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Actor/dancer/choreographer Christopher Riordan was born in Redwood, California on November 25, 1937, and entertained in song-and-dance shows around the San Jose and San Francisco area from age four. Following high school, he left home and headed straight to Hollywood to follow his boyhood dream.
Once in Hollywood, his life changed completely. Almost immediately he was given a small role in Somebody Up There Likes Me (1956) and, after a chance meeting with actor Montgomery Clift, was given the uncredited role of his teenage son in a brief, final scene of the Civil War drama Raintree County (1957) but the scene was deleted before its general release.
Christopher spent the next few years dividing his time between stage and nightclub work. He sang and danced in such road shows as "Damn Yankees," "Carnival" and "Girl Crazy" and musical revues including "The Best of Broadway" and "That's Show Biz!" In 1962, he happened to be seen at an audition by Fred Astaire and his choreographer Hermes Pan and was hired by them to be a dance partner with lovely Barrie Chase for a new Las Vegas nightclub act they were breaking in. This union with Chase consisted of appearing at the Sahara Hotel in Las Vegas and performing on the TV variety show The Hollywood Palace (1964). He then went on to assist Mr. Pan with choreography in such films as My Fair Lady (1964) and The Great Race (1965), as well as on TV in a Carol Channing special.
Spotted on various popular TV shows such as The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet (1952), Batman (1966), The Andy Griffith Show (1960), Dr. Kildare (1961), The Fugitive (1963),The Outer Limits (1963), The Monkees (1965), Perry Mason (1957) and The Lucy Show (1962), he could also be seen here and there as a dancer in the teen-oriented films Looking for Love (1964) and A Swingin' Summer (1965), among others. Also, at this point in time, he began to show up in a number of swinging Elvis Presley films. He was initially hired as a background dancer in the popular Presley vehicle Viva Las Vegas (1964) co-starring Ann-Margret, which worked so well that he went on to appear as a utilitarian player in five others, more than any other performer: Roustabout (1964), Tickle Me (1965), Spinout (1966), Clambake (1967) and Double Trouble (1967), not to mention a couple of Presley's documentaries. He was the only male on the list of people "to be called" whenever Elvis came into town for a film and was called his "favorite dancer." Eventually, Christopher received featured actor billing in the cult films The Gay Deceivers (1969) and Beyond the Valley of the Dolls (1970).
Elsewhere, Christopher found a degree of stability working with American International Pictures working as either a dancer or assistant choreographer on such "beach party" styled films as The Girls on the Beach (1965) and The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini (1966). He went on to serve as choreographer for Annette Funicello and others in the stock car racing movies Fireball 500 (1966) and Thunder Alley (1967).
Most of his later years were spent on various stages as an actor or choreographer. He wrote, directed and co-produced a local Los Angeles interview show called "Show Talk" in 1989. He also moved away from Southern California for a time in the 1990s and became the artistic director at the Lyric Theater where he directed the musical "Once Upon a Mattress" and then helmed a production of "Don Juan in Hell starring George Chakiris in Ashland, Oregon. He also lived for a time in Puerto Vallarta where he often performed at a local nightclub.
Christopher eventually returned to the Los Angeles area and found himself on TV once again courtesy of "adopted son" director Victor Nelli Jr. in episodes of Ugly Betty (2006) and Black-ish (2014), among others. He became a semi-regular on the comedy Superstore (2015) as employee Chris and retired after five seasons.
Away from the camera, Christopher continues to make guest appearances at various autograph conventions and Presley festivals. He has one son, Sean, by a brief 1960's marriage who works behind the scenes in films and television.
