[1] Born on Staten Island, New York, Gerald Arpino studied ballet with Mary Ann Wells, while stationed with the Coast Guard in Seattle, Washington.

He served as co-director of the company's school, the American Ballet Center, and was the leading dancer until an injury forced him to stop in 1963.

In July 2007, he was named "Artistic Director Emeritus" as a search for a successor began.

Arpino suffered from prostate cancer for seven months and eventually died on October 29, 2008.

Malcolm McDowell plays a character loosely based on Arpino in the Robert Altman film The Company, which had the participation of the Joffrey Ballet.