Geneva's Gower Champion (That's Right!) Named to Fox Valley Arts Hall of Fame

Gower Champion, probably best known for his role in the 1951 movie musical Showboat, is probably least known as a resident of Geneva, IL.

But we can pretty much guarantee that little piece of movie trivia was well known by the board of directors of the Fox Valley Hall of Fame, who inducted Champion, along with six other Fox Valley greats, into the Fame's Class of 2012 Thursday, April 19, at Piper's Banquets in Aurora.

Champion's career wasn't just defined by the big screen. He won eight Tony Awards, directing such Broadway blockbusters as 1960's Bye Bye Birdie, 1964's Hello, Dolly! and in 1980, 42nd Street.

According to Wikipedia, his Geneva connection pretty much was that he was born here. He was raised in Los Angeles, and spent the biggest chunk of his life in Hollywood.

The other inductees in the Class of 2012 Arts Hall of Fame are:

• Musical conductor Annbritt (Gremmer) duChateau, Aurora
• Architect Grant Elmslie, Aurora
• English Horn player Carolyn Hove, born in Elgin
• Painter Delbert Peterson, born in Aurora
• Movie actor John Qualen, Elgin High School graduate
• Dancer and coreographer Dominic Walsh, raised in West Dundee

SOURCE: Fox Valley Arts Hall of Fame