Jonathon Lucas

Jonathon Lucas was born Lucas T. Giarraputo in Sherman, Texas, in the early 1920s (sources differ as to whether it was 1920 or 1922). His father was an Italian immigrant and his mother was a Texas native. In 1930 the family moved to Dallas, Texas, where his father--a skilled stonemason in Italy--started a building contracting business. Young Lucas, who aspired to be a dancer, received some training in Dallas but moved to New York during World War II, finding work on and off Broadway as a dancer and actor using the name Louis Aco. His career consisted mostly of bit parts until he hit the jackpot with a two-year run on Broadway in "Finian's Rainbow". In 1948 he got a part in the Broadway play "Small Wonder", and changed his name to Jonathon Lucas. He began getting larger roles as both a dancer and singer, and made his film debut in Happy Go Lovely (1951) as a dancer. In 1952 he was hired as the choreographer for the TV show The Eyes Have It (1948). In 1954 he won an Obie award for his role as "Paris" in the Broadway show "The Golden Apple". He moved to Los Angeles to get into the TV industry, and soon found work as a dancer on The Colgate Comedy Hour (1950). In 1955 he joined Walt Disney Studios as a director and choreographer. He was assigned to direct the "Guest Star Day" segment of Disney's The Mickey Mouse Club (1955) in its debut season. He left the show before the first season ended, and joined The Martha Raye Show (1954) as a choreographer, then went to work for The Paul Winchell Show (1950) in the same capacity. He returned to Broadway in 1959, as a choreographer, director and actor/singer/dancer. He returned to television in the 1960s, and was the choreographer for The Dean Martin Show (1965). In addition, he directed live performances for such stars as Barbara Mandrell, Louise Mandrell and John Travolta. In his private life he was deeply committed to the animal-rights movement, and was involved with actress Loretta Swit's Wildlife Waystation organization. He died on February 5, 1991, from complications resulting from a knee infection.