Gregory Hines

Gregory Oliver Hines(February 14, 1946 – August 9, 2003) was an American dancer, actor, choreographer, and singer. He is one of the most celebratedtap dancersof all time. As an actor, he is best known forWolfen(1981),The Cotton Club(1984),White Nights(1985),Running Scared(1986),The Gregory Hines Show(1997–1998), playing Ben onWill & Grace(1999–2000), and for voicing Big Bill on theNick Jr.animated children's television programLittle Bill(1999–2004).
Hines starred in more than 40 films and also appeared onBroadway. He received many accolades, including aDaytime Emmy Award, aDrama Desk Award, and aTony Award, as well as nominations for aScreen Actors Guild Awardand fourPrimetime Emmy Awards.
Hines was born in New York City, on February 14, 1946, to Alma Iola (Lawless) and Maurice Robert Hines, a dancer, musician, and actor, and grew up in theSugar Hillneighborhood ofHarlem.He begantap dancingwhen he was two years old, and began dancing semi-professionally at age five. After that, he and his older brotherMauriceperformed together, studying with choreographerHenry LeTang.
Gregory and Maurice also studied with veteran tap dancers such asHoward Simsand TheNicholas Brotherswhen they performed at the same venues. The brothers were known as The Hines Kids, making nightclub appearances at venues in Miami, Florida, withCab Calloway.They were later known as The Hines Brothers.
When their father joined the act as a drummer, their name changed again in 1963 toHines, Hines, and Dad.
Hines was an avid improviser of tap steps, tap sounds, and tap rhythms alike. His improvisation was like that of a drummer, doing a solo and coming up with rhythms. He also improvised the phrasing of a number of tap steps, mainly to fit the unfolding sound. A laid-back dancer, he usually wore loose-fitting pants and a tighter shirt.
Although he inherited the roots and tradition of the black rhythmic tap, he also promoted the new black rhythmic tap. "He purposely obliterated the tempos," wrote tap historian Sally Sommer, "throwing down a cascade of taps like pebbles tossed across the floor. In that moment, he aligned tap with the latest free form experiments in jazz and new music and postmodern dance."
Throughout his career, Hines wanted and continued to be an advocate for tap in America. He successfully petitioned the creation ofNational Tap Dance Dayin May 1989, which is now celebrated in forty cities in the United States, as well as eight other nations. He was on the board of directors of Manhattan Tap, a member of the Jazz Tap Ensemble, and a member of theAmerican Tap Dance Foundation, which was formerly called the American Tap Dance Orchestra.
In 1989, he created and hosted a PBS special calledGregory Hines' Tap Dance in America, which featured various tap dancers such asSavion GloverandBunny Briggs.
In 1990, Hines visited his idol (andTapco-star)Sammy Davis Jr., who was dying ofthroat cancerand was unable to speak. After Davis died, an emotional Hines spoke at Davis' funeral of how Davis made a gesture to him, "as if passing a basketball ... and I caught it." Hines spoke of how honored he had been that Davis thought that he could carry on from where Davis left off.
Through his teaching, he influenced tap dancers such asSavion Glover,Dianne Walker,Ted Levy, andJane Goldberg.In an interview withThe New York Timesin 1988, Hines said that everything he did was influenced by his dancing: "my singing, my acting, my lovemaking, my being a parent."
Hines made hisBroadwaydebut with his brother inThe Girl in Pink Tightsin 1954. He earnedTony Awardnominations forEubie!(1979),Comin' Uptown(1980), andSophisticated Ladies(1981), and won the Tony Award andDrama Desk AwardforJelly's Last Jam(1992) and theTheatre World AwardforEubie!.
Hines performed as the lead singer and musician in a rock band called Severance based inVenice, Los Angelesin 1975 and 1976. Severance was one of the house bands at an original music club called Honky Hoagies Handy Hangout, otherwise known as the 4H Club. Severance released their self-titled debut album on Largo Records (a subsidiary of GNP Crescendo) in 1976.
In 1986, he sang a duet withLuther Vandrosscalled "There's Nothing Better Than Love", which reached the No. 1 position on theBillboardR&B charts.Encouraged by his first success on the chart, Hines subsequently released his self-titled debut album on Epic in 1988 with much support of Vandross. This album produced a Vandross-penned single "That Girl Wants to Dance with Me", which peaked at #6 on the R&B charts in June 1988.
In 1981, Hines made his movie debut inMel Brooks'sHistory of the World, Part I, replacingRichard Pryor, who was originally cast in the role but sustained severe burns just days before he was due to begin shooting.Madeline Kahn, also starring in the film, suggested to director Mel Brooks that he look into Hines for the role after they learned of Pryor's hospitalization.He also appeared in thehorror filmWolfenlater that year.
Hines' peak as an actor came in the mid-1980s. He had a large role inThe Cotton Club(1984), where he and his brother Maurice (in his sole film credit) played a 1930s tap-dancing duo reminiscent of theNicholas Brothers.Hines co-starred withMikhail Baryshnikovin the 1985 filmWhite Nights, and co-starred withBilly Crystalin the 1986buddy cop filmRunning Scared. He starred in the 1989 filmTapoppositeSammy Davis Jr.(in Davis' last screen performance). He appeared alongsideWhitney HoustonandLoretta Devinein the highly successful 1995 filmWaiting to Exhaleand opposite Houston,Denzel WashingtonandCourtney B. Vancethe following year inThe Preacher's Wife. On television, he starred in his own sitcom in 1997,The Gregory Hines Show, which ran for one season onCBS, and had a recurring role ofBen DoucetteonWill & Grace.
In an interview in 1987, Hines said that he often looked for roles written for white actors, "preferring their greater scope and dynamics." Of his role inRunning Scared, for example, he said that he enjoyed that his character had sex scenes, because "usually, the black guy has no sexuality at all."
Hines starred in the 1998 filmThe Tic Code. He voiced Big Bill in theNick Jr. Channel's animated children seriesLittle Bill, which ran from 1999 to 2004. He won theDaytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Performer in an Animated Programfor the role in 2003.
Hines co-hosted the Tony Awards ceremony in 1995 and 2002.
Hines' marriages to Patricia Panella and Pamela Koslow ended in divorce.He had a daughter, Daria, with Panella, and a son, Zachary, with Koslow.For the last three years of his life, he was engaged to bodybuilderNegrita Jayde, who was based inToronto.
Hines died ofliver canceron August 9, 2003, en route to a hospital from his home in Los Angeles. He was diagnosed with the disease a year earlier, but informed only his closest friends. At the time of his death, production of the television showLittle Billwas ending. He was survived by his fiancée Jayde, children Daria and Zachary, ex-stepdaughter Jessica, and grandson Lucian.
His funeral was held atSt. Monica Catholic ChurchinSanta Monica, California. He was buried atSt. Volodymyr Ukrainian Catholic CemeteryinOakville, Ontario.
On January 28, 2019, theUnited States Postal Servicehonored Hines with a postage stamp as part of its Black Heritage Series. It was issued with a ceremony at theBuffalo Academy for Visual and Performing Arts.
Awards
Nominations