Pat Moliterri
i
(1957 to 1959)

Adele and Pat Molitierri

Pat grew up in an eight-room house with her mother Adele; father Frank, who was a bus driver; and younger brother. also named Frank. She went to Bartram High School along with her best friend Justine Carrelli. Together they rode the trolley car and busses to get to the American Bandstand studio, until Bob Clayton ended up driving them home after he began dating Justine.

 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.

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. 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.

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 - when she was rushed from the studio for emergency surgery following an appendicitis attack. Fans eagerly tuned in during her recuperation.

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 Molittieri 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.

L to R: Pat Molittieri, Arlene Sullivan and 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 to 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 and 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, 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.

Clockwise from the Left: Dana, Pat, and Dellane

Molittieri eventually returned to her Philadelphia roots, where she married Victor Ranieri, had two daughters, Dellane and Dana, before dying July 7 1979 at 36 of congestive heart failure.