Peppi Borza Explained

Peppi Borza
Birth Name:Giuseppe Mario Chaly Borza
Birth Date:22 October 1936[1]
Birth Place:Portsmouth, England
Occupation:Actor, circus performer, entertainer, singer, dancer, songwriter, composer
Years Active:194?–1989

Peppi Borza (22 October 1936 – 24 July 1990) was a British-American dancer, entertainer, songwriter, composer, actor, and circus performer.[2] [3] [4]

Early life

Born to a circus performing family and brought up in Sarasota, Florida, Borza performed in a double act with his sister Nita.[1] [5] [6] [7] The siblings were acrobats and performed with the likes of Sammy Davis Jr., Jack Benny and Judy Garland, as well as appearing twice on The Ed Sullivan Show.[8] [9] [10] One of their acts was Stars of the Future, a balancing and tumbling act with Polack Bros. Circus.[11]

Singer/Songwriter

Encouraged by Sammy Davis Jr. and others that told him he had a good voice, Borza decided to become a singer. He came to England and formed the group Peppi and the New York Twisters. They performed in England, Ireland and New York.[12] [13] [14] [15]

Borza also performed at The Cavern Club in Liverpool, teaching a young Cilla Black how to dance the Twist, having learnt himself from Chubby Checker. The dance was the inspiration behind his former group.

Despite recording several singles including The Skip (an attempt to start a new dance craze) and Pistol Packin' Mama, Borza's singing career was not a success.

In Britain, Borza became lifelong friends with singer Dusty Springfield (having first met The Springfields when they toured with Del Shannon[16]), accompanying her on tours, as well as being a dancer on Ready Steady Go!.[17] [18] Borza was the partner of Dusty Springfield's brother Tom, and the couple collaborated on the writing of four songs: No Tears for Johnnie, Chain Gang Blues,[19] The Skip[20] and O Holy Child[21] (recorded by Dusty Springfield in 1964 as a Christmas charity single for Barnardo's). In 1965, Borza co-wrote Matt Monro's single Before You Go.

Borza also worked as a composer on Dusty Springfield's The Christmas Album and several other projects, including with Matt Monro.[22]

Theatre and Screen

Borza performed on stage in London and New York. He appeared on Broadway in the original cast recording of Evita.[23] [24] He played a Muleteer in the original West End production of Man of La Mancha[25] as well as the 1972 film version. He also appeared in Intimate Games (1976). Other roles include a pirate in the 1976 musical Peter Pan[26] and a policeman in Gilbert and Sullivan's 1983 musical The Pirates of Penzance[27] as well as playing a Vervoid in parts 11 and 12 of the Doctor Who saga The Trial of a Time Lord (segment: Terror of the Vervoids).[28] [29] [30] [31] He was in the 1985 cast of On Your Toes at the Palace Theatre, London.

Among Borza's final work was an appearance in the 1987 West End revival of Follies.[32]

Death

Borza died from AIDS. Dusty Springfield frequently visited him at the hospice as he neared the end of his life. Borza left money to his closest friend in his will.

External links

Notes and References

  1. Some sources give the birth year as 1938 in Florida but his official birth was registered in the Dec 1936 quarter in Portsmouth as Giuseppe M C Borza. Also, The Kansas City Times (29 August 1945) gives his age as 8 and Billboard - 11 Nov 1950 - page 52 mentions Peppi's 14th birthday celebration (other American newspapers I've seen list his age corresponding with 1936). In addition, I have seen travel records giving the birth year as 1936.
  2. Web site: 12 Apr 1946, Page 40 - The Akron Beacon Journal at Newspapers.com. 2021-03-07. Newspapers.com. en.
  3. Web site: 19 Nov 1948, 8 - The Baltimore Sun at Newspapers.com. 2021-03-07. Newspapers.com. en.
  4. Web site: The Greatest Show on Earth Sarasota History Alive!. 2021-03-07. www.sarasotahistoryalive.com. en-US.
  5. Web site: 21 Jul 1961, 35 - The Tampa Tribune at Newspapers.com. 2021-03-07. Newspapers.com. en.
  6. Web site: 23 Aug 1945, Page 20 - Star Tribune at Newspapers.com. 2021-03-07. Newspapers.com. en.
  7. Web site: 10 Feb 1948, 28 - Courier-Post at Newspapers.com. 2021-03-07. Newspapers.com. en.
  8. Web site: 26 Oct 1950, 11 - The Shreveport Journal at Newspapers.com. 2021-03-07. Newspapers.com. en.
  9. https://www.flickr.com/photos/bradford_timeline/21977386231 Biography in The Dion and Del Shannon Show programme
  10. Web site: 29 Aug 1945, 6 - The Kansas City Times at Newspapers.com. 2021-03-07. Newspapers.com. en.
  11. Book: Inc, Nielsen Business Media. Billboard. 1947-09-27. Nielsen Business Media, Inc.. en.
  12. Web site: Live Music - Pepi And The New York Twisters - Town Hall - UK. 2021-03-10. www.45worlds.com.
  13. Book: Magee. Jimmy. Memory Man: The Life and Sporting Times of Jimmy Magee: Sports trivia from the 'Memory Man' Jimmy Magee. O'Toole. Jason. 2012-08-31. Gill & Macmillan Ltd. 978-0-7171-5353-4. en.
  14. Book: Bell, Robin. The History of British Rock and Roll: The Beat Boom 1963 - 1966. 2016-02-13. Lulu Press, Inc. 978-91-981916-6-0. en.
  15. Book: Inc, Nielsen Business Media. Billboard. 1962-03-17. Nielsen Business Media, Inc.. en.
  16. Book: Valentine. Penny. Penny Valentine. Wickham. Vicki. Vicki Wickham. Dancing with Demons: The Authorized Biography of Dusty Springfield . 25 October 2012. Hodder & Stoughton. 9781444719024.
  17. https://www.ancestry.co.uk/boards/surnames.borza/1.1 Ancestry Thread
  18. Web site: Let's Talk Dusty!.
  19. Web site: Chain Gang Blues Sheet Music. Oktv. 2 March 2021.
  20. Book: Catalog of Copyright Entries: Third series Page 556. Library of Congress. Copyright Office.
  21. Web site: Lyrics - O Holy Child. Rockol. 2 March 2021.
  22. Web site: Peppi Borza Credits. 2021-03-07. AllMusic. en.
  23. Web site: Peppi Borza - PERFORMER. Playbill. 2 March 2021.
  24. News: Kerr. Walter. 1979-09-26. Stage: 'Evita,' a Musical Perón (Published 1979). en-US. The New York Times. 2021-03-07. 0362-4331.
  25. Web site: Production of Man of La Mancha Theatricalia. 2021-03-07. theatricalia.com.
  26. Web site: HALLMARK HALL OF FAME: PETER PAN (TV). The Pauley Center for Media. 2 March 2021.
  27. Web site: Peppi Borza. https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ukgwa/20160812141413mp_/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films%2Dtv%2Dpeople/4ce2bace33c4f. dead. 12 August 2016. British Film Institute. 2 March 2021.
  28. Web site: Books. My Old School. 2014-12-17. The Trial of a Time Lord Parts 9-12 (aka Terror of the Vervoids). 2021-03-07. Doctor Who Cast & Crew Guide.
  29. Web site: A Brief History Of Time (Travel): The Trial Of A Time Lord (Segment Three). 2021-03-07. www.shannonsullivan.com.
  30. Web site: BBC - Doctor Who Classic Series Episode Guide - Cast and crew. 2021-03-07. www.bbc.co.uk.
  31. Web site: The Trial of a Time Lord ★. 2021-03-07. Radio Times. en.
  32. Web site: Sondheim Guide / Follies. 2021-03-07. www.sondheimguide.com.

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