Arthur Murray, the dean of ballroom instructors who taught the United States to dance, died Sunday at his Waikiki home at the age of 95, a mortuary spokesman said.
The spokesman said the cause of death would be revealed later, but Murray, who became a household name with the song "Arthur Murray Taught Me Dancing in a Hurry," danced almost until the day he died."One never forgets," he said. "Age limits vitality, but moving rhythmically to music is still a joy."
Murray taught the tango, waltz and fox trot in the United States, and, in his later years, he became a successful financial adviser.
He built a chain of 500 dance studios in the United States and later in Britain, Germany, Austria, Mexico and Canada and sold most of them in 1952 for $5 million. He continued to manage them until 1964, when he was 68.
He also wrote a series of books, including "How to Become a Good Dancer," "Let's Dance" and "Arthur Murray's Dance Secrets."
His wife of 67 years, the former Kathryn Kohnfelder, said Murray's secret was that he understood women.
Murray, born Arthur Murray Teichman in New York in 1895, opened his first dance studio in Atlanta, Ga., when he was 18, started a mail-order business when he was 29 and later gave dance instructions by radio.
He met his wife at a radio station in Newark, N.J., when Kathryn, now 83, was 18. They had twins and later had eight grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.
Shortly after moving to Hawaii in 1966, Murray launched his career in investment managing. He began with assets of friends and family members and handsomely profited from stocks in McDonald's, Dr Pepper and energy-related industries.