Steve Merritt Explained

Steve Merritt
Birth Name:Steve Thomas Michaels Ferraro
Alias:Steve Thomas Merritt
Birth Date:17 January 1945
Birth Place:San Jose, California, U.S.
Death Place:Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Nationality:American
Notable Works:Dream Street
61st Academy Awards opening number
Occupation:Choreographer
Dancer
Years Active:mid-1960s – late-1980s

Steve Thomas Merritt (January 17, 1945 – January 26, 1993)[1] was an American dancer and choreographer.

Together with Nancy and Ronnie Horowitz and Mark Donnelly, Merritt created the musical Dream Street, which played in Las Vegas from 1983 to 1987. Merritt and Donnelly also conceived the Broadway-style format for the Chippendales show. In 1989, Merritt choreographed the opening number of the 61st Academy Awards presentation.

He was born as Steve Thomas Michael Ferraro in San Jose, California, in 1945. He moved to Los Angeles in the mid-1960s and studied dance under David Winter while working as a dancer on a local television show called The Farmer John Dance Show.

He created the Solid Gold Dancers and performed on Casey Kasem's weekly Top Forty Countdown television show.

Death

Merritt died of AIDS in 1993 at age 48 leaving his mother, father, a brother, a sister, a half-brother and a half-sister.[2]

External links

Notes and References

  1. "Steve Merritt, dancer, noted choreographer" (Obituary), San Jose Mercury News, January 30, 1993, page 6B.
  2. https://www.nytimes.com/1993/01/31/obituaries/steve-merritt-choreographer-48.html Obituary