Biography

Born in Hollywood to show business parents Clifford first appeared at 2 yrs of age in his fathers two man acrobatic adagio act. Then at 11 appeared on TV as an actor on The Donna Reed Show and Death Valley Days and as a dancer on The Dinah Shore Show. Also at 11 starred as "The Nutcracker Prince" in George Balanchine's acclaimed version of The Nutcracker with his NYC Ballet at the Greek Theater in Los Angeles, CA. At 16 was "Baby John" and choreographed a summer stock youth theatre production of West Side Story At 18 was a regular contracted dancer on The Danny Kaye Show and at 19 joined The New York City Ballet. Choreographed 8 original ballets for that company as well as rising to principal dancer status with new ballets choreographed for him by Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, Todd Bolender, John Taras. Jacques d'Amboise, and others. Founded the original Los Angeles Balletand danced/directed that company for 10 years with 5 US National tours (including New York City with the NY Philharmonic) and tours to the Far East, Mexico, Canada, and even Saudi Arabia. Produced, directed, and choreographed, "Casablanca, The Dance" which was fully financed by Warner Bros Theatre Ventures. Inc. and which premiered at The Great Hall of the People, in Beijing, China. This was the 1st time in history Warner Bros had ever allowed an adaptation of their most cherished film, and the 1st time a western styled musical ever premiered in China. Currently working on developing other large scale musical projects for stage and screen.
- IMDb mini biography by: John Clifford