Release CalendarTop 250 MoviesMost Popular MoviesBrowse Movies by GenreTop Box OfficeShowtimes & TicketsMovie NewsIndia Movie Spotlight
    What's on TV & StreamingTop 250 TV ShowsMost Popular TV ShowsBrowse TV Shows by GenreTV News
    What to WatchLatest TrailersIMDb OriginalsIMDb PicksIMDb SpotlightFamily Entertainment GuideIMDb Podcasts
    OscarsCannes Film FestivalStar WarsAsian Pacific American Heritage MonthSummer Watch GuideSTARmeter AwardsAwards CentralFestival CentralAll Events
    Born TodayMost Popular CelebsCelebrity News
    Help CenterContributor ZonePolls
For Industry Professionals
  • Language
  • Fully supported
  • English (United States)
    Partially supported
  • Français (Canada)
  • Français (France)
  • Deutsch (Deutschland)
  • हिंदी (भारत)
  • Italiano (Italia)
  • Português (Brasil)
  • Español (España)
  • Español (México)
Watchlist
Sign In
  • Fully supported
  • English (United States)
    Partially supported
  • Français (Canada)
  • Français (France)
  • Deutsch (Deutschland)
  • हिंदी (भारत)
  • Italiano (Italia)
  • Português (Brasil)
  • Español (España)
  • Español (México)
Use app
  • Biography
  • Trivia
IMDbPro

Chester Hale(1897-1984)

  • Additional Crew
IMDbProStarmeterSee rank
Was primarily a choreographer of Broadway stage, screen, and ice shows. Began his career in 1915 in New York as a dancer with the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, under Nijinsky. Toured with the troupe for two years, after which he joined the Anna Pavlova dance company in Buenos Aires.

Returned to the U.S. and worked as both a performer and a choreographer. Began staging dance numbers in Broadway productions by 1928. Choreographed Irene Castle's vaudeville act that toured the U.S. during the twenties. Formed and managed a Broadway chorus line known as the Chester Hale Girls, and founded the Chester Hale Dance Studio in New York City,

M-G-M brought him to Hollywood, where he staged dance numbers in several movies, including A Night at the Opera (1935), and Rose-Marie (1936). Reportedly taught Greta Garbo the mazurka for Anna Karenina (1935).

Was a contemporary of Busby Berkeley, and made important contributions to dance choreography during the period. Credited with giving Alice Faye, Jessie Matthews, and Miriam Hopkins their first breaks, as chorus girls.

During the 1940's and 1950's staged and directed thirteen editions of the Ice Capades, as well as editions of Holiday on Ice.

Retired in 1959.
BornJanuary 15, 1897
DiedAugust 13, 1984(87)
BornJanuary 15, 1897
DiedAugust 13, 1984(87)
IMDbProStarmeterSee rank
Add photos, demo reels

Known for

Groucho Marx, Kitty Carlisle, Allan Jones, Chico Marx, Harpo Marx, and The Marx Brothers in A Night at the Opera (1935)
A Night at the Opera
7.8
  • Additional Crew
  • 1935
Jean Harlow and William Powell in Reckless (1935)
Reckless
6.4
  • Additional Crew
  • 1935
Virginia Bruce, Ted Lewis, Harry Stockwell, and Ted Lewis and His Orchestra in Here Comes the Band (1935)
Here Comes the Band
5.9
  • Additional Crew
  • 1935
Nelson Eddy and Jeanette MacDonald in Rose-Marie (1936)
Rose-Marie
6.7
  • Additional Crew(totem pole dance)
  • 1936

Credits

Edit
IMDbPro

Additional Crew



  • Henry Fonda, Lucille Ball, Agnes Moorehead, and Sam Levene in The Big Street (1942)
    The Big Street
    6.4
    • dance director
    • 1942
  • Warner Baxter in Robin Hood of El Dorado (1936)
    Robin Hood of El Dorado
    5.9
    • dance director: bandit number (uncredited)
    • 1936
  • Nelson Eddy and Jeanette MacDonald in Rose-Marie (1936)
    Rose-Marie
    6.7
    • stager: totem pole dance
    • 1936
  • Groucho Marx, Kitty Carlisle, Allan Jones, Chico Marx, Harpo Marx, and The Marx Brothers in A Night at the Opera (1935)
    A Night at the Opera
    7.8
    • dances by
    • 1935
  • Virginia Bruce, Ted Lewis, Harry Stockwell, and Ted Lewis and His Orchestra in Here Comes the Band (1935)
    Here Comes the Band
    5.9
    • dances by
    • 1935
  • Greta Garbo in Anna Karenina (1935)
    Anna Karenina
    7.0
    • mazurka stager
    • 1935
  • Memories and Melodies (1935)
    Memories and Melodies
    5.8
    Short
    • choreographer
    • 1935
  • Jean Harlow and William Powell in Reckless (1935)
    Reckless
    6.4
    • dances staged by
    • 1935
  • Nelson Eddy and Jeanette MacDonald in Naughty Marietta (1935)
    Naughty Marietta
    6.5
    • dance director (uncredited)
    • 1935
  • Ramon Novarro and Evelyn Laye in The Night Is Young (1935)
    The Night Is Young
    6.3
    • dance director (uncredited)
    • 1935
  • Greta Garbo and Herbert Marshall in The Painted Veil (1934)
    The Painted Veil
    6.5
    • stager: Chinese fantasy
    • 1934
  • Student Tour (1934)
    Student Tour
    5.1
    • dance numbers
    • 1934
  • Maureen O'Sullivan and Robert Montgomery in Hide-Out (1934)
    Hide-Out
    6.9
    • stager: dance numbers (uncredited)
    • 1934

Personal details

Edit
  • Height
    • 5′ 10½″ (1.79 m)
  • Born
    • January 15, 1897
    • Jersey City, New Jersey, USA
  • Died
    • August 13, 1984
    • Los Angeles, California, USA
  • Spouse
    • Helen Margaret MarineNovember 20, 1940 - May 11, 1977 (her death)
  • Other works
    Active on Broadway in the following productions:

Did you know

Edit
  • Trivia
    Father: Wilbur Johnson Chamberlin; Mother: Laura Moffett.

Related news

Contribute to this page

Suggest an edit or add missing content
  • Learn more about contributing
Edit page

More to explore

Recently viewed

Please enable browser cookies to use this feature. Learn more.
Get the IMDb app
Sign in for more accessSign in for more access
Follow IMDb on social
Get the IMDb app
For Android and iOS
Get the IMDb app
  • Help
  • Site Index
  • IMDbPro
  • Box Office Mojo
  • License IMDb Data
  • Press Room
  • Advertising
  • Jobs
  • Conditions of Use
  • Privacy Policy
  • Your Ads Privacy Choices
IMDb, an Amazon company

© 1990-2025 by IMDb.com, Inc.