Justine Carrelli

(1955-1959)

Justine Ann Carrelli was born on Sept. 25, 1943 and grew up in Southwest Philadelphia row house.  Her father John was a truck driver; mother Justine a registered surgical nurse; a younger brother John; and an older sister Mary. She went to Tilden Junior High, then to John Bartram High School where she took secretarial classes. After graduation Justine Went to Mojave Community College before dropping out to pursue a career in real estate.

While her mother and older sister, Mary, liked the idea that Justine would be on the daily dance floor, her father was more skeptical.

Justine Carrelli wasn’t even a teenager in 1956 when she used her sister’s birth certificate to get on “American Bandstand". The show was live five days a week from Philadelphia, Dick Clark had yet to become the host and had yet to go national. The rule was you had to be 14 to get on the show and Justine was 12. Justine’s friends, who were the same age, got into the show one day, but she was turned away. “I got stopped at the door and said to Bob the Cop, but Lucille and Diane got in and they’re in my class", she said. “I’m sorry young lady, you don’t look 14 to me,” was his answer. Justine went home humiliated, but her mother suggested she take her older sister’s birth certificate to the show the next day. Justine got in, and along with her dance partner and soon-to-be-boyfriend, Bob Clayton, became one of the show’s most popular couples.

In 1956, Justine became a popular regular on Dick Clark’s American Bandstand with dance partner. Bob Clayton. Justine and Bob were America’s sweethearts in the late 50’s/early 60’s. They won the first jitterbug contest when the show went nationwide in 1957 receiving over a million votes via the U.S. Mail.   For their effort they won a 200 record player jukebox. The couple took a stab a stardom recording a single titled “Drive-In Movie” which quickly flopped. Instead of a ticket to successful recording careers, the song proved to be a ticket out of American Bandstand for the popular duo since it was a clear violation of Dick Clark's "no-pros-allowed-on-the-dance-floor" rule. It didn't matter for Clayton because he had aged out, but Justine was heart-broken.

Carrelli was featured in many fan magazines of the time, including a 1958 issue of Photoplay with a layout from a party the magazine threw for her 16th birthday. She even made the cover of the March 1960 issue of 'Teen magazine.

After gaduating from high school Justine spent six months as a Marine Corps steno typist, but really wanted a career in show business, She also worked as a model took voice lesons and got a job singing with Paul Dino's band. Justine married the Paul “Dino” Bertuccini and had two sons, Paul and John, and divorced 15 years later. After the divorce, she remarried another musician, Woody Neal Bosco She wrote a screen play based on her experiences called It All Wasn't All Dancing. Eventually she earned her real estate license, practicing in Las Vegas and Dolan Springs, AZ where she continued her real estate career at Wishing Well Realty in Dolan Springs, Arizona and Venice, Florida. Justine was also a talented sketch artist and could style hair like a professional.  Justine met her current husband, Jim Miller, in 2012 and they married in 2014. Justine and Jim resided in both Dolan Springs, AZ and Venice, FL.

While returning to the Philadelphia area to visit her sister and family, Justine was diagnosed with an aortic aneurysm and was admitted to Penn Presbyterian Hospital—the same hospital system her mother, Justine, had been a practicing nurse, and just a few blocks away from the American Bandstand Studios. Justine passed away on May 24, 2023 she was 79.