Deney Terrio - wikipedia Deney Terrio Deney Terrio Denis George Mahan ( 1950 - 06 - 15 ) June 15, 1950 ( age 67 ) United States Occupation Choreographer, television personality, actor Denis George Mahan ( born June 15, 1950 ), better known as Deney Terrio, is an American choreographer and host of the television musical variety series Dance Fever from 1979 to 1985. Raised in Titusville, Florida, Terrio achieved fame as the dance coach and choreographer for John Travolta in the movie Saturday Night Fever. During his heyday with Dance Fever, he appeared in a number of films, including The Idolmaker, Star Trek II : The Wrath of Khan, A Night in Heaven and Knights of the City and guest starred on popular television series of the time including The Love Boat. Throughout the 1990s, he toured nightclubs, performing with Motion and judging dance contests. In recent years, he has appeared on several VH1 specials and co-hosted the 2004 PBS special Get Down Tonight : The Disco Explosion which featured many popular disco artists from the 1970s and actress Karen Lynn Gorney. During the show, Terrio and Gorney danced to Tavares ' live performance of `` More Than a Woman '', as Gorney had with John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever. Currently Deney is hosting his own disco radio show on the Sirius satellite radio network and is a choreographer and competitor at regional Dancing with the Stars competitions. In 1991, he sued Merv Griffin, the show 's producer, for sexual harassment ; the US $ 11.3 million case was later dismissed. In 2015, Terrio sued the toy company Hasbro in a federal court for creating an animated gecko and toy figurine named Vinnie Terrio. He alleged that his publicity rights were violated by the gecko and figurine. In February 2016, Terrio and Hasbro settled Terrio 's claims out of court. In popular culture Terrio was referred to in the Steve Martin movie Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, in which Martin 's character, a con man and hustler named Freddy Benson, poses as a crippled veteran as part of a plan to extract money from a rich woman. In order to induce her pity, Benson claims that he lost use of his legs after he found his girlfriend having sex with Terrio. References Jump up ^ The New York Times Jump up ^ http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/f2d1d9aa-bfe6-11e1-bb88-00144feabdc0.html Jump up ^ `` $11.3 M lawsuit filed ''. The Victoria Advocate. January 8, 1992. p. 6C. Jump up ^ `` Questioning Merv 's Sexuality ''. EDGE Boston. August 12, 2007. Jump up ^ http://www.thewrap.com/dance-fever-host-deney-terrio-suing-hasbro-says-cartoon-gecko-stole-his-moves/ Jump up ^ https://www.law360.com/amp/articles/754977 External links 55899 / Deney Terrio on IMDb Jump up ^ `` Hasbro Settles With ' Saturday Night Fever ' Mentor In TM Suit ''. www.law360.com. Retrieved 2017 - 10 - 07. Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Deney_Terrio&oldid=806617913 '' Categories : American choreographers American male film actors American game show hosts Living people 1950 births Film choreographers People from Titusville, Florida Hidden categories : Pages to import images to Wikidata Articles with hCards Talk About Wikipedia Add links This page was last edited on 23 October 2017, at 03 : 45. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution - ShareAlike License ; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia ® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization. About Wikipedia

Question: who taught john travolta to dance in saturday night fever
Answer: Denis George Mahan