Pete Menefee is an American dancer, performer, and costume- and stage-designer who has worked in

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood, ...

since the 1960s. He has been nominated for four

Emmy Awards The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

, winning three times, the most recent being in 2002 in the "Outstanding Costumes for a Variety or Music Program" for the opening ceremony of the

2002 Winter Olympics The 2002 Winter Olympics, officially the XIX Olympic Winter Games and commonly known as Salt Lake 2002 ( arp, Niico'ooowu' 2002; Gosiute Shoshoni: ''Tit'-so-pi 2002''; nv, Sooléí 2002; Shoshoni: ''Soónkahni 2002''), was an internation ...

, held in Salt Lake City, Utah. The other two were in 1980 and 1988. He was nominated in 1987.

Early life

Menefee was born in San Diego, California. He grew up in San Diego and in Hawaii. His father was a doctor in the United States Navy. He was educated at San Diego State University and at the Chouinard Art Institute. He began taking dancing lessons at age ten.''Guide to the Pete Menefee oral history interview''
- University of Las Vegas (2022) Although he did not like ballet, it was a requirement for the San Diego Civic Light Opera, which he had joined. He studied under Gladys Bowen for around six years. Menefee began his career as a professional dancer; his first performance was as Harvey Johnson in the 1963 film version of the stage musical '' Bye Bye Birdie'' at the age of 18. At the age of 21, he was one of the twelve chimney sweeps who appeared in the 1964 Disney movie ''

Mary Poppins It may refer to: * ''Mary Poppins'' (book series), the original 1934–1988 children's fantasy novels that introduced the character. * Mary Poppins (character), the nanny with magical powers. * ''Mary Poppins'' (film), a 1964 Disney film sta ...

'', supporting

Dick Van Dyke Richard Wayne Van Dyke (born December 13, 1925) is an American actor, entertainer and comedian. His award-winning career has spanned seven decades in film, television, and stage. Van Dyke began his career as an entertainer on radio and telev ...

as Bert. He was only in the rooftop scene and the street scene; he had left to film for '' My Fair Lady'' prior to the scene inside the Banks house. Menefee went on to work in television, appearing in television specials, featuring among others Ann-Margret, Nancy Sinatra, and Petula Clark. He was also performer and choreographer for '' Where The Action Is'' for Dick Clark, and was a frequent performer on ABC's ''

The Hollywood Palace ''The Hollywood Palace'' was an hour-long American television variety show that was broadcast weekly Saturday nights (except September 1967 to January 1968, when it was seen Monday nights) on ABC from January 4, 1964, to February 7, 1970. Title ...

''. He appeared in five movies alongside Elvis Presley, including '' Viva Las Vegas'', '' Girls! Girls! Girls!'', '' Clambake'', and '' Kissing Cousins''. He also worked a lot with

Peter Foy Peter Foy (11 June 1925 – 17 February 2005) was the stage flying effects specialist who founded " Flying by Foy", most widely known for its work flying actors in the play ''Peter Pan''. Born in London, England, he began in show business as a ch ...

, who was known for his flying effects on stage. In 1980, Menefee survived the MGM Grand fire in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Personal life

Menefee was in a relationship with

Tom Hatten Tom Hatten (November 14, 1926 – March 16, 2019) was an American radio, film and television personality and actor, known as the long-time host of ''The Popeye Show'' (originally ''The Pier Point 5 Club'') and ''Family Film Festival'' on KTLA C ...

for over fifty years. Hatten died in 2019, aged 92.

References

External links

"A Conversation with Costuming Legend Pete Menefee"
– Sparks Heritage Museum, YouTube, 2022
"Pete Menefee - A Dancer's Life"
– interview by dance preservationist Rusty Frank on December 1, 2020, YouTube {{DEFAULTSORT:Menefee, Peter Living people American costume designers American dancers Primetime Emmy Award winners People from San Diego San Diego State University alumni Chouinard Art Institute alumni Year of birth missing (living people)