from.... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Count_Dante

Born John Timothy Keehan in Chicago, Illinois, he trained under various martial arts masters during the infancy of organized American martial arts in the mid 20th century. Most notable of the early masters he trained under was sensei Robert Trias. Keehan, after gaining his black belt in karate, went on to become a sensei himself.

John Keehan was the co-founder of the United States Karate Association (USKA) and served as the Head Instructor for the USKA until 1962. He left that organization in 1964 to form the World Karate Association. After his trademark expired, a new World Karate Federation unassociated with Keehan's was formed.

In Chicago, Keehan co-promoted America's first full-contact style martial arts tournament at the University of Chicago on July 28, 1963, and hosted many other such tournaments during the 1960s, pairing practitioners of different styles against one another.

Keehan also worked as a hairdresser and had reportedly worked on some of the hair designs for Playboy models of the time.

Count Dante, "The Deadliest Man Alive"

In 1967, Keehan changed his name to Count Juan Raphael Dante and began heavily promoting himself via comic book ads as the Deadliest Man Alive. One had only to mail order for his instructional booklet World's Deadliest Fighting Secrets (in which he outlined the Dance of Death) and they would also receive a free Black Dragon Fighting Society membership card. The Black Dragon Fighting Society founded by Count Dante is an American martial arts organization and has no connection with and should not be confused with the Japanese Black Dragon Society, an ultranationalist secret society during the 1930s and 1940s.

Keehan explained the name change by stating that his parents fled Spain during the Spanish Civil War, changed their names, and obscured their noble heritage in order to effectively hide in America.

During the nationwide racial strife of the 1960s, Keehan was one of the first American sensei to openly accept Blacks, Hispanics, and other non-Asian minorities as students.