Bobby Banas Dies: ‘West Side Story’ Actor-Dancer & Veteran Choreographer Was 90

deadline.com:

Bobby Banas, who played Jets member Joyboy in 1961’s West Side Story, appeared in other film musicals and had a long career as a choreographer, died Monday.

He was 90. His official Instagram account posted the news but did not provide other details. “Fly on, Joyboy,” it read in part. “I know the dance party up above is going to be amazing.” Born on September 22, 1933, in New York City, Banas performed as Kangaroo in the original 1954 Broadway production of Peter Pan before landing dancer roles in such film musicals as The King and I and Carousel and the early rock ‘n’ roll pic Rock Around the Clock, all in 1956.

He went on to work in The Girl Most Likely, Damn Yankees, Li’l Abner and a TV production of Annie Get Your Gun later that decade.

His most famous role would come in the Best Picture Oscar-winning musical West Side Story, playing the Jets’ Joyboy. The character didn’t have many lines but was a part of big dance numbers including “Cool” and “Gee, Officer Krupke,” in which he sings, “The trouble is he drinks!” The pic directed by Jerome Robbins and Robert Wise won 10 Academy Awards in 1962. RELATED: Walter Mirisch Dies: Oscar-Winning Producer Of ‘In The Heat Of The Night’ & ‘West Side Story’ Was 101 Banas would appear in other 1960s big-screen musicals including Bye Bye Birdie, The Unsinkable Molly Brown and Mary Poppins, but it was about that time that his choreography career took center stage.