Denis George Mahan (born June 15, 1950), better known as Deney Terrio, is an American

choreographer Choreography is the art of designing sequences of movements of physical bodies (or their depictions) in which Motion (physics), motion or Visual appearance, form or both are specified. ''Choreography'' may also refer to the design itself. A chor ...

and hosted the

television Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

musical variety series '' Dance Fever'' from 1979 to 1987.

Early life and career

Raised in

Titusville, Florida Titusville is a city in and the county seat of Brevard County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of the city was 48,789, up from 43,761 at the 2010 census. Titusville is located along the ...

, Terrio achieved fame as the dance coach and choreographer for

John Travolta John Joseph Travolta (born February 18, 1954) is an American actor. He began acting in television before transitioning into a leading man in films. List of awards and nominations received by John Travolta, His accolades include a Primetime Em ...

in the movie ''

Saturday Night Fever ''Saturday Night Fever'' is a 1977 American Dance in film, dance Drama (film and television), drama film directed by John Badham and produced by Robert Stigwood. It stars John Travolta as Tony Manero, a young Italian Americans, Italian-America ...

'' (1977). During his heyday with '' Dance Fever'', he appeared in a number of films, including '' The Idolmaker'' (1980), '' Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan'' (1982), '' A Night in Heaven'' (1983) and '' Knights of the City'' (1986), and guest starred on popular television series of the time, including ''

The Love Boat ''The Love Boat'' is an American romantic comedy-drama television series created by Wilford Lloyd Baumes that originally aired on ABC from September 24, 1977, to May 24, 1986. In addition, three TV movies aired before the regular series pre ...

''. Throughout the 1990s, he toured nightclubs, performing with Motion and judging dance contests. Terrio has appeared on several

VH1 VH1 (originally an initialism for Video Hits One) is an American basic cable television network that launched on January 1, 1985, and is currently owned by the MTV Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global's networks division based in New Y ...

specials. He co-hosted the 2004

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

special '' Get Down Tonight: The Disco Explosion'', which featured many popular disco artists from the 1970s and actress

Karen Lynn Gorney Karen Lynn Gorney (born January 28, 1945)Gorney, Sondra (2005). Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?: The Life of Composer Jay Gorney'. Lanham, MD: The Scarecrow Press. p. 40. . "Florence had wanted a son for me. But she looked at me and declared ...

. During the show, Terrio and Gorney danced to Tavares’ live performance of " More Than a Woman", as Gorney had with Travolta in ''Saturday Night Fever''. Terrio hosted his own

disco Disco is a music genre, genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the late 1960s from the United States' urban nightclub, nightlife, particularly in African Americans, African-American, Italian-Americans, Italian-American, LGBTQ ...

radio show, ''Saturday Night Dance Party'', on the

Sirius Satellite Radio Sirius Satellite Radio was a satellite radio ( SDARS) service that operated in the United States and Canada. Sirius launched in 2002, and primarily competed with XM Satellite Radio, until the two services merged in 2008 to form Sirius XM. Li ...

network, and is a choreographer and competitor at regional ''

Dancing with the Stars ''Strictly Come Dancing (widely known as Dancing with the Stars)'' is an international television franchise based on the format of the British TV series '' Strictly Come Dancing,'' itself a successor to the show ''Come Dancing'' (1950–1998) ...

'' competitions.

Lawsuits

In 1991, Terrio sued

Merv Griffin Mervyn Edward Griffin Jr. (July 6, 1925 – August 12, 2007) was an American television show host and media mogul. He began his career as a radio and big band singer, later appearing in film and on Broadway theatre, Broadway. From 1962 to 1986, G ...

, the producer of ''Dance Fever'', for

sexual harassment Sexual harassment is a type of harassment based on the sex or gender of a victim. It can involve offensive sexist or sexual behavior, verbal or physical actions, up to bribery, coercion, and assault. Harassment may be explicit or implicit, wit ...

; the

US$ The United States dollar (Currency symbol, symbol: Dollar sign, $; ISO 4217, currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and International use of the U.S. dollar, several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introdu ...

11.3 million case was later dismissed. In 2015, Terrio sued the toy company

Hasbro Hasbro, Inc. (; a syllabic abbreviation of its original name, Hassenfeld Brothers) is an American multinational corporation, multinational toy manufacturing and entertainment holding company founded on December 6, 1923 by Henry, Hillel and Herma ...

in a federal court for creating an animated gecko and toy figurine named Vinnie Terrio, alleging that his publicity rights were violated by the gecko and figurine. In February 2016, Terrio and Hasbro settled his claims out of court.

In popular culture

In the stand-up comedy special ''

Eddie Murphy Raw ''Eddie Murphy Raw'' is a 1987 American stand-up comedy film starring Eddie Murphy and directed by Robert Townsend. It was Murphy's second feature stand-up comedy film, following '' Eddie Murphy Delirious''. However, unlike ''Delirious'', ''Raw ...

'' (1987), Murphy makes a joke referencing an encounter with Terrio, prompting his father to inquire as to why he was with Terrio in the first place. Terrio was referred to in the

Steve Martin Stephen Glenn Martin (born August 14, 1945) is an American comedian, actor, writer, producer, and musician. Known for Steve Martin filmography, his work in comedy films, television, and #Discography, recording, he has received List of awards a ...

movie '' Dirty Rotten Scoundrels'' (1988), in which Martin's character, a con man and hustler named Freddy Benson, poses as a disabled veteran as part of a plan to extract money from a rich woman. In order to induce her pity, Benson claims that he lost use of his legs after he found his girlfriend having sex with Terrio. In the final episode of season 1 of ''

Modern Family ''Modern Family'' is an American television sitcom, created by Steven Levitan and Christopher Lloyd, that aired on ABC for 11 seasons from September 23, 2009, to April 8, 2020. The series follows the lives of three diverse but interrelated fa ...

'', Claire tells Phil he looks like Deney Terrio. Jay incorrectly replies that Terrio was a 1970s disco dancer from Ohio. Terrio was also referenced in season 2 of ''

Black Dynamite ''Black Dynamite'' is a 2009 American blaxploitation action comedy film starring Michael Jai White, Tommy Davidson, and Salli Richardson. The film was directed by Scott Sanders and co-written by White, Sanders, and Byron Minns, who also co-s ...

'' when he teamed up with funk-soul musician

James Brown James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, musician, and record producer. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th-century music, he is referred to by Honorific nick ...

to compete against Black Dynamite and Cream Corn.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Terrio, Deney American choreographers American male film actors American game show hosts Living people 1950 births Film choreographers People from Titusville, Florida