Fosse was born the son of a vaudeville performer in Chicago, 1927. Influenced by his father he began performing at an early age and sought formal training at the Frederick Weaver Ballet School. He was the only boy at the school but dealt with his detractors with typical style:"I got a lot of jokes and I got whistled at a lot. But I beat up a couple of the whistlers and the rest sort of tapered off after a while."
His training certainly paid off. By 13 he was touring theatres in Chicago with his friend Charles Grass and they were soon making a salary of over $100 a week - a huge sum in those days.