Gregory Hines

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An accomplished dancer, Gregory Hines grew up as a member of the tap dancing act, "Hines, Hines, and Dad" with his father and brother. Having danced from the age of five, his first forays into theatre were built on his skills as a dancer. He appeared in many Broadway productions including "Jelly's Last Jam" for which he won a Tony award in 1992. His first film role was as a Roman slave in Mel Brooks' 1981 comedy History of the World Part One. He had leading roles in Francis Ford Coppola's The Cotton Club opposite Richard Gere; White Nights with ballet star Mikhail Baryshnikov; and Running Scared with Billy Crystal. Hines had one of his best screen roles as a jazz musician afflicted with Tourette Syndrome in The Tic Code (1998).

Hines was born on February 14, 1946, in New York, NY, and grew up in a show-business family. Having appeared in numerous television shows, including an ongoing role in the sitcom, Will and Grace, he received several Emmy Award nominations, most recently for his lead role as tap dancer Bill Robinson in the 2001 miniseries "Bojangles," and he won a 1999 Daytime Emmy Award as the voice of "Big Bill" in the Bill Cosby animated TV series "Little Bill."

Gregory Hines died of cancer, aged 57, on August 10, 2003. Besides his father and brother, survivors include a daughter from his first marriage; a son from his second marriage; a stepdaughter; and a grandson. His marriages to dance instructor Patricia Panella Hines and theatrical producer Pamela Koslow Hines ended in divorce. At his death, Hines was engaged to bodybuilder Negrita Jayde.

Last updated: June 15, 2004.

Dancer and actor Gregory Oliver Hines (born 1946) began his career when he was still a toddler. He tapped his way to fame in nightclubs with his brother, Maurice Hines, on Broadway and in Hollywood.

Valentine's Day, 1946, marks the birth of Gregory Hines in New York City. His father was Maurice Sr., who worked as a soda salesman, a nightclub bouncer, and a semi-pro baseball player. His paternal grandmother, Ora Hines, was a showgirl at the Cotton Club, the famous Prohibition-era nightclub in Harlem where African American entertainers performed for a wealthy white clientele.

His brother, Maurice Jr., was two years old when Gregory was born, and already in tap shoes. The boys grew up in Harlem and Brooklyn, and it was their mother who steered them toward tap-dancing careers as a way "out of the ghetto." Envisioning them as the new Nicholas Brothers, she enrolled them in dancing school as soon as they could walk. The boys made regular visits to Harlem's vaudeville mecca, the Apollo Theatre, and Gregory's idols were the improvisational tap masters "Sandman" Sims and Teddy Hale.

The brothers first performed locally together when Gregory was five and Maurice seven. Their education took place at professional children's schools; summer vacations were booked with tours of their dance act, called the Hines Kids. Their Broadway debut was in 1954 as the newspaper boy (Maurice) and the shoeshine boy (Gregory) in the musical comedy "The Girl in Pink Tights, " starring French ballerina Jeanmarie.

Under the tutelage of tap coach Henry LeTang, the Hines Kids became an international attraction. When Maurice reached his teens, they became the Hines Brothers, and briefly they were Hines, Hines and Brown when singer and pantomimist Johnny Brown joined the act. The next member of the act joined in 1962, when Maurice Sr., having learned to play the drums, made possible Hines, Hines and Dad. Maurice Jr. was the straight man for Gregory's comedy, and the three of them played such venues as "The Ed Sullivan Show, " "The Tonight Show, " the Palladium in London, and the Olympia Theatre in Paris.

By the late 1960s, the interests of the two brothers took divergent paths. Maurice wanted to concentrate on "legitimate theatre, " and Gregory, more influenced by the times, wanted to write songs and perform rock-style music.

In 1973 the brothers' act broke up, and Gregory moved to Venice, California, where he became, in his words, "a long-haired hippie." He organized a jazz-rock group, Severence, for which he wrote songs, sang, and played guitar. He worked as a waiter, busboy, and karate instructor (he is a Black Belt), and joined a men's consciousness-raising group. He met his second wife, Pamela Koslow, during this period. Hines had been married once before to dance therapist Patricia Panella, and his daughter from that marriage, Daria, lived with her mother in Manhattan.

Hines missed his daughter and moved back to New York in 1978. He landed a tap-dancing spot in "The Last Minstrel Show, " a Broadway hopeful that opened and closed in Philadelphia.

His next effort was his first joint appearance in five years with his brother, in the African American musical revue "Eubie!" (1978-1979). Choreographed by their mentor Henry LeTang, the show was an homage to then 95-year-old composer Eubie Blake. Gregory sang a soulful rendition of "Low Down Blues, " and he "machine-gun" tapped out "Hot Feet, " a number that was repeatedly interrupted by audience applause. Gregory and Maurice sang and danced "Dixie Moon" as a duet and joined others in the tango "There's a Million Little Cupids in the Sky." Hines won several awards for his performance in "Eubie!", including one from the Outer Critics' Circle, and was nominated for a Tony as Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical.

A musical-comedy version of "A Christmas Carol" called "Comin' Uptown" (1979-1980) was Hines' first vehicle for genuine acting. Although it flopped at the box office, Hines, who played the lead, was nominated for a Tony as Outstanding Actor in a Musical.

His next effort was to choreograph "Blues in the Night, " a revue based on classic blues songs. This show ran for six weeks off-Broadway in early 1980.

In May 1980, Hines participated with Charles "Honi" Coles, John Bubbles, Nell Carter, and others in "Black Broadway, " George Wein's salute to African American Broadway musicals of the past. The same year, a pair of Hines' tap shoes was placed on the "Wall of Fame" at Roseland, the venerable Manhattan dance hall, alongside the shoes of Fred Astaire and Ruby Keeler.

"Sophisticated Ladies" was a showcase of Duke Ellington's music conceived by director-choreographer Donald McKayle, with its tap segments choreographed by LeTang. After its Philadelphia tryout, reviewers complained it was too long and encumbered with wooden narration, which minimized the song-and-dance talents of Hines and co-star Judith Jamison. The show moved to Washington, D.C. in early 1981, where Hines criticized the show publicly and was dismissed. The cast rallied on his behalf, threatening to walk out; Hines was rehired, and McKayle was replaced by Michael Smuin.

The revamped show reached Broadway in March 1981. It was no longer a drawn-out tour of Ellington's musical life and times, but a slick, elegant bundle of nostalgia for a Saturday night party at the old Cotton Club. With Mercer Ellington, Duke's son, conducting the on-stage orchestra, Hines sang the title song as well as "Don't Get Around Much Anymore" and "Something to Live For"; a duet with Jamison, "I Let a Song Go Out of My Heart, " and others including "Take the A Train" and "It Don't Mean a Thing (If I Ain't Got That Swing)." For "Sophisticated Ladies, " Hines received his third straight Tony nomination, this one for Best Actor in a Musical. The show didn't close until January 1983. In January 1982 Hines turned over the role to his brother in order to help produce the West Coast production of the show.

During this period he made his first film appearance, opening up yet another venue for his talents. In Mel Brooks' farce "The History of the World - Part I" (1981), Hines brief comic scene featured him as Cleopatra's long-tongued slave. That same year, he appeared in the horror film "Wolfen" (1981), and in 1983 he co-starred with Chevy Chase and Sigourney Weaver in "Deal of a Century."

While in Los Angeles for "Sophisticated Ladies, " he heard about a jazz-era film titled "The Cotton Club." For two weeks, he begged the film's producer, Robert Evans, for the part of Sandman Williams, a promising, young Cotton Club tap dancer. Evans had his mind set on Richard Pryor for the part, and when Pryor turned it down, Hines got his wish.

Francis Ford Coppola relied on his cast's real-life experiences in rewriting the screenplay for "The Cotton Club" 40 or 50 times, with the help of William Kennedy, before it was satisfactory. After hearing Hines describe the breakup of the Hines, Hines and Dad act, Coppola decided to make Gregory's character half of a feuding brother act, with Maurice Hines playing the other half. The film was released in 1984, to lukewarm reception by critics and audiences.

Hines appeared on the star-studded two-hour NBC network show "Motown Returns to the Apollo" (May 19, 1985), a condensed version of a six-hour taping that took place at the official re-opening of the historic Harlem theater two weeks earlier. The same year, he co-starred with Mikhail Baryshnikov in "White Nights" (1985), which impressively juxtaposed the tap and ballet talents of the two stars, but critics agreed that not much else about it was impressive. Other films for Hines include "Running Scared" (1986) with Billy Crystal and "Off Limits" (1988) with Willem DeFoe. "Tap" (1989), a tribute to his old idols, included appearances by Sammy Davis, Jr., and Sandman Sims and was choreographed by Henry LeTang.

Nineteen-ninety-two marked a turning point in Hines' career. He received his fourth Tony Award nomination for his role as Jelly Roll Morton in "Jelly's Last Jam, " and this time he won. Dinitia Smith reviewed the performance in New York and called Hines "perhaps, the greatest tap dancer in the world." In the 1990s, Hines became well known in the film industry, earning important roles in many films, including "White Lie, " "A Rage in Harlem, " "Eve of Destruction" (1991); "T Bone N Weasel, " "Dead Air" (1992); "Renaissance Man, " "Dying for a Smoke" (1994); "Waiting to Exhale" (1995); and "The Preacher's Wife" (1996). He has directed an independent film, "White Man's Burden, " released in 1994. Hines' next move appears to be into television, with the advent of the prime-time sitcom "The Gregory Hines Show, " in which Hines plays a widower trying to get back into the dating scene while also raising his 12-year-old son.

Despite his many successful endeavors in other areas, Hines continued to think of himself as a tap dancer. He told Leslie Bennetts of Vanity Fair, "Whenever I go to Europe and have to fill out that landing card that asks what your occupation is, I always put down 'tap dancer."'

Further Reading

Although no biographies of Hines have been published, numerous newspaper and magazine articles give in-depth profiles of him, including the Christian Science Monitor (March 1981); New York (March 1981); New York Daily News (December 1984); People (August 1981); Time (April 1981); Jet (March 1988); and the Washington Post (January 1981, February 1985, September 1988, and February 1989). See also Essence (November 1993); Who's Who in America (1996); and Who's Who Among African Americans (1996).

tap dancer; actor; singer

Personal Information

Born Gregory Oliver Hines on February 14, 1946, in New York, NY; died on August 9, 2003, in Los Angeles, CA; son of Maurice Robert (a dancer, actor, and drummer) and Alma Iola (Lawless) Hines; married Patricia Panella (a dance therapist) c. 1966 (divorced); married Pamela Koslow (a producer), April 12, 1981; children: (first marriage) Daria, (second marriage) Jessica, Zachary.
Memberships: Actors Equity Assn; Screen Actors Guild; American Federation of Television & Radio Artists.

Career

Dancer, actor, and singer, 1949-2003; tap dancer with brother Maurice, billed as The Hines Kids, 1949-56; dancer with brother and father, billed as Hines, Hines, and Dad, 1963-73; solo performer in nightclubs, 1985-2003.

Life's Work

Gregory Hines appeared in films, on stage, and in nightclubs virtually since he could walk. Although he could carry comedies and dramas and received star billing, Hines was best known for his work as a tap dancer. In fact, he has perhaps done more than any other performer to ensure a bright future for that most American of dance styles. As Sally Sommer noted in Dance Magazine, Hines was "an adamant advocate for the contemporaneity of tap" and wanted "to push tap beyond the expected conventions and cliched images...."

Hines told Dance: "I can't ever remember not tapping." He was born in New York City on February 14, 1946, and raised in the middle-class, integrated Washington Heights neighborhood. His father, who sold soda and worked as a nightclub bouncer, was the son of dancer Ora Hines, a showgirl at the famous Cotton Club. On his mother's side his ancestors included Portuguese, Jewish, and Irish immigrants. Hines told People that he never felt ambivalent about his ethnicity. "When I was a kid," he said, "blacks would say, 'Oh, we have some Irish in us and some Portuguese. We have better quality hair. We're better than other blacks.' I thought it was a load of bull. I always have considered myself a black man. What my mother has on her side is irrelevant. When I go for a role that was written for a white, it means nothing."

Learned First Tap Steps as a Toddler

Hines's mother had great ambitions for her sons and thus steered both Gregory and his older brother, Maurice, toward tap dancing. Gregory literally learned his first tap steps as a toddler and was enrolled in dance school at the age of three. Shortly thereafter he and Maurice became professionals with a song-and-dance act known as the Hines Kids. They toured extensively in America and abroad and also played the prestigious Apollo Theatre in New York. In 1952 they came under the tutelage of Broadway choreographer Henry LeTang; he helped them earn roles in their first musical comedy, The Girl in Pink Tights. Gregory in particular rounded out his tap training by watching older tap professionals "Sandman" Sims and Teddy Hale. During breaks in shows these improvisational masters would tutor the youngster, passing on to him a style that might otherwise have been lost in tap's lean years.

In 1963 Maurice Hines, Sr., joined the act as a percussionist and the trio billed themselves as Hines, Hines, and Dad. Gregory told People, "We weren't ever really successful. We were a very strong opening act, but we never got over the hump." Many would-be entertainers would have been more than satisfied with their level of success, however. Throughout the 1960s Hines, Hines, and Dad appeared on the Tonight Show, The Ed Sullivan Show, and numerous other television programs. They also toured Europe, playing at London's famed Palladium and the Olympia Theatre in Paris. Unfortunately for the Hines family, tap dancing had gone out of vogue by the late 1960s. The trio was reduced to a musical comedic lounge act, with Maurice as straight man and Gregory as comedian. Slowly the act began to stagnate, and Gregory accordingly revised his ambitions.

In 1973 the Hines brothers disbanded. Almost simultaneously, Hines's first marriage dissolved. Left to his own resources, he moved to Venice, California, and became "a long haired hippie," experimenting with the sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll lifestyle of the West Coast. "Venice Beach was a real charged atmosphere then," Hines told Ebony. "It was music, women and drugs, and I had my share of all three." He worked as a waiter, busboy, and karate instructor during the day and played with a jazz-rock group at night. Hines later remembered those years in Venice as a turning point in his life. "For the first time in my life, I learned how to take care of myself," he told Ebony. "Until that time, I always had somebody--my wife, my manager, my parents--taking care of me. There was always somebody between me and what was really happening. I got out to Venice and it was just me and life, and I had to learn how to take care of myself."

Career Sizzled With Broadway Triumphs

During his sojourn in Venice, Hines met his second wife, Pamela Koslow. She returned with him to New York City in 1978 and they were married in 1981. For years Hines thought that he had left tap dancing behind, but upon his return to New York he reconciled with Maurice and auditioned for a Broadway revue. Eventually the Hines brothers teamed again with LeTang, appearing on Broadway in Eubie! in 1978. That show featured Gregory Hines as a tapper and singer and earned him the first of three Tony Award nominations as outstanding featured actor in a musical. After Eubie! closed Gregory starred in two more successful Broadway shows, Comin' Uptown and Sophisticated Ladies. Both gave Hines the opportunity to shine as a singer, comedian, and dancer, and he again earned Tony nominations for his work.

A national tour of Sophisticated Ladies took Hines back to the West Coast; while there he embarked on a film career. In 1981 he earned his first movie roles, appearing in History of the World, Part I as a Roman slave and in Wolfen as a medical examiner investigating a series of mysterious deaths. Hines absolutely relished film work and aggressively sought further roles. When he heard that producer Robert Evans was casting a major film about the Cotton Club, the dancer-actor "instituted a reign of terror" trying to win a principal role. "I started calling [Evans] every day and going over to his house telling him how perfect I was for the part," Hines told Ebony. In fact, Hines was indeed perfect for the role of "Sandman" Williams, an upwardly-mobile Cotton Club dancer. When Cotton Club was released in 1984 many reviewers singled Hines out as the bright spot in an otherwise muddled movie.

The appearance in Cotton Club--and a now-classic performance on the television show Saturday Night Live--virtually assured Hines a measure of stardom. Audiences were thrilled with his fast-paced and insinuatingly sexy jazz-tap routines, many of which featured improvisational, arrhythmic flights that pushed far past tap's traditional boundaries. Sommer wrote in Dance Magazine, "Like a jazz musician who ornaments a well-known melody with improvisational riffs, Hines improvises within the frame of a dance. Among many tappers, improvisation is the most revered art, because it is about creation, demanding that the imagination be turned into choreography instantaneously. Certainly it is the most difficult aspect of tap to master. The tap dancer has to have the brilliant percussive phrases of a composer, the rhythms of a drummer, and the lines of a dancer."

Held His Own Opposite Baryshnikov

In 1985 Hines faced a daunting challenge when he was cast opposite ballet star Mikhail Baryshnikov in the dance drama White Nights. Hines rose to the occasion, matching the classically trained Baryshnikov step for step in a film that became an impressive box-office draw despite its somewhat hackneyed plot. Hines also turned in several striking dance numbers in the 1988 film Tap, a movie that featured three generations of great black tap artists. "Finally," noted Sommer, "the movies have caught up with the real world of dance. Now the moviegoing public will find out what the tap dance audience discovered at least ten years ago--the vital black heritage that shaped the look and sound of American tap dance."

Hines was also considered a bankable romantic actor. People correspondent Mary Vespa wrote, "With his dancer's grace, relaxed wit and bedroom eyes, Hines could move into a realm where no black actor has been before--the hip, sophisticated, romantic-comedy territory staked out by Cary Grant and Fred Astaire." Hines earned top billing in a variety of roles, from the comic Running Scared, where he teamed with Billy Crystal, to the science-fiction adventure Eve of Destruction, to the critically well-received big-budget drama A Rage in Harlem. Director Peter Hyams told People that Hines was one black actor who need not fear for his future in the business. "In terms of talent," Hyams said, "Gregory is an absolute ticking thermonuclear weapon just waiting to go off."

Despite his success in film, Hines still saw himself first and foremost as a tap dancer. As he settled into middle age, Hines has realized that his reflexes were slowing down. "I know I can't dance at this level indefinitely," he told Ebony. "Skill diminishes with age; it's just mathematics. But to me, dancing is like sex. Like Nipsey Russell said, 'I'm not as good as I once was, but I'm as good once as I ever was.'" To combat the inevitable physical decline of age, he worked out regularly to keep himself in sound condition.

On the rare occasions when he was free from the frantic demands of show business, the dancer enjoyed spending time with his wife and three children. "My family is very important to my existence," he told People. "If there was something beyond the marriage ceremony I could do with [my wife], I would. I have responsibilities as a husband and father that I want to fulfill."

Won Tony Award

In 1992 Hines starred in the Broadway production of Jelly's Last Jam. Entertainment Weekly called the production about the life of jazz pianist and composer Jelly Roll Morton "clever." Hines won a Tony award for his portrayal of the jazz legend.

Hines continued to build on his film career throughout the 1990s. He made appearances in such films as Renaissance Man and Kangaroo Court, both in 1994, as well as a 1995 role as a widower in Waiting to Exhale. He followed with 1996's Mad Dog Time and The Preacher's Wife.

1997 saw the launch--as well as the cancellation--of the Gregory Hines Show on the CBS network. "I wanted to do something that my family, my friends and I could be proud of, and not embarrass myself as an actor or as an African American" Hines told American Visions. Here Hines plays a Chicago widower who rediscovers romance just as his 12-year-old son first encounters the complexities of young love.

Hines returned to television in 1999, with a recurring guest role on the hit comedy Will & Grace. Next came roles in such films as Things You Can Tell Just by Looking at Her, The Tic Code, and Once in the Life, all in 2000.

Hines appeared in the 2001 Showtime original film, Bojangles, in the lead role of famed tapper Bill "Bojangles" Robinson--he also served as the film's producer. The role challenged Hines to re-create, step for step, some of Robinson's most famous dance numbers. The Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service noted one scene in which Hines's skill shines: "Hines has one show-stopping dramatic moment in which he taps, more and more angrily, while addressing the camera on the unfairness of racism." His performance earned him an Emmy Award nomination for lead actor in a movie or miniseries.

Directed Showtime Film

In 2002 Hines directed The Red Sneakers, which aired on Showtime. The film presents the story of teen Reggie Reynolds, who dreams of becoming a basketball star. Reggie, however, lacks the talent and skill to make his dream come true. Then Hines enters the story, playing a junk dealer named Zeke who presents Reggie with a pair of red sneakers which, according to Zeke, had been worn by former basketball greats. Once Reggie dons the shoes, he becomes a success on the basketball court. Marilyn Moss of the Hollywood Reported noted, "Situations are predictable, characters are two-dimensional. Nevertheless, it's a pleasant romp." Moss also commented that "Hines' presence on camera carries much more intrigue than his behind-the-camera efforts."

Also in 2002 Hines began negotiation with NBC to star in a new drama series. Backed by Coca-Cola, the series would feature Hines as a dance instructor and head of the New York-based dance and music studio around which the show would center. Hines would also serve as co-executive producer for the show. The project never came to fruition, however. Hines died of cancer on August 9, 2003. He was 57 years old.

Awards

Tony Award nominations, 1979, 1980, 1981; Theater World Award, for Eubie!, 1978-79; Dramatic Arts Award, 1985; Tony Award, for Jelly's Last Jam, 1992.

Works

Selected works

Film

• Wolfen, 1981.
• History of the World, Part I, 1981.
• Deal of the Century, 1983.
• The Muppets Take Manhattan, 1984.
• The Cotton Club, 1984.
• White Nights, 1985.
• Running Scared, 1986.
• Tap, 1988.
• Eve of Destruction, 1991.
• A Rage in Harlem, 1991.
• Renaissance Man, 1994.
• Kangaroo Court, 1994.
• Waiting to Exhale, 1995.
• Mad Dog Time, 1996.
• The Preacher's Wife, 1996.
• Good Luck, 1997.
• Things You Can Tell Just by Looking at Her, 2000.
• The Tic Code, 2000.
• Once in the Life, 2000.
• The Root, 2003.

Stage

• The Girl in Pink Tights, 1954.
• Eubie!, 1978.
• Comin' Uptown, 1980.
• Sophisticated Ladies, 1981.
• Jelly's Last Jam, 1992.

Television

• The Gregory Hines Show, CBS, 1997.
• Will & Grace (recurring guest appearance), NBC, 1999-2000.
• Bojangles, Showtime, 2001.
• The Red Sneakers, Showtime, 2002.

Further Reading

Books

• Who's Who Among African Americans, 16th ed. Gale Group, 2003.

Periodicals

• America's Intelligence Wire, August 11, 2003.
• American Visions, October-November 1997.
• Broadcasting & Cable, October 20, 1997.
• Dance, December 1988.
• Ebony, January 1991.
• Entertainment Weekly, October 30, 1992.
• Glamour, December 1985.
• Hollywood Reporter, October 15, 2001; February 8, 2002.
• Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service, February 1, 2001.
• Memphis Business Journal, January 26, 2001.
• People, August 11, 1986.
• People Weekly, September 15, 1997.
• United Press International, August 10, 2003.

On-line

• "Gregory Hines," Internet Broadway Database, www.ibdb.com/person.asp?ID=1225 (October 9, 2003).
• "Gregory Hines," Internet Movie Database, www.imdb.com/name/nm0002138/ (October 8, 2003).

— Mark Kram and Jennifer M. York

Hines, Gregory (b New York, 14 Feb. 1946, d Los Angeles, 9 Aug. 2003). US tap dancer, singer, actor, and director. He started training when he was 3 with Henry LeTang and at 5 made his professional debut with his brother Maurice as The Hines Kids, appearing in nightclubs. He danced in several Broadway musicals, including Sophisticated Ladies (1981) and performed and choreographed the tap sequences for Jelly's Last Jam (1993). His close-to-the-floor rhythm work and his incorporation of Afro-Caribbean moves into tap have been credited with re-vitalizing a form which during the 1980s seemed in serious decline.

• Born: February 14, 1946, New York, NY
• Died: August 09, 2003, Los Angeles, CA
• Active: '80s
• Genres: Rhythm & Blues
• Instrument: Vocals Representative Album: "Gregory Hines"

Biography

Best-known as a dancer -- tap, specifically -- and an actor of stage and screen, Gregory Hines was also a singer of some accomplishment. A self-titled album appeared in 1987, after a guest spot the previous year on Luther Vandross' Give Me the Reason album. It was the only popular venture that Hines would make, but not the first or last recording. Cast recordings for several Broadway stage hits feature Hines the singer in fine form, including Eubie! (1975), Sophisticated Lady (1981), and Jelly's Last Jam (1992). In 1997 he starred in a television series, The Gregory Hines Show, and had a recurring role on another series, Will and Grace. Hines passed away August 9, 2003, after a battle with cancer. ~ Wade Kergan, All Music Guide

• Born: Feb 14, 1946 in New York City, New York
• Died: Aug 09, 2003 in Los Angeles, California
• Occupation: Actor, Director
• Active: '80s-2000s
• Major Genres: Drama, Comedy
• Career Highlights: Waiting to Exhale, A Rage in Harlem, Tap
• First Major Screen Credit: Saturday Night Live: Gary Busey (1979)

Biography

Involved in show business since toddlerhood, Gregory Hines has grown up to be a highly acclaimed tap dancer, choreographer, dramatic and comic actor, singer, and director. Hines is the brother of actor/dancer Maurice Hines. When Hines was two, his father employed him in a dance act with his older brothers. The child honed his dancing skills with master tap dancer Henry Le Tang. He was five when his father teamed him with his big brother, Jake, to form the Hines Kids. The brothers spent much of their early careers dancing at the Apollo Theater and learned much from such famed fellow performers as the Nicholas Brothers and Sandman Sims. At age eight, he debuted on Broadway in the musical The Girl in Pink Tights (1954). When the boys reached adolescence, they were called the Hines Brothers. In 1963, they became Hines, Hines and Dad, and started a ten-year stint on the nightclub circuit and on television. They also went abroad. In 1973, he left his brother and father's act to form a jazz-rock group called Severance. He eventually came back to New York, where in 1973, he launched a distinguished Broadway career that garnered him a Tony (for playing Jelly Roll Morton in George C. Wolfe's musical tribute Jelly's Last Jam in 1992), three additional Tony nominations, and a Theater World Award.

Hines made his feature-film debut in Mel Brooks' all-star farce The History of the World, Pt. I, replacing an ailing Richard Pryor in the role of Josephus. It was actress Madeline Kahn who suggested Hines for the role. In film, Hines has proven himself a versatile actor and he has starred in everything from musical dramas in which he showed off his dancing ability (The Cotton Club and White Nights, in which he starred opposite ballet superstar Mikhail Baryshnikov), to straight dramas (The Preacher's Wife), comedy (Renaissance Man), sci-fi/horror (Wolfen), and action films (Running Scared). In 1994, Hines made his directorial bow with Bleeding Hearts. He released an album, simply titled Gregory Hines, in 1987. In 1997, he starred in the CBS family comedy The Gregory Hines Show as a single father who has trouble reentering the dating scene. Though that particular series was shortlived, appearances on such popular small screen staples as Will and Grace proved that the years had certainly not dulled Hines comic abilities. In addition, the prepetual entertainer also provided voice work for the Blues Clues adventure Big Blue's Threasure Hunt and the popular children's series Little Bill. Moving into the new millennium Hines appeared in such features as Things You Can Tell Just by Looking at Her (2000) and the made-for-television biopic Bojangles (2001), in which he portrayed the title role of legendary dancer Bill "Bojangles" Robinson. Following a supporting role in the television series Lost at Home, Hines made his final film appearance in the 2003 feature The Root.

On August 9, 2003, Gregory Hines died of cancer in Los Angeles. He was 57, and the lights of Broadway were dimmed in his honor three days after his untimely death. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

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