Michael Dante


Michael Dante is an American actor and former professional minor league baseball player.

Early life

Dante was born Ralph Vitti in Stamford, Connecticut. Growing up, he would sneak into a local movie theater with his friends to watch westerns. "I grew up wanting to be the sidekick of The Lone Ranger and wanting to follow my heroes", Dante told a reporter in 2006. He was a shortstop on the Stamford High School baseball team, then played for "The Advocate All-Stars" team which won a 1949 New England baseball championship. After graduating from high school, Dante signed a bonus contract with the Boston Braves. He used his $6,000 bonus to buy his family a four-door Buick with whitewalls.

Career

During spring training with the former Washington Senators, Dante took drama classes at the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida. Bandleader Tommy Dorsey arranged a screen test for him at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. His first film, Somebody Up There Likes Me, was released in 1956. He changed his name at the urging of studio boss Jack L. Warner, who thought "Vitti" would not fit well on theater marquees. Warner suggested some first names, from which the actor picked "Michael". He chose the last name "Dante" because it had been used by some relatives.
Dante has appeared in 30 films and 150 television shows. He spent seven years in supporting roles under contract to three major studios at once: MGM, Warner Brothers and Twentieth Century Fox. He considers his best performances the role that he played in Killer Instinct on the CBS television series Desilu Playhouse, along with his roles in the movies Westbound, Seven Thieves and Winterhawk. His other film credits include Fort Dobbs, Kid Galahad, Operation Bikini, The Naked Kiss, Apache Rifles, Harlow, Arizona Raiders, Willard, That's the Way of the World, The Farmer, Missile X: The Neutron Bomb Incident, Beyond Evil, Return from the River Kwai, and Cage.
Dante appeared on a few ABC/Warner Brothers series, including the westerns Colt.45 and Maverick. He appeared a couple times on the former, starring Wayde Preston. Dante and Forrest Lewis portrayed Davey Lewis and Willy Ford, respectively, in the 1957 episode "The $3,000 Bullet". Dante then played the role of Ab Saunders in the 1958 episode "The Deserters", with Angie Dickinson as Laura Meadows and Myron Healey as an unnamed fur trader, and directed by Leslie H. Martinson. On Maverick he portrayed the killer Turk Mason in the 1957 episode "The Third Rider", with Jack Kelly. Another ABC-WB series he appeared on was the crime drama, Bourbon Street Beat, with Andrew Duggan, on the syndicated adventure series, Rescue 8, starring Jim Davis and Lang Jeffries, and in three episodes of CBS's The Texan, starring Rory Calhoun.
Dante made two guest appearances on Perry Mason starring Raymond Burr. In 1959 he played Arthur Manning in "The Case of the Dangerous Dowager", and in 1965 he played murder victim Douglas Kelland in "The Case of the Feather Cloak."
A frequent extra on the original television series, he was cast in the role of "Maab" in the 1967 episode, "Friday's Child |Friday's Child" alongside Julie Newmar. Dante has appeared at Star Trek conventions.
In 1969, he played Clay Squires, a bitter young half-breed man, in the episode "Long Night at Fort Lonely" on the syndicated Death Valley Days, with Robert Taylor as Ben Cotterman and June Dayton as Cotterman's wife, Rachel and in 1972 he played a harried TV commercial director in My Three Sons. In 1974 he played Julio Tucelli in The Six Million Dollar Man episode, Dr. Wells Is Missing.
Dante also has recurring roles on the television serials Days of Our Lives and General Hospital.
In the 1970s, Dante met John Wayne, whom he watched on screen as a child. Wayne had seen Dante in Winterhawk and asked him to co-host a charity event in Newport Beach, California. That started a friendship between the two actors, and they co-hosted other events until Wayne's death in 1979.
Michael Dante hosted his own syndicated radio talk show, from 1995 to 2007, called On Deck and previously known as the Michael Dante Celebrity Talk Show. His program guests included Milton Berle, Tony Curtis, Ron Ely, Bryant Gumbel, Stack Pierce, Connie Stevens and Stella Stevens. An avid golfer, he once hosted the annual Michael Dante Celebrity Golf Tournament, a charitable fund-raiser held annually in Palm Springs, California, beginning in 1991.
In 2006, Dante told an interviewer that he had written a script for a sequel to Winterhawk and was trying to get funding for the projected movie.

Awards

YearTitleRoleNotes
1956Somebody Up There Likes MeShorty the Greek
1957Jeanne EagelsSgt. O'Hara in 'Rain'
1958Fort DobbsBillings
1958Born RecklessCowboy Dancing with Jackie
1959WestboundRod Miller
1960Seven ThievesLouis Antonizz
1962Kid GalahadJoie Shakes
1963Operation BikiniLt. William 'Bill' Fourtney
1964The Naked KissGrant
1964Apache RiflesRed Hawk
1965HarlowEd
1965Arizona RaidersBrady
1971WillardBrandt
1973Thirty Dangerous SecondsTimothy Sills
1975That's the Way of the WorldMike Lemongello
1975WinterhawkWinterhawk
1977The FarmerJohnny O.
1979'Konstanine Senyonov
1980Beyond EvilDel Giorgio
1983The Big ScoreGoldy
1986The MessengerEmerson
1989Return from the River KwaiCommander Davidson
1989CageTony Baccola
2020Unbelievable!!!!!Michael Dante

YearTitleRoleNotes
1957-1958SugarfootMike Wilson / Walt Lane / Ken Brazwell3 episodes
1957-1958Colt.45Ab Saunders / Davey Bryant2 episodes
1957-1958CheyenneBilly Bob / Whitey / Lt. Dowd /...4 episodes
1958Tales of the Texas RangersAlfredoEpisode: "Edge of Danger"
1958Rescue 8MickeyEpisode: "The Steel Mountain"
1959LawmanJack McCallEpisode: "The Captives"
1959The Adventures of Rin Tin TinRamon EstradaEpisode: "The Matador"
1957-1959MaverickJoe / Turk Mason / Sam Harris3 Episodes
1959Westinghouse Desilu PlayhouseAngelEpisode: "The Killer Instinct"
1959The TexanSteve Chambers4 episodes
1960Bourbon Street BeatGunner DoyleEpisode: "Inside Man"
1960General Electric TheaterHolofernesEpisode: "The Story of Judith"
1961CheckmateTrumpet PlayerEpisode: "Voyage Into Fear"
1961The DetectivesJoe RanoEpisode: "The Champ"
1961Cain's HundredDanny SpeckterEpisode: "Final Judgment: Alexander Marish"
196287th PrecinctLarry BrooksEpisode: "Idol in the Dust"
1963Hawaiian EyeHarry LarcombeEpisode: "Go Steady with Danger"
1959-1965Perry MasonDouglas Kelland / Arthur Manning2 Episodes
1965BonanzaMiguel OrtegaEpisode: "The Brass Box"
1965Days of Our LivesBarney Jannings
1966Get SmartSavageEpisode: "Kisses for KAOS"
1967'MaabEpisode: "Friday's Child |Friday's Child
1967CusterCrazy Horse16 Episodes
1968The Big ValleyFranciscoEpisode: "Deathtown"
1959-1969Death Valley DaysClay Squires / Capt. Richard Rocha2 Episodes
1969Daniel BooneAkariEpisode: "For a Few Rifles"
1972My Three SonsPerry PerigrineEpisode: "TV Triplets"
1974The Six Million Dollar ManJulio TucelliEpisode: "Dr. Wells Is Missing"
1980The Magical World of DisneyRossEpisode: "The Kids Who Knew Too Much"
1980The Kids Who Knew Too MuchRossTV movie
1982Knots LandingCaptain AlvingEpisode: "Night"
1983-1984The Fall GuyOscar Fields / Tommy2 Episodes
1986Simon & SimonMr. TobiasEpisode: "Tonsillitis"
1987Cagney & LaceyPaul BennetEpisode: "Right to Remain Silent"
2018Find Your Future Reality''Michael Dante