Peppi Borza

Peppi Borza (22 October 1936 – 24 July 1990) was a British-American dancer, entertainer, songwriter, composer, actor, and circus performer whose career spanned multiple continents and disciplines. Born into a circus family, he was brought to Sarasota, Florida in 1940 when the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus relocated his family there. His father was of Italian heritage and his mother of Spanish heritage, and the children were taught to speak both languages fluently. The demands of circus touring meant that Borza attended 59 different schools across multiple American states and eight European countries, including England, in the span of seven years by 1949.

From an early age, Borza performed as part of a double acrobatic act alongside his older sister Nita. The siblings appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show on two occasions and shared stages with Sammy Davis Jr., Jack Benny, and Judy Garland. One of their featured acts, Stars of the Future, was a balancing and tumbling routine performed with Polack Bros. Circus. The pair also devoted considerable time to charity, performing for sick children in Florida hospitals and staging benefits sponsored by Shriners Hospitals for Children. In 1955, the Sarasota Chamber of Commerce honored them for this work. Beyond the circus, Borza competed in swimming, diving, and gymnastics during his adolescence, winning several awards in local and state competitions, and also served a brief stint in the Army.

Encouraged by Sammy Davis Jr. and others who recognized his vocal ability, Borza pursued a singing career and traveled to England, where he formed the group Peppi and the New York Twisters. The group performed in England, Ireland, and New York City. Borza performed at The Cavern Club in Liverpool, where he taught a young Cilla Black how to dance the Twist, a dance he had himself learned from Chubby Checker and which served as the inspiration for his group's name. He recorded several singles, among them The Skip, conceived as the launch of a new dance craze, and Pistol Packin' Mama, though his recording career did not achieve commercial success.

During his time in Britain, Borza formed a lasting friendship with singer Dusty Springfield, having first encountered her and her group The Springfields while they toured with Del Shannon. He accompanied Springfield on tours and appeared as a dancer on the television program Ready Steady Go. Borza was the partner of Springfield's brother Tom, and the two collaborated on four songs together: No Tears for Johnnie, Chain Gang Blues, The Skip, and O Holy Child, the last of which Springfield recorded in 1964 as a Christmas charity single for Barnardo's. In 1965, Borza co-wrote Before You Go, a single recorded by Matt Monro. He also worked as a composer on Dusty Springfield's The Christmas Album and on additional projects involving Matt Monro.

Borza's stage and screen career encompassed work in both London and New York. He appeared on Broadway in 1979 in Evita, with a credit on the original cast recording. In London's West End, he played a Muleteer in the original production of Man of La Mancha, a role he reprised in the 1976 film version of that production. He appeared in the 1976 film Intimate Games and played a pirate in the 1976 musical Peter Pan. In 1983 he portrayed a policeman in Gilbert and Sullivan's The Pirates of Penzance, and in 1985 he was part of the cast of On Your Toes at the Palace Theatre in London. He also played a Vervoid in parts 11 and 12 of the Doctor Who serial The Trial of a Time Lord, in the segment known as Terror of the Vervoids. Among his final professional engagements was the 1987 West End revival of Follies.

Borza died from AIDS on 24 July 1990. During his final period at a hospice, Dusty Springfield visited him frequently. He left money to his closest friend in his will.