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Toni Basil is an American dancer and singer. Toni Basil is a multi-talented individual who is also an actress and choreographer who has choreographed films, music videos, tours and much more. She has also worked with directors such as David Winters and Quentin Tarantino. She has also worked with prominent public figures such as David Bowie and Bette Midler, among others.
Early life and childhood
Toni Basil was born on September 22, 1943 to his mother Jacqueline Jessica Anderson and his father Louis Basilotta. She is originally from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA, and her age currently is 80 years.
Furthermore, her real name is Antonia Christina Basilotta but most people know her by her stage name i.e. Toni Basil.
His mother was a vaudeville acrobatic comedian in the family act “Billy Wells and The Four Fays.” Likewise, her father was a conductor and conducted orchestras in many famous places.
The Chicago Theater and the Sahara Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas are some of those places.
Furthermore, he holds American nationality and his ethnicity is mixed. She is the only daughter of her parents and therefore has no siblings.
Education
Talking about her educational background, she graduated from Las Vegas High School, Las Vegas, Nevada, as part of the class of 1961. While attending high school, she was also one of the sports cheerleaders for the Las Vegas High School Wildcats team. .
She later incorporated her cheerleader uniform into her ‘Mickey’ video. It is believed that her uniform in her video was a redesigned version of her high school cheerleader uniform.
Additionally, she also integrated her experience as an entertainer into her dance career. She was already known by the stage name Ella Toni Ella during high school.
Caption: Toni Basil in her cheerleader uniform during the performance of “Mickey.” Source: Medium
Awards
Toni has received numerous awards to date.
Some notable ones are the Living Legend Award from Hip Hop International and the Lifetime Achievement Innovator. The Los Angeles Theater Ovation: Street Dance award at the American Choreography Awards is also another award he received.
He also received several nominations: a Grammy nomination for Long Form Video (“Word Of Mouth”) in 1983, an Emmy nomination, and a win for Outstanding Achievement in Choreography for The Smothers Brothers in 198.
It also received two MTV Award nominations and four American Choreography Awards nominations.
Additionally, his exhibitions include Museum of Modern Art: Videos and Santa Monica Museum of Art: Short Films.
It also has platinum and gold records in many countries, and these countries are USA, UK, Australia, Canada, Philippines and France.
Likewise, Dance Magazine featured her on its cover and the Museum of Modern Art’s Artists Calendar also featured her. “Mickey”, her most famous single was installed in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame since it was one of the innovative singles of the 1980s.
He was also honored at many events such as Monsters of Hip-Hop Masters of Movement and Portraits of America’s Great Choreographers.
At the 13th anniversary of The Carnival: Choreographer’s Ball on January 25, 2012, he presented the Lifetime Achievement Award to The Electric Boogaloos. The prominent street dance team took home the award for their role in popularizing dance styles such as popping and electric boogie.
Professional life
Toni Basil is a multi-talented person. She is a singer, actress, choreographer, dancer and filmmaker. Additionally, she was also a cheerleader during high school. She is best known for her 1981 worldwide hit, “Mickey”, which sold several million copies worldwide.
Mickey It is the song included in their debut album Word of mouth. It was released in 1981 and the song went to number 1 in several countries back then.
Dance and Choreography
Toni’s career as a dancer began as a cheerleader during high school or even before. However, she officially started when she worked as a choreography assistant for david winters and as a dancer in Party! Party! is an innovative musical variety show.
ABC aired the show in 1964. He worked again with David Winters for the 1964 concert film. The TAMI show (International Music for Teens). The film starred fellow dancer and her friend Teri Garr.
Additionally, some of his film choreography from the 1960s includes Town of the giants (1965), The cool ones (1967) and the 1968 Monkees film. Head. In the film Head, she was paired with Davy Jones during “Daddy’s Song.”
Some of her choreography videos include songs, tours, and much more. Some are listed below:
- Once in life and Cross-eyed and painless by Talking Heads in the 1980s
- David Bowie Diamond Dog Tour in 1974, Crystal Chandelier Tour in 1987
- Time will drag by David Bowie
- Bette Midler show in Las Vegas 2008/2009 The showgirl must continue
- 2005 TV Land Awards Honor Soul Train
- 2009 TV Land Awards Honor Sid and Marty Krofft
She also worked as associate director and choreographer for the world program Tina Turner Live: 50th Anniversary Concert Tour in 2008/2009. Fox Broadcasting Company invited her as a guest judge for seasons four and five of So you think you can dance?
In addition, she is also a founding member and director of the lockers, who is credited with bringing street dancing into the spotlight and labeled “the group that changed the face of dance.”
This dance group opened and toured with Frank Sinatra and Funkadelic at numerous venues and also performed on many television shows.
Choreography in films
Aside from that, he also choreographed numerous films from the 1970s to the present.
Some are American graffiti (1973), The Rose (1979), Peggy Sue got married (1986), something to talk about (nineteen ninety five), What you do (1996), and My best friend’s Wedding (1997).
Other films he has choreographed are Legally Blonde (2001), Legally Blonde 2: Red, White and Blonde (2003), Charlie Wilson’s War (2007), and The bunny of the house (2008).
A 2012 Dance magazine article credited her as a pioneer of a dance genre, which is the combination of ballet and street dance. She choreographed a piece using this genre for the first time in swan lake in 1978. It was broadcast on Saturday Night Live.
Her latest work as a choreographer is with Quentin Tarantino. They worked together for the 2019 film. Once upon a time in Hollywood. He did it at the age of 75.
This film included two real-life people that she recognized, and they are Sharon Tate and Jay Sebring, who lost their lives in the Tate murders.
Subtitle: Toni Basil choreographing at the age of 74. Source: New Idea
Music and Discography
He has released a total of two studio albums and they are word of mouth and Toni Basilio released in 1981 and 1983 respectively. Furthermore, he has also released many singles, nine of them to be exact.
getaway / I’m 28 was released in 1966 and its other singles are Mickey, Nobody, Suspense, Shopping from A to Z, Over My Head, and street rhythm among others.
Movies and filmography
She is also an actress who has appeared in films such as Easy Rider, Five Easy Pieces, The Last Movie, Greaser’s Palace, Mother, Jugs and Speed, Town of the Giants, rockery, and slaughterhouse rock.
He has also appeared on television shows such as Laverne and Shirley, Dark Justice, and Baywatch nights.
In addition, she is also the director of short films such as Game of the Week, A Dance Movie, Out Trip, and The ping pong match. The Santa Monica Museum of Art, the Getty Museum, and the Gray Gallery of Art at New York University all exhibited these films.
Similarly, his 8mm and 16mm films toured “Semina Culture: Wallace Berman and His Circle” in 2007.
More precisely, his music video “Mickey” is considered the first choreographed dance video that inspired many videos of the modern era.
This video also includes an opening stunt of two cheerleaders jumping through the center of a human pyramid, which is now illegal in current competitions.
civil status
Toni Basil is currently single. He never married during his 78 years on earth. Talking about his past relationships, he was linked to David Byrne in 1981. Furthermore, he also had a romantic relationship with Dean Stockwell from 1965 to 1967.
Caption: Singer-songwriter David Byrne and dancer-choreographer Toni Basil worked together on several projects and were also lovers for a few years. Source: 1stDibs
Lawsuit
Toni sued Disney and Viacom for the unauthorized use of her 1982 hit song on shows like South Park and RuPaul’s Drag Race. This incident occurred in September 2017.
He also names publisher Razor & Tie and retailer Forever 21 for violating the copyright of his song.
She filed the lawsuit Thursday in Los Angeles County Superior Court.
These incidents of copyright infringement caused the singer to be “dispirited and physically ill” and she also experienced lack of sleep, nightmares and anxiety, as noted in the lawsuit and reported by BBC News.
In addition, as compensation, he requested $25,000 in damages (plus $750 for use of the song), as well as the return of the rights to the song “Mickey.”
Social media
Additionally, he has accounts on various media platforms such as Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook. Precisely, he has 14.2 thousand followers on his Instagram account @officialtonibasil and 12.3 thousand subscribers on his YouTube channel.
He also has more than 1.7 thousand followers on Twitter and more than 14.6 thousand on Facebook.
Toni Basil – Body Measurements
Toni Basil is a beautiful woman who stands 5’5″, as noted by IMDb. However, the other details of her body measurements are not available at this time.
Likewise, he has dark brown hair and eyes of the same color. However, even at 75 years old, she looks as beautiful as ever and she is actively working on several projects.
Toni Basil – Net worth 2024
Toni Basil is part of Chrysalis and Virgin, both record labels in Great Britain. Furthermore, she has been active in the entertainment industry from 1964 to the present. With her involvement in so many professions, her net worth is estimated to be $5 million.
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