Michael Dante (born Ralph Vitti, September 2, 1931) is an American actor and former professional minor league baseball player.
Early life
Dante was born Ralph Vitti in Stamford, Connecticut on September 2, 1931.[1] Growing up, he would sneak into a local movie theater with his friends to watch Westerns.[2] "I grew up wanting to be the sidekick of The Lone Ranger and wanting to follow my heroes", Dante told a reporter in 2006.[2]
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, as Ralph Vitti signed a bonus contract with the Boston Braves. He used his $6,000 bonus to buy his family a four-door Buick with whitewalls.[2]
Career
During spring training with the former Washington Senators, Dante took drama classes at the University of Miami. 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" as it had belonged to some relatives.[2]
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."
He appeared on Star Trek television series in the role of "Maab" in the 1967 episode, "Friday's Child" alongside Julie Newmar. Dante has appeared at Star Trek conventions.[2]
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.[2]
