Dante Di Paolo

Dante Di Paolo (born Dante Cesare DiPaolo, February 18, 1926, Frederick, Colorado – died September 4, 2013, Los Angeles) was an American dancer and actor whose career spanned Broadway, film, and Las Vegas. He also performed at various points under the names Dante De Paulo, Dante D' Paulo, and Dante Di Paola.

The son of an Italian immigrant miner, Di Paolo began dancing as a child and earned the nickname "the whirlwind of Colorado." His film work began early: at age 13 he appeared opposite Bing Crosby in The Star Maker (1939), and in 1945 he was featured alongside Judy Garland in Ziegfeld Follies. His Broadway career ran from 1948 to 1971 and included Heaven on Earth, the musical Texas, Li'l Darlin', Along Fifth Avenue, and the musical No, No, Nanette. Between 1948 and 1950 he appeared in several of those Broadway productions before shifting his focus elsewhere.

During the 1950s Di Paolo worked primarily as a dancer in Las Vegas, where he married a showgirl. The couple subsequently relocated to Europe and settled in Rome for several years, during which time Di Paolo continued acting in films. His screen credits from this period and beyond include Meet Me at the Fair (1953), Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954), Cha-Cha-Cha-Boom! (1956), and a number of Italian productions such as The Story of Joseph and His Brethren (1960), Atlas in the Land of the Cyclops (1961), Samson and the Seven Miracles of the World (1961), Pontius Pilate (1962), Venus Against the Son of Hercules (1963), The Girl Who Knew Too Much (1963), Carmen di Trastevere (1963), and Blood and Black Lace (1964). He also appeared in Sweet Charity (1969).

By 1973 Di Paolo was divorced. He had first met singer Rosemary Clooney in Hollywood during the late 1940s, and the two later became romantically involved. They married in November 1997, and the marriage continued until Clooney's death in 2002. Di Paolo died of pneumonia in Los Angeles on September 4, 2013, at the age of 87.