- Emile Ardolino
Emile Ardolino (
May 9 ,1943 inMaspeth, New York –November 20 ,1993 ) was an award-winning Americanfilm director and producer, best known for making films which featuring dancing and song such as "Dirty Dancing " (1987) and "Sister Act " (1992).Biography
Emile Ardolino, son of Italian
immigrant s 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.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. [cite news
title=Emile Ardolino, Director, Is Dead; Specialist in Dance Films Was 50|publisher="New York Times "
date=1993-11-22
url=http://proquest.umi.com.remote.scccld.lib.mo.us:8080/pqdweb?did=966731641&sid=2&Fmt=3&clientId=48491&RQT=309&VName=PQD
page=B12|work=Obituary] In the 1970s and 1980s Ardolino worked forPBS ; his profiles of dancers and choreographers for their "Dance in America " and "Live from Lincoln Center " series won him a total of 17Emmy Award s.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 onGeorge Balanchine 'sNew York City Ballet version), and the television production of "", 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)
*"Dirty Dancing " (1987)
*"Chances Are" (1989)
*"Three Men and a Little Lady " (1990)
*"Sister Act " (1992)
*"" (1993) (TV movie)References
External links
*imdb name|id=0001915|name=Emile Ardolino
* [http://movies2.nytimes.com/gst/movies/filmography.html?p_id=79880&mod=bio NY Times biography of Emile Ardolino]
* [http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=7467808 Find-A-Grave profile for Emile Ardolino]
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
