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Since 2005, Dancing with the Stars has awarded Mirrorball trophies to actors, athletes, musicians and social media influencers who (in quite a few instances) never set foot in an Arthur Murray studio.

Ever since the U.S. version of the UK series Strictly Come Dancing became a hit on ABC, careers of B- and C-listers have been turned on a dime, simply because they mastered the Viennese waltz on the popular show.

So, will be the next amateur hoofer to triumph in the ballroom? To demonstrate that it can be accomplished by anyone, we’ve assembled a gallery of past winners. And here’s a hint for any future celeb who’s looking to don their first pair of Danskins: It sure helps to have a pro partner whose last name is Hough.

Related: ‘Dancing With The Stars’ Premiere: Who Survived Week One & Who Wore A Bedazzled Ankle Monitor...

Joni James, a popular singer in the 1950s who scored several pre-rock hits including “Why Don’t You Believe Me?” and “How Important Can It Be?” and continued to chart throughout the decade, has died. She was 91.

James’ son, Michael Acquaviva, told The Washington Post that she died February 20 of natural causes in West Palm Beach, Fl.

Born Giavanna Carmello Babbo on September 22, 1930, in Chicago, James was working as a dancer by age 12 and toured in Canada in the late 1940s. She also was modeling by high school. After pivoting to music, she first recorded for Sharp Records before moving to MGM.

James was 22 when her first hit topped the U.S. chart. Her version of “Why Don’t You Believe Me?” spent three weeks at the summit in December 1952, starting a run of eight Top 20 singles in 1952-53 including the Top 10 hits “Almost Always” “Have You Heard?” and a...

Mark Ballas is gunning to become the Arthur Murray of the 21st century. We've learned Ballas plans to open a slew of dance studios across the country, called the Mark Ballas Dance and Performing Arts Center. The first is set to open next week in Charlotte, N.C. We're told Ballas and his business partner expect to have 50 centers up and running by the end of next year. Our sources say Mark will be an active owner,...

Rolex presents Career Transition For Dancers' 30th Anniversary Pearl Jubilee A Star-studded Retrospective on Monday, September 28, at 700 pm at New York City Center, 131 West 55 Street btwn. 6 amp 7 Aves NYC followed by 'Supper With The Stars' at The Grand Ballroom at The Hilton New York. Some of the talent and performances for the evening are 'All That Jazz' from Chicago with Bebe Neuwirth American Ballet Theatre Arthur Murray Dance Center, Columbus Circle Big Apple Circus Jazz Roots Dance Company Joffrey Ballet Concert Group National Dance Institute New York Song amp Dance Company Parsons Dance Jason Samuels Smith and others.

Don Pardo, the durable television and radio announcer whose booming baritone became as much a part of the cultural landscape as the shows and products he touted, including Saturday Night Live, died Monday in Arizona. He was 96.

Pardo died at his home in Tucson, where he moved after retiring from SNL, said his daughter, Dona Pardo. Executive producer Lorne Michaels asked him to continue with the show, so he flew back and forth to New York for many years. In recent years, he recorded his introductions from his Tucson home.

Few recognized the face of Pardo, a handsome man with...

Don Pardo, the durable television and radio announcer whose booming baritone became as much a part of the cultural landscape as the shows and products he touted, including Saturday Night Live, died Monday in Arizona. He was 96. Pardo died at his home in Tucson, where he moved after retiring from SNL said his daughter, Dona Pardo. Executive producer Lorne Michaels asked him to continue with the show, so he flew back and forth to New York for many years. In recent years, he recorded his introductions from his Tucson home. Few recognized the face of Pardo, a handsome man with...

var brightcovePhotoVideoID = '2759287270001'; var PhotoVideoButtonCaption = 'Play'; Adrianne Haslet-Davis continues to make progress, almost six months after being fitted for a prosthetic leg. The Arthur Murray Studio dance instructor, 33, who was featured in a segment on last season's Dancing with the Stars, lost a limb during the April 15 Boston Marathon bombings and has documented her recovery on camera. Six weeks after the tragedy, she cried as she held on to her replacement leg. "This is like seeing my child walk for the first time again," her mom said on video, just before Haslet-Davis stood up on her own. "It's pretty emotional and it's pretty exciting.

Admit it: You've seen "Dirty Dancing" more times than you'd care to admit. You're drawn in by its blend of music, dance, nostalgia, and romance between macho-yet-tender Johnny (Patrick Swayze) and awkward-yet-brave Baby (Jennifer Grey) every time it's on TV. Which is often: it seems to have been running on endless loop since its release 25 years ago, on August 21, 1987. Still, as much as you love "Dirty Dancing," you may not realize how often the production skirted disaster, from almost not being made at all, to almost not casting Swayze, to almost cutting a key subplot to please a squeamish potential corporate sponsor, to its catastrophic test screenings that almost led the film's backers to let the film go unreleased and write it off as a bad investment. How did all that trauma lead to moviegoers having the time of their lives? Read on. 1. Writer/producer Eleanor Bergstein based the story on her own childhood.

Aaron Sorkin, the man behind "Sports Night" and four-time Outstanding Drama Series Emmy-winner "The West Wing," debuted a new show on HBO Sunday night (June 24) - "The Newsroom," starring Jeff Daniels as Will McAvoy, an anchor on a major cable news network, Sam Waterston as the president of the network and Emily Mortimer as the new executive producer who has a complicated past with McAvoy.

The show definitely has Sorkin's fingerprints all over it - the break-neck dialogue, the pedo-conferencing, the "anti"-American rant done as hundreds of cell phones were on record - reminiscent of the on-air rant by Wes Mendell that kicked off "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip," though the topic of the rant was different and "Studio 60" never really found its footing as a show.

Will "West Wing" and "Sports Night" fans flock to "The Newsroom"? It seems like they might - there is a...

When only four percent of scripted TV shows feature Lgbt characters, what's a gay girl to do? Why, strap on your gay goggles and watch TV along with us, of course! Our handy appraisal scale is better than any old letter grade. Other sites A+. We say, "What about our lezzy-lady feelings?"

Before this recap goes any further, we all need to drop what we’re doing and watch Carson Kressly do his returning dance with his partner Anna Trebunskaya and some special guests.

It is the best thing you will see all week. Yes, including your family. God, I love Carson so much.

Seriously: I don’t care if you’re at work or in a house of worship or defusing a bomb. Watch it right this second. You owe this to yourself.

You feel better than you did before you knew such a dance existed, don’t you?...

Considering this episode has actually been on the nightly news more than once, and actually trumped the current Korean crisis for coverage (say that ten times fast), I’m worried that there might be picketing or small scale rioting, though I can’t imagine what that might look like. Maybe “Dwts” fans will knock over Capezio stores, or they’ll picket outside Arthur Murray studios. [Who won? Who lost? Was there a revolution? Full recap of Tuesday's ("Dancing with the Stars" finale after the break...] So, the eliminated contestants return for the opening routine. Except Michael Bolton (who has a gig) and Audrina...

Groucho Marx did his best to stop legendary doctor Henry Heimlich's impending marriage -- by writing a letter to the parents of the bride branding him an "obscure quack." The comedian and movie star, then divorced, wrote to ballroom great Arthur Murray in 1951 after it was announced his daughter, Jane Murray, was to marry the man who later invented the Heimlich maneuver. Jane's new book, "Out of Step," reveals Groucho's letter to her parents: "Your announcement that your daughter Jane is marrying an obscure...

By Robert W. Welkos

Buddy Holly’s 1959 “Apartment Tapes” six-song acetate that includes Buddy’s never-released song “That’s What They Say” will be auctioned April 9 in Beverly Hills along with a treasure trove of the rock icon’s clothing, candid tour photographs and other personal effects that have been owned by his widow.

“The six-song tape was recorded weeks before he died,” said Noah Fleisher, a spokesman for Heritage Auction Galleries in Dallas, which is conducting the auction. “This acetate has ‘Peggy Sue Got Married’ on it as well as a song that’s never been released.”

Other tunes on the one-sided acetate are “What to Do,” “That Makes it Tough,” “Crying, Waiting, Hoping” and “Learning the Game.”

Holly recorded the songs on an Ampex tape recorder he bought in December, 1958, from famed producer Norman Petty. In a letter to his parents dated Dec. 11, 1958, Buddy noted that “Peggy Sue Got Married” was his favorite.

Mixed are the reactions of Dancing with the Stars fans on the most recent batch of contestants on the ABC show. The usual rants are there, the most popular of which insists that some of the chosen ones are hardly "stars" as the title and premise of the show insinuate. Then there's the "she's overqualified" proposition, which, you have to admit, makes a lot of sense.

Vote: Who's Your 'Dancing with the Stars' Pre-Season Favorite?

The overqualified tag is the least of astronaut Buzz Aldrin's concerns. But the 80-year-old tells People.com that Dancing with the Stars fans shouldn't take him for granted. Not only did he take Arthur Murray dance instruction in "the earlier years," he also went to many formal dances in his years at West Point.

Patrick Swayze: 1952-2009

By

Alex Simon

All films buffs have guilty pleasures. You know, those movies that high-minded cineastes love to turn their noses up at, especially critics for The New York Times, people with MFAs in some sort of film-related field, or just plain snobs who refuse to acknowledge anything released on celluloid that doesn’t have English subtitles and at least one reference to death, either as a character or a metaphor (and oftentimes both). Patrick Swayze was the undisputed King of the Guilty Pleasure. From his screen debut in Skatetown, USA in 1979, to his final appearance on television’s "The Beast" as a take-no-prisoners cop, Swayze was an unapologetic good ol’ boy who happened to be a classically-trained dancer, student of martial arts and Eastern philosophy, and possessor of an Iq that was nothing to sneeze at. In fact, he closely resembled Dalton, his character in...

Hollywood couple Heather Graham and ED BURNS are taking dancing classes together - to cement their relationship. Despite denials from the actress that she is engaged to the Saving Private Ryan (1998) heart-throb - she does admits he likes to sweep her off her feet. She says, "Eddie and I have been taking partner- dancing classes. "We actually went to Arthur Murray - can you believe that? It's so romantic... You just learn how to do these steps with your partner. We're not so good at it yet, but we're definitely getting there. It's really cute that Ed has this romantic side to him."...