Mae DellaFave

Mae DellaFave (born Mamie M. Bachela) was a professional dancer in New York City, performing in nightclubs and at Radio City Music Hall under the stage name "Mae Blondell". In the mid-1940s, she toured with the U.S.O. as an acrobatic dancer, performing for servicemen overseas. There she met Michael DellaFave, a drummer with the outfit as well as a Navy veteran and native of Hoboken, New Jersey. Injuries from an automobile accident in Okinawa interrupted Mae's dancing career, and she would ultimately turn to plastic surgery to correct the disfiguring facial scars left from the crash. In July of 1949, Mae married Michael DellaFave and they settled in Bergenfield, New Jersey to raise a family. With a dancer for a mother and a drummer for a father, the DellaFave daughters had performance in their genes, and both DellaFave girls, Michelle DellaFave and Tanya DellaFave, pursued showbiz opportunities outside of Bergenfield (including stints on TV, singing and dancing with The Golddiggers). In the late 1970s, Mae had the opportunity to appear on television alongside Michelle on talk-show spoof America 2-Night (1978), playing the choreographer of Michelle's dance group.