Born in Wisconsin and raised in Pittsburgh, Rob Marshall directed his first movie as a chid when he and his twin sister, Maura, and younger sister, Kathleen, convinced classmates and teachers at Oakland's Falk School to appear in their parody of "The Brady Bunch." At 12, he started performing professionally with a local musical theater company. "I never doubted that I'd be on Broadway," he says. "I just sort of always knew I would." After his sophomore year at Carnegie Mellon University, Rob Marshall left to make his Broadway debut in the 1970s Broadway smash "A Chorus Line," returning later to earn his degree from Carnegie Mellon University's renowned musical theater program in 1982.
Following his graduation from Carnegie Mellon, Rob Marshall moved to New York City to join the ranks of Broadway hopefuls, singing and dancing in several Broadway shows before suffering a herniated disc at the age of 27 while performing in "Cats." He subsequently decided to quit performing to concentrate on choreography. He earned his first credit as a Broadway choreographer with the musical version of "Kiss of the Spider Woman" in 1993, and subsequently choreographed and/or directed such hits as the Broadway production "Little Me," the Los Angeles stage revival of Fosse's 1975 musical "Chicago," and the successful 1998 revival of "Cabaret."
Eventually, Rob Marshall tried his hand at TV, winning Emmys for directing and choreographing the TV adaptation of "Annie," which went on to become the most popular TV movie of 1999.
None of this success comes as a surprise to Marshall's former instructors at Carnegie Mellon's School of Drama. "He (Rob Marshall) was at home on stage and seemed to feel a great joy in expressing himself through his art," said Judy Conte, senior lecturer in dance at the Drama School. "I attribute Rob's success to the fact that he does live as that artist and encourages and inspires everyone he comes in contact with to do the same."
