His works used large numbers of showgirls and props as fantasy elements in kaleidoscopic on-screen performances.
Born in Los Angeles, California, Berkeley's father, years later, passed when his son was eight. His mother, American stage actress Gertrude Berkeley. was a performer in Tim Frawly's Stock company run by her husband.
One of Gertrude's friends was American actress Amy Busby. It was she of whom Berkeley gained the appellation "Buzz" or "Busby".
Whether Berkeley was actually christened Busby Berkeley William Enos, or Berkeley William Enos, with "Busby" being a nickname, is not unanimous – the "Child's names" entry on his birth certificate is blank.
In addition to her stage work, Gertrude played mother roles in silent films while Berkeley was still a child. Berkeley made his stage début at five, acting in the company of his performing family.
In 1917, he lived in Athol, Massachusetts, working as an advertising and sales manager. During World War I, Berkeley served as a field artillery lieutenant. Watching soldiers drill may have inspired his later complex choreography.
During the 1920s, Berkeley was a dance director for nearly two dozen hit Broadway musicals. Most notably, this included the 1927 American musical comedy A Connecticut Yankee.
Berkeley's earliest film work was in Samuel Goldwyn's Eddie Cantor musicals. This was where Berkeley began developing such techniques as a "parade of faces" (individualizing each chorus girl with a loving close-up).
This also included moving his dancers all over the stage (and often beyond) in as many kaleidoscopic patterns as possible.
Berkeley's top shot technique (the kaleidoscope again, this time shot from overhead) appeared seminally in the Cantor films, and later at Universal Studios.
Berkeley's numbers were known for starting out in the realm of the stage, but quickly exceeding this space by moving into a time and place that could only be cinematic, only to return to shots of an applauding audience and the fall of a curtain.
He used only one camera to achieve this, instead of the usual four, to retain control over his vision so no director could edit the film.
As choreographer, Berkeley was allowed a certain degree of independence in his direction of musical numbers, and they were often markedly distinct from (and sometimes in contrast to) the narrative sections of the films.
He often didn't even see the other sections of the picture.
The numbers he choreographed were mostly upbeat and focused on decoration as opposed to substance, some costing around $10,000 a minute more than the picture they were in.
One exception to this is the number "Remember My Forgotten Man". This from Warner Bros. 1933 American pre-Code black and white musical/comedy film 'Gold Diggers of 1933'.
This was the first film of which Berkeley is best known for choreographing and co-directing. The other co-directer was Mervyn LeRoy ('Little Caesar', 'I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang').
'Gold Diggers of 1933' was based on American playwright of the Jazz Age Avery Hopwood's 1919 play The Gold Diggers.
On a budget of $433,000 ($5,560,000 today), 'Gold Diggers of 1933' grossed $3,231,000 in worldwide rentals.
Berkeley never had a dancing lesson and, in his early days, was very afraid of people finding out. He often drove his producers crazy when he gave orders to build a set and then sat in front of it for a few days, thinking up the numbers.
Eventually, Berkeley's popularity with an entertainment-hungry Great Depression audience was secured when he choreographed four musicals back-to-back for Warner Bros.
That same year, Berkeley choreographed the film of which his best known (aside from directing). This was American screen, stage and vaudeville actor and film director Lloyd Bacon's 1933 American pre-Code black and white musical/comedy film '42nd Street'.
Still later that same year, Berkeley co-directed the second and final film of which he is best known for choreographing and co-directing. This was the 1933 American pre-Code black and white musical/comedy film 'Footlight Parade'. The other co-director was Lloyd Bacon.
On an estimated budget of $703,000 ($13,900,000 today), 'Footlight Parade' grossed $1,601,000 ($31,650,000 today) in the United States and $815,000 internationally.
Off set, Berkeley drank heavily, often drinking martinis in his daily bath. After his mother passed and his career began to slow, he attempted suicide by slitting his wrists and taking an overdose of sleeping pills.
He was later taken to the hospital and kept there for many days, an experience which severely affected his mental state.
In September 1935, Berkeley was the driver responsible for an automobile accident in which two people were killed, five seriously injured; Berkeley himself was badly cut and bruised.
Berkeley, brought to court on a stretcher, heard testimony that Time said made him wince:
"Witnesses testified that motorist Berkeley sped down Roosevelt Highway in Los Angeles County one night, changed lanes, crashing headlong into one car, sideswiped another. Some witnesses said they smelled liquor on him".
After the first two trials for second degree murder ended with hung juries, he was acquitted in a third trial.
As the outsized musicals in which Berkeley specialized became passé, he eventually turned to straight directing. Berkeley also had several well-publicized run-ins with MGM stars, such as Judy Garland.
Berkeley later directed the third and final film of which he is best known. This was the 1939 American black and white musical/drama film 'Babes in Arms'.
Set in 1921, Mickey Moran (Mickey Rooney) and Patsy Barton (Judy Garland) are aspiring entertainers and the children of vaudeville performers.
However, vaudeville is losing its popularity due to the success of the movie business, and Mickey and Patsy's parents are struggling to revitalize its popularity.
After deciding to produce their own show in a bid to reach their dreams of stage stardom, the young couple runs into problems, including Mickey's jealous girlfriend and the threat of being sent to a work camp.
'Babes in Arms' was Rooney and Garland's second film together. The original Broadway script was significantly revamped, restructured, and rewritten to accommodate Hollywood's needs.
The film was based on American composer Richard Rodgers and American lyricist Lorenz Hart's 1937 stage musical of the same name.
Berkeley passed from natural causes in Palm Desert, California on March 14, 1976. He was 80.
In 1980, '42nd Street' was adapted into a stage musical of the same name.
In 1988, Berkeley was inducted into the National Museum of Dance & Hall of Fame in Saratoga Spa State Park, Saratoga Springs, New York.
According to Berkeley's personal life, he was married six times. His last wife, Etta Dunn Judd, would remain married to Berkeley until his passing.
Among his credits, Berkeley is also known for choreographing, co-directing, or directing 'Dames' (1934), 'Gold Diggers of 1935' (1935), 'Babes on Broadway' (1941), 'For Me and My Gal' (1942), and 'The Gang's All Here' (1943).
In 1992, 'Footlight Parade' was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
In 1998, '42nd Street' was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
In 2003, 'Gold Diggers of 1933' was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
On AFI's 100 Years... 100 Quotes list, the line "Sawyer, you're going ou a youngster, but you've got to back a star!" was ranked in at #87.
In 2006, '42nd Street' ranked 13th on the American Film Institute's list of best musicals.
Berkeley was noted for the elaborate dancing-girl extravaganzas that he created on film. Using innovative camera techniques, he revolutionized the genre of the musical in the Great Depression era.
However, that phase of his career, which he spent at the Warner Bros. studio, was followed by more sedate films in the 1940s and 1950s, and he never regained his early feverish momentum.
Nicknamed Buzz, Berkeley had been active from 1927–1971.
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