Emile Ardolino

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Emile Ardolino (May 9, 1943 in Maspeth, New York – November 20, 1993) was an American film director, choreographer, and producer, best known for his films Dirty Dancing (1987) and Sister Act (1992).

Biography

Emile Ardolino, son of Italian immigrants Emilio and Ester Ardolino, was born in a neighborhood of Queens. His father – who at the time of Emile's birth was 54 years old – died in 1949, when Emile was 6 years old.

He began his career as an actor in off-Broadway productions, but soon moved to the production side of the business. In 1967, he founded Compton-Ardolino Films with Gardner Compton.^[1] In the 1970s and 1980s Ardolino worked for PBS; his profiles of dancers and choreographers for their Dance in America and Live from Lincoln Center series won him a total of 17 Emmy Award nominations. He actually won the Emmy three times.

Ardolino won an Academy Award for Best Documentary for the 1983 movie He Makes Me Feel Like Dancin'. He found commercial success with the 1987 sleeper hit Dirty Dancing, and went on to make several other mainstream films.

Ardolino, who lived openly gay, died in 1993 of complications from AIDS. He was buried in New York next to his parents, his mother having died in 1975. His last films, The Nutcracker, (based on George Balanchine's New York City Ballet version), and the television production of Gypsy starring Bette Midler in the role created on Broadway by Ethel Merman, were released and shown posthumously.

Awards

1969 Obie Award, for film for the Broadway production of Oh! Calcutta!
17 Emmy Awards Nomination and 1 winning
1983 Academy Award, Best Documentary Feature, He Makes Me Feel Like Dancin'

Filmography (partial)

He Makes Me Feel Like Dancin' (1983)
Good Morning, Mr. Orwell with Nam June Paik, (1984)
Dirty Dancing (1987)
Chances Are (1989)
Three Men and a Little Lady (1990)
Sister Act (1992)
Gypsy (1993) (TV movie)

References

↑ "Emile Ardolino, Director, Is Dead; Specialist in Dance Films Was 50". Obituary (New York Times). 1993-11-22. p. B12.

External links

v t e Films directed by Emile Ardolino

He Makes Me Feel Like Dancin' (1983) Dirty Dancing (1987) Chances Are (1989) Three Men and a Little Lady (1990) Sister Act (1992) Gypsy (1993)

Authority control	WorldCat VIAF: 79170544 LCCN: n87838419 ISNI: 0000 0000 6302 887X GND: 120898411 SUDOC: 125203136 BNF: cb13959951q

Persondata
Name	Ardolino, Emile
Alternative names
Short description	American film director
Date of birth	May 9, 1943
Place of birth
Date of death	November 20, 1993
Place of death

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike; additional terms may apply for the media files.