He became one of American Ballet Theatre's most popular stars in the 1970s as an acclaimed partner to great ballerinas.

He was sent to the International Ballet Competition in Varna, Bulgaria, where he won a silver medal.

Nagy met his wife, the Australian ballerina Marilyn Burr, at the National Ballet.

By July 1968, he had moved to Ballet Theater, where he established partnerships with Natalia Makarova, Gelsey Kirkland and Cynthia Gregory, and on tour with Dame Margot Fonteyn.

In his final year he worked as artistic adviser to the Hungarian State Opera House Ballet.