Biography

Coined the "5,6, 5-6-7-8" lead-in when starting a dance sequence.

His father, a steelworker, was killed in a car accident when Eugene was five. He began singing and dancing on street corners to help his family. He won amateur contests, and at age 13 became lead singer with the Bernie Davis Orchestra. (The singer he replaced was another Italian-American kid from Steubenville, Dino Paul Crocetti, better known as Dean Martin.) Before age 20, he was a dancer and singer on the vaudeville circuit.

His surname is pronounced "fah-CHEW-toe".

He opened his first school in Los Angeles in 1950, before moving to New York. His students have included ordinary people seeking exercise, dancers needing rehabilitation after injury, and big-name stars such as Alvin Ailey, Twyla Tharp, Donna McKechnie, Jane Fonda, John Travolta, Tony Roberts, and Liza Minnelli.

During WWII, he served with the Navy in New Guinea and the Philippines. After the war, he was admitted to Kent State University, where he planned to study law. Instead, he went to Hollywood to study dance on the G.I. Bill. He trained with noted ballet teachers including Bronislava Nijinska, the younger sister of the legendary dancer Vaslav Nijinsky.