, Gower’s finished!” 

Champion won an Emmy in 1975 for “Queen of the Starlight Ballroom”.

In March 1985, Marge Champion, Lucille Ball, Lucie Arnaz and 98 other celebrities participated in “Night of 100 Stars II” at Radio City Music Hall.