Toni Basil
| Toni Basil | |
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Toni Basil in October 2016
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| Born |
Antonia Christina Basilotta September 22, 1943 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Occupation |
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| Years active | 1964–present |
| Home town | Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S. |
| Musical career | |
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| Labels | |
| Associated acts | |
| Website | Toni Basil's Site |
Antonia Christina Basilotta (born September 22, 1943), better known by her stage name Toni Basil, is an American singer-songwriter, actress, filmmaker, film director, choreographer, and dancer, best known for her multi-million selling worldwide No. 1 hit "Mickey" from 1982.
Basil was born Antonia Christina Basilotta in Philadelphia. Her mother, Jacqueline Jessica Anderson, was a vaudevillian acrobatic comedian in her family's act "Billy Wells and The Four Fays." Her father, Louis Basil, was an orchestra leader who conducted orchestras at the Chicago Theatre and at the Sahara Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, among other locations.
While her family was living in Las Vegas where Antonia attended high school, she was one of the sports cheerleaders for the Las Vegas High School Wildcats, and graduated as part of the class of 1961. Already known by the nickname "Toni" by this time, she later incorporated her cheerleading experience into her dance career (see below) and her performance of "Mickey" (also see below) in both performing the selection and choreographing its video. The cheerleader uniform that she wore in the video was a redesigned version of the one she wore in high school.
Basil started dancing professionally in childhood, but her career started when she served as an assistant choreographer and dancer on Shindig!, a breakthrough music variety show which premiered on the ABC network in 1964. In addition, she was assistant choreographer and a dancer on the 1964 concert film The T.A.M.I. Show (Teen-Age Music International) choreographed by David Winters, which featured fellow dancer and friend, Teri Garr. Some of her 1960s film choreography work include Village of the Giants (1965), The Cool Ones (1967), and the Monkees's 1968 film Head in which she is partnered on-screen with Davy Jones during "Daddy's Song."
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