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Emile Ardolino
(May 9, 1943 - November 20, 1993) U.S.A.

Emile Ardolino

Film director

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Emile Ardolino was born in Maspeth, a neighborhood of Queens, New York, the son of Italian immigrants Ester (Pesiri) and Emilio Ardolino. 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. In the 1970s and 1980s Emile worked for PBS. His profiles of dancers and choreographers for their Dance in America and Live from Lincoln Center series earned him 17 Emmy Award nominations. He won the Emmy three times.

Emile 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.

His last films, The Nutcracker (based on George Balanchine's New York City Ballet version), and the television production of Gypsy starring Bette Midler in the role created on Broadway by Ethel Merman, were released and shown posthumously.

Emile Ardolino, who was openly gay, died in Bel Air, California. of AIDS-related complications. He is buried beside his parents at St. John Cemetery in New York.

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Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

His work include:

  • Great Performances: Dance in America (TV - 1976)
  • When Hell Freezes Over, I'll Skate (TV - 1979)
  • Baryshnikov at the White House (TV - 1979)
  • Alice at the Palace (TV - 1982)
  • A Midsummer Night's Dream (TV - 1982)
  • He Makes Me Feel Like Dancin' (1983)
  • The Rise and Rise of Daniel Rocket (TV - 1986)
  • Dirty Dancing (1987)
  • Chances Are (1989)
  • Three Men and a Little Lady (1990)
  • Sister Act (1992)
  • Gypsy (TV - 1993)
  • The Nutcracker (1993)
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