Michael Dante

Michael Dante (born Ralph Vitti; September 2, 1931 in Stamford, Connecticut) is an American award winning actor of television, films and stage and a former professional minor league baseball player. As a boy growing up on the West Side neighborhood of the city, he used to sneak into a local movie theater with his friends and watch westerns.^[1]

"I grew up wanting to be the sidekick of the Lone Ranger and wanting to follow my heroes," he told a reporter in 2006.^[1]

He was a shortstop on the Stamford High School baseball team, then played for "The Advocate All-Stars" team which won a 1949 New England baseball championship.

He signed a bonus contract with the Boston Braves out of high school. His $6,000 bonus went to buy his family a four-door Buick with whitewalls.^[1]

Acting career

Winterhawk theater lobby card

During spring training with the Senators he had taken drama classes at the University of Miami in Florida. Bandleader Tommy Dorsey arranged a screen test at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer soon after. His first movie was Somebody Up There Likes Me in 1956.

He changed his name at the urging of Jack Warner, who thought "Vitti" wouldn't look good on movie marquees. Warner suggested some first names, from which the actor picked "Michael." He chose the last name "Dante" because it had been used by some relatives.^[1]

Dante has appeared in 30 films and 150 television shows.^[1] He is also notable for spending seven years in supporting roles under contract to three major studios at once: MGM, Warner Brothers and Twentieth Century Fox. He considers his best performances the role he played in "Killer Instinct" on the television program "Desilu Playhouse", along with his roles in the movies "Westbound", "Winterhawk" and "Seven Thieves".^[1]

His 1967 performance in the "Friday's Child" episode of Star Trek as a member of an alien race, has garnered him invitations to Star Trek conventions.^[1] He also had a recurring role as the Sioux Chief Crazy Horse in the short-lived ABC military western series Custer starring Wayne Maunder in the title role of Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer.

Dante also has recurring roles on the television serials Days of our Lives and General Hospital.

In the 1970s, Dante met John Wayne, whom he watched on screen as a child. Wayne had seen Dante in "Winterhawk"and asked him to co-host a charity event in Newport Beach, California. That started a friendship between the two actors, and they co-hosted other events until Wayne's death in 1979.^[1]

It was one brief co-starring role that wrote Dante into American popular culture. A frequent extra on the original Star Trek television series, he was cast in the role of "Maab" in the 1967 episode, "Friday's Child" alongside Julie Newmar. Dante's affable personality makes him a popular draw at Star Trek fan conventions all over the country.

Michael Dante is currently the host of a syndicated radio talk show, On Deck, previously known as the Michael Dante Celebrity Talk Show on which he interviews some of Hollywood's biggest stars. Guests on the program have included Milton Berle, Tony Curtis, and Bryant Gumbel.^[1] An avid golfer, he once hosted the annual Michael Dante Celebrity Golf Tournament, a charitable fund-raiser held annually in Palm Springs, California beginning in 1991.

In 2006 he told an interviewer that he had written a script for a sequel to "Winterhawk" and was trying to get funding for the projected movie.^[1]

Dante and his wife Mary Jane make their home in Rancho Mirage, California. He is a cousin of NBA-champion Los Angeles Lakers trainer Gary Vitti.

Awards

• The Silver Spur Award (called the "Golden Globe of the Western film and television genre")^[1] presented by Reel Cowboys
• The Golden Boot Award ("the Oscar of Westerns")^[1]
• Southern California Motion Picture Council Award for the 'Best of the Best' in the Motion Picture Industry
• Wall of Fame Honoree - Stamford High School - Stamford, CT
• Spirit of the West Award by Wild West Gazette/Bison Western Museum
• Palm Springs Film Festival Award for the Sammy Fuller classic film 'The Naked Kiss'
• Palm Springs 'Walk of Stars' sidewalk star for lifetime achievement
• Apacheland Days, Apache Junction, AZ - Guest of Honor - Western boot prints in cement - Superstition Mountain Museum

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k l} Lee, Natasha, "A reel cowboy: Actor doesn't forget Stamford roots", article in The Advocate of Stamford, October 22, 2006, page 1

External links

• Michael Dante at Memory Alpha (a Star Trek wiki)
• Michael Dante at the Internet Movie Database
• Official website

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Name	Dante, Michael
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Date of birth	September 2, 1931
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