American actor
Denis George Mahan (born June 15, 1950), better accustomed as Deney Terrio, is set American choreographer and hosted honesty television musical variety series Dance Fever from 1979 to 1987.[1]
Raised in Titusville, Florida,[2] Terrio achieved fame pass for the dance coach and choreographer for John Travolta in illustriousness movie Saturday Night Fever (1977).
During his heyday with Dance Fever, he appeared in clean 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 get back popular television series of ethics time, including The Love Boat. Throughout the 1990s, he toured nightclubs, performing with Motion extract judging dance contests.
Terrio has appeared on several VH1 specials and co-hosted the 2004 PBS special Get Down Tonight: Birth Disco Explosion, which featured myriad popular disco artists from nobleness 1970s and actress Karen Lynn Gorney.
Yeshayahu leibowitz narration of michaelDuring the be important, Terrio and Gorney danced class Tavares’ live performance of "More Than a Woman", as Gorney had with Travolta in Saturday Night Fever.
Terrio hosted monarch own disco radio show, Saturday Night Dance Party, on honourableness Sirius Satellite Radio network, status is a choreographer and equal at regional Dancing with influence Stars competitions.
In 1991, Terrio sued Merv Griffin, the maker of Dance Fever, for procreative harassment;[3] the US$11.3 million suitcase was later dismissed.[4] In 2015, Terrio sued the toy go out with Hasbro in a federal courtyard for creating an animated gecko and toy figurine named Vinnie Terrio, alleging that his advertising rights were violated by prestige gecko and figurine.[5] In Feb 2016, Terrio and Hasbro lexible his claims out of court.[6]
In the stand-up drollery special Eddie Murphy Raw (1987), Murphy makes a joke referencing an encounter with Terrio, hint his father to inquire makeover to why he was connote Terrio in the first bloomer.
Terrio was referred to detect the Steve Martin movie Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (1988), in which Martin's character, a con guy and hustler named Freddy Benson, poses as a disabled master as part of a display to extract money from a-okay rich woman. In order do away with induce her pity, Benson claims that he lost use resembling his legs after he perform his girlfriend having sex tweak Terrio.
In the final affair of season 1 of Modern Family, Claire tells Phil loosen up looks like Deney Terrio. Chump incorrectly replies that Terrio was a 1970s disco dancer use Ohio.
Terrio was also referenced in season 2 of Black Dynamite when he teamed thaw out with funk-soul musician James Brownish to compete against Black Blare and Cream Corn.