Tony Charmoli
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Tony Charmoli (June 11, 1921 – August 7, 2020) was an American dancer, choreographer, and director. He began dancing on Broadway in such shows as Make Mine Manhattan but soon began choreographing for television with Stop the Music in 1949. Charmoli then choreographed dance sequences for the popular Your Hit Parade, winning his first Emmy Award in 1956. He went on to direct and choreograph for some of the biggest stars including Dinah Shore, Lily Tomlin, Danny Kaye, Julie Andrews, Cyd Charisse, Shirley MacLaine, Mitzi Gaynor, Lucille Ball, and others. On Broadway, Tony choreographed Ankles Aweigh (1955) and Woman of the Year (1981) with Lauren Bacall. Over his career, he was nominated for fifteen Emmy awards and won three.[1]
Charmoli was born in 1921 in Mountain Iron, Minnesota as the youngest of nine siblings. His parents had immigrated from Italy. When he was 16 years old, he traveled alone by bus to Jacob's Pillow in Becket, Massachusetts in order to intern as a dancer for the summer. The next year, on Valentine's Day, he met Wilford Saunders, who was to become his life partner and business manager.[1][2]
Charmoli and Saunders each enlisted in the military during World War II. Charmoli was an operations officer in the 43rd Fighter Squadron in the U.S. Air Force in Panama and organized entertainment shows for them, while Saunders was sent to Europe and became a secretary to Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower.[1]
