Matt Mattox

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Matt Mattox (b. August 18, 1921 in Tulsa, Oklahoma) is a jazz and ballet dancer.

Mattox was a protegé of the legendary jazz dance pioneer Jack Cole, with whom he worked on Broadway in Magdalena (1948). His other Broadway credits include Harry Beaton in the 1957 revival of Brigadoon. Mattox also performed concert engagements with his own dance company. His brief career as a Broadway choreographer included Jennie and Say, Darling.

However, Mattox had a higher profile as a specialty dancer in Hollywood musicals. His best-known film role is Caleb Pontipee in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, but he was also a principal dancer in, among others, Yolanda and the Thief, The Band Wagon (Cyd Charisse's partner in the ballet sequence), Till the Clouds Roll By, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, and There's No Business Like Show Business. In addition, Mattox was a regular guest on television variety shows, for which he choreographed as well as performed.

One of the world's most influential teachers of jazz dance--or, as he calls it, "freestyle dancing"--Mattox now works in France, where he lives. He is married to Martine Limeul, another dancer and teacher; his first wife, dancer Jean Mattox, died in 1983.