Pat Molittieri

(1957 to 1959)
Known for her perky personality, Pat Moliterri is credited with inventing the dance, the Hop, by combining elements of the Slop and the Bop.

Born in 1942, Pat grew up in a tight-knit Italian American family on Passyunk Avenue in Southwest Philadelphia.

At 5-3 with brown eyes and dark brown hair, Molittieri was a hit with TV watchers of the show practically from the moment she burst into their living rooms as a hyper-charged 14-year-old in 1957. Whether doing her personalized version of the bop with dancing partner Lou Solino or the push with Bill Ettinger, Molittieri commanded a viewer's attention.

Born in 1942, Pat grew up in a tight-knit Italian American family, in a eight-room house with her mother Adele; father Frank, who was bus driver and a younger brother Frank.Jr. She went to John Bartram High School with Justine Carelli. They took trolley cars and buses to get to American Bandstand studios. That ended when Bob Clayton began dating Justine and began driving them home after the show.

For two years she was one of the more popular Bandstand regulars, until Dick Clark booted her from the show in June 1959.

Molittieri was one of Bandstand's "Southwest Philly kids," attending Bartram High School and living with her family on Passyunk Avenue. She became a regular in 1957, during Bandstand’s first year as a nationally broadcast program. Among her Bandstand friends were several of the show's teen stars - including Justine Carelli, Bill Cook, Frank Brancaccio and Peggy Leonard. Like many of the teen dancers on the show, she had a national fan club.

She became a regular in 1957, during Bandstand’s first year as a nationally broadcast program. Almost immediately, fan clubs formed around her. Teen magazines featured her photo

Her popularity was given a big boost when on August 9, 1957 - just as Bandstand was wrapping up its first week as a national show - she was rushed from the studio for emergency surgery following an appendicitis attack. Fans eagerly tuned in during her recuperation.

In late 1958, as her popularity reached new heights, Pat began writing for Teen Magazine — not as a guest, but as a paid contributor. Her columns were light-hearted, full of fashion tips and insights from the Bandstand set. Readers loved it.

But Molittieri's Bandstand days came to an abrupt end on June 24, 1959, when Clark asked her to stick around after the show.

When Clark called Molittieri into his office he wanted to know about the column she had begun writing for Teen magazine. Publisher Charles Laufer was paying Molittierri a small sum for each column she wrote about her Bandstand experience.

Since this flew in the face of Clark's iron-clad rule that amateur dancers on his show not benefit financially from their Bandstand exposure, Molittieri was told she was no longer welcome on the show.

Pat Molittieri, Arlene Sullivan, Kenny Rossi

Molittieri continued her column for a time and in the October 1959 issue of Teen she wrote about her ejection, calling the day she went home from school instead of to Bandstand "the loneliest day of my life."

But Molittieri rebounded quickly, moving to California to capitalize on her popularity. She continued her column, baby sat Laufer's children She enrolled at Hollywood Professional School, where she counted former Mouseketeer Cubby O'Brien and the Adrissi Brothers as classmates.

She recorded for 'Teen Magazine records, including a 45 featuring The USA, written by Paul Anka, a record that is a collectors' item more than 50 years after its release. She attempted an acting career and dis some modeling, but her most famous role was as an extra, appearing early in the film Where the Boys Are. She dated several of Hollywood's most eligible young men, including Don Adrissi, Mike Clifford, Tony Cosmo and Bobby Burgess.

Pat eventually returned to her Philadelphia roots where she worked as a receptionist at Woman's Hospital and hoped for a career as an airline stewardess. At a club in Drexel Hill in 1963 she met Victor Ranieri. They married in September 1965. They had two daughters, Dellane and Dana.

Pat passed away unexpectedly from a stroke on July 7, 1979 while hanging clothes on the line at the time. She was of 36. Her last words to her daughters were "be good".