Jose Greco on AllMovie

Born to Spanish and Italian parents, Jose Greco was first exposed to the art of flamenco dancing while growing up in Seville. Moving to America at the age of ten, Greco dropped out of high school to become a painter, but decided to devote himself to professional dancing after watching the legendary flamenco artist Vincente Escudero in action. He made his New York debut in the late 1930s in a production of the ballet Carmen. During the 1940s, Greco danced with the La Argentinita flamenco ensemble, striking out on his own to choreograph the dance numbers in the 1948 film Manolete. He formed his own company in 1951, playing to SRO crowds wherever he went. In 1956, Greco and his troupe made their collective American movie debut in Mike Todd's Around the World in 80 Days. Jose Greco's film appearances since that time have been very few and far between; in 1973, he was co-starred with Chuck Connors and Cesar Romero in a formula spaghetti western, The Proud and the Damned.