Tommy Tune to Be Named "Living Landmark" in November

By Andrew Gans
25 Sep 2009

Tommy Tune
Tommy Tune
Photo by Aubrey Reuben

Nine-time Tony Award winner Tommy Tune — of Nine, My One and Only and Grand Hotel fame — is one of six individuals who will be deemed a "Living Landmark" next month.

The New York Landmarks Conservancy will bestow its distinguished "Living Landmarks" awards at a Nov. 4 celebration at Cipriani 42nd Street.

In addition to Tune, others who will achieve this status are New York County district attorney Robert Morgenthau; Italian Baroness and philanthropist, Baroness Mariuccia-Marimo; playwright, author, screenwriter and "Newman's Own" co-creator, A.E. Hotchner; real estate developer and film studio chief, George Kaufman; and New York Times fashion photographer Bill Cunningham.

"Living Landmark honorees represent the best of New York in talent, philanthropy and spirit" said Peg Breen, President of the New York Landmarks Conservancy, in a statement. "This year's special ‘Sweet Sixteen’ celebration will honor an outstanding group of New Yorkers and salute the many amazing 'Living Landmarks' we have honored through the years."

Over the course of its 16 years, the Conservancy has lauded the contributions of an array of individuals, including Charlie Rose, Lauren Bacall, Oscar de la Renta, Harry Belafonte, Tom & Meredith Brokaw, Pat & William F. Buckley Jr., Walter Cronkite, Diane von Furstenberg, Whoopi Goldberg, Peter Jennings, Edward I. Koch, Daniel Patrick Moynihan, Jerry Orbach & Sam Waterston, Joan Rivers, George Steinbrenner, Gloria Steinem, Barbara Walters, Mario Cuomo and Harvey & Bob Weinstein.

A nine-time Tony Award winner, director-choreographer-actor Tune has helped create such Broadway shows as Nine, My One & Only, A Day in Hollywood/A Night in the Ukraine, The Will Rogers Follies and Grand Hotel. He helmed Off-Broadway's The Club and Cloud Nine, and he spent two years starring in the Las Vegas production of the spectacular EFX at the MGM Grand Hotel. Tune was seen in the 2006 national tour of Dr. Dolittle, and helmed the new Broadway-aimed musical The Turn of the Century at the Goodman Theatre in fall 2008.

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The New York Landmarks Conservancy "preserves, restores and reuses architecturally significant buildings throughout New York. Since its founding in 1973, NYLC has provided more than $35 million in grants and low-interest loans, accompanied by countless hours of hands-on technical consulting to owners of historic homes, businesses, schools, houses of worship, theaters, cultural institutions, affordable housing units and community centers. The Conservancy is a leading advocate for preservation at all levels of government."