Charles Bentley Rotton

Charles Bentley Rotton, Jr., more commonly known by his professional
name Bentley Roton, passed peacefully at his home on Spencer Road in
Glenford from complications due to Alzheimer’s. His husband of 52 years,
Gregory Cary (they were married by Rev. Ralph Darmstadt in 2018), was at
his side. Bentley is survived by a niece in Phoenix, Az. and a nephew in
Equality, Alabama. Bentley was a beautiful man, a talented performer and
artist, always fair and extraordinarily gentle.

Born on Christmas morning 1937, in Birmingham, Alabama to parents
Lucille (Ryan) and Charles B. Rotton, Bentley was a principal dancer at
the Alabama Theater and with the Birmingham Civic Ballet throughout his
youth. He was a singer and dancer in the original Broadway productions
of My Fair Lady and Pal Joey. After the shows closed he toured
nationally with Edie Adams, Betty Grable, and Jimmy Durante in their
lavish night club acts and toured internationally with his dance partner
Collen Cokre bringing classical ballet for the first time to the Grace
Line cruise ships sailing to South America and the Caribbean. Throughout
the 1960’s Bentley was a featured performer at The Latin Quarter in
Miami and in New York City and appeared in many TV commercials, soap
operas and Hallmark Hall of Fame productions.

After his performance career, Bentley became the Company and Tour
Manager of the Paul Taylor Dance Company, American Ballet Theatre, and
the Lúčnica Czechoslovakian Folk Dance Co. He was the U.S. State
Department Cultural Liaison for Queen Elizabeth's Silver Jubilee and the
Cultural Liaison for Paul Taylor’s U.S. State Department tour of Iran,
Turkey, England, Rumania. After moving to Ulster County in 1980 he was a
stained glass artist, Cary-Roton Studio, and local advocate for the
arts. He is Co-founder and for 30 years was President of Kaatsbaan
International Dance Center (Kaatsbaan Cultural Park).

A gathering to celebrate the life of Bentley will be held in the Summer.  You may share a special memory, photo, or condolence on his Tribute Wall at www.gormleyfuneralhome.com  Arrangement under the direction of Mark Wilsey at the E. B. Gormleyfuneral Home 87 Main St. Phoenicia.

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