He was born in Chicago, Illinois as Robert Louis Fosse, which he shortened to for his professional work. His career in dance began early. At age 13 he toured with his own dance act, that was immediately recognizable, exuding a stylised, cynical sexuality. Bowler hats, fishnet stockings, canes and chairs were distinctive trademarks. His dance routines are intense and demanding, requiring considerable stamina. Technically the whilst holding the rest in a still pose - a combination of precisely-executed gestures ("hand ballet", to use his own term), both sinuous flows and rapid kicks and jerks. The filmed routines in Cabaret (1972) are particularly characteristic: the vulgar energy of vaudeville and burlesque updated and coolly contained within a slick, knowing sophistication.

One year later he worked as a choreographer in his first two Broadway shows, "The Pajama Game" (1954) and "Damn Yankees" (1955).

In 1986 he directed and choreographed the Broadway production "Big Deal", which he also wrote.

Fosse earned many awards for his works. Among them were a Tony Award for and an Emmy Award for "Liza with a Z". He was the first person to win these three most important awards in the same year.

His musical All That Jazz (1979) won the Palme d'Or. It is an uncompromising, semi-autobiographical fantasy that portrays a chain-smoking choreographer being driven by his A-type personality to the brink of a heart attack.

Bob Fosse was married to the dancer Joan McCracken from 1951 to their divorce in 1959, and then married dancer Gwen Verdon in 1960. They had one daughter, Nicole Fosse, who is also a dancer like her parents.

There was a resurgence of interest in Fosse's work following revivals of his stage shows and the film release of Bob Fosse said of himself in an interview, "My friends know that to me happiness is when I am merely miserable and not suicidal."