Carmen D'Antonio

Nicoletta Carmen D'Antonio (November 28, 1911 – February 9, 1986) was an American actress and dancer.

Early life and education D'Antonio was born in Philadelphia, the daughter of Carmine D'Antonio and Teresa Colantuono D'Antonio. Her father was born in Italy, and her mother was born in the United States, to Italian immigrant parents. In some publicity, she claimed more far-flung origins, and a much younger age.

Career D'Antonio was a dancer whose act was usually characterized as "exotic". She had a nightclub act at the Pirate's Den in Hollywood. "She smears herself with oil and does such dances as to give the censors the shudders," according to a 1944 report. Angels over Broadway (1940), The Long Voyage Home (1940), Arabian Nights (1942), Hard Boiled Mahoney (1947), Sirocco (1951), Wagon Train (1964) and Cheyenne Autumn (1964), but she also had roles in The Thin Man (1959), Checkmate (1961), My Three Sons (1965), and Family Affair (1969).

D'Antonio also danced on Broadway in Panama Hattie (1940). She made a number of short exotic dance films in the 1940s, with titles including "Jungle Drums Artist" (1941), "Balinesia Artist" (1942) and "Conchita Pepita" (1942). In the 1950s she toured the United States, dancing at nightclubs and casinos. "She offered Hollywood a pretty and generic otherness that could authenticate its fantasies of Singapore, Arabia, or Morocco," commented one film scholar.

Personal life and death D'Antonio married Karl Gustav Verner Laand in San Francisco, California, on December 16, 1944.

On February 9, 1986, D'Antonio died of undisclosed causes in Los Angeles, California.