Gregory Oliver Hines (February 14, 1946 – August 9, 2003) was an American dancer, actor, choreographer, and singer. He is one of the most celebratedtap dancers of 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).

Gregory Hines
Hines in 1993
Born	Gregory Oliver Hines (1946-02-14)February 14, 1946 New York City, U.S.
Died	August 9, 2003(2003-08-09) (aged 57) Los Angeles,California, U.S.
Resting place	Saint Volodymyr Ukrainian Cemetery Oakville, Ontario, Canada
Occupations	Dancer actor choreographer singer
Years active	1948–2003
Spouses	Patricia Panella ​ ​ (m. 1968;div. 1972)​ Pamela Koslow ​ ​ (m. 1981;div. 2000)​
Partner(s)	Negrita Jayde (2000–2003)
Children	2
Relatives	Maurice Hines (brother)

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 Award and 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 Hill neighborhood ofHarlem.^[1] He begantap dancing when he was two years old, and began dancing semi-professionally at age five. After that, he and his older brotherMaurice performed together, studying with choreographerHenry LeTang.

Gregory and Maurice also studied with veteran tap dancers such asHoward Sims and TheNicholas Brothers when they performed at the same venues. The brothers were known as The Hines Kids, making nightclub appearances at venues in Miami, Florida, withCab Calloway.^[2] 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.^[1][3]

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.^[4]

Although he inherited the roots of traditional black rhythmic tap, he also promoted contemporary 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."^[5]

Throughout his career, Hines wanted and continued to be an advocate for tap in America. He successfully petitioned the creation ofNational Tap Dance Day in 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 Glover andBunny Briggs.^[6][7]

In 1990, Hines visited his idol (andTap co-star)Sammy Davis Jr., who was dying ofthroat cancer and 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.^[8]

Through his teaching, he influenced tap dancers such asSavion Glover,Dianne Walker,Ted Levy, andJane Goldberg.^[5] In an interview withThe New York Times in 1988, Hines said that everything he did was influenced by his dancing: "my singing, my acting, my lovemaking, my being a parent."^[5]

Hines made hisBroadway debut with his brother inThe Girl in Pink Tights in 1954. He earnedTony Award nominations forEubie! (1979),Comin' Uptown (1980), andSophisticated Ladies (1981), and won the Tony Award andDrama Desk Award forJelly's Last Jam (1992) and theTheatre World Award forEubie!.^[9]

Hines performed as the lead singer and musician in a rock band calledSeverance based inVenice, Los Angeles in 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 Vandross called "There's Nothing Better Than Love", which reached the No. 1 position on theBillboard R&B charts.^[10] Encouraged by his first success on the chart, Hines subsequently released his self-titled debut album on Epic in 1988 with much support from 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.^[11][12]

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.^[13][14]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.^[14] He also appeared in thehorror filmWolfen later 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.^[15] Hines co-starred withMikhail Baryshnikov in the 1985 filmWhite Nights, and co-starred withBilly Crystal in the 1986buddy cop filmRunning Scared. He starred in the 1989 filmTap oppositeSammy Davis Jr. (in Davis' last screen performance). He appeared alongsideWhitney Houston andLoretta Devine in the highly successful 1995 filmWaiting to Exhale and opposite Houston,Denzel Washington andCourtney B. Vance the 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 Doucette onWill & 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."^[16]

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 Program for 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.^[17] He had a daughter, Daria, with Panella, and a son, Zachary, with Koslow.^[18] For the last three years of his life, he was engaged to bodybuilderNegrita Jayde, who was based inToronto.^[17]

Hines died ofliver cancer on 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 Bill was ending. He was survived by his fiancée Jayde, children Daria and Zachary, ex-stepdaughter Jessica, and grandson Lucian.^[19]

His funeral was held atSt. Monica Catholic Church inSanta Monica, California. He was buried atSt. Volodymyr Ukrainian Catholic Cemetery inOakville, Ontario.^[20][21]

On January 28, 2019, theUnited States Postal Service honored 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.^[22]

Awards

• 1979Theatre World Award –Eubie!
• 1988Image Awards Outstanding Lead Actor in a Motion Picture –Running Scared
• 1992Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical –Jelly's Last Jam
• 1992 Drama Desk Award Outstanding Actor in a Musical –Jelly's Last Jam
• 1998 Flo-Bert Award – Lifetime Achievement in Tap Dance by the New York Committee to Celebrate National Tap Dance Day
• 2002 Image Awards Outstanding Actor in a Television Movie, Mini Series or Dramatic Special –Bojangles
• 2003Emmy Award forOutstanding Performer in an Animated Program –Little Bill

Nominations

• 1979 Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical—Eubie!
• 1980 Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical—Comin' Uptown
• 1981 Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical—Sophisticated Ladies
• 1982Emmy Award for Outstanding Individual Achievement—Special Class—I Love Liberty
• 1985 Emmy Award forOutstanding Individual Performance in a Variety or Music Program—Motown Returns to the Apollo
• 1989 Emmy Award forOutstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Program—Great Performances: Tap Dance in America
• 1992 Drama Desk Award Outstanding Choreography—Jelly's Last Jam
• 1992 Tony Award for Best Choreography—Jelly's Last Jam
• 1995 Image Awards Outstanding Lead Actor in a Motion Picture—Waiting to Exhale
• 1998 American Comedy Awards Funniest Male Guest Appearance in a TV Series—Will & Grace
• 1998 Image Awards Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series—The Gregory Hines Show
• 2001 Black Reel Awards Network/Cable Best Actor—Bojangles
• 2001 Emmy Award forOutstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie—Bojangles
• 2001 Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries—Bojangles
• 2003 Emmy Award for Outstanding Performer in a Children's Special—The Red Sneakers
• 2003 Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing in a Children's Special—The Red Sneakers

• List of dancers

• Gregory Hines at theInternet Broadway Database 
• Gregory Hines atIMDb
• Gregory Hines atFind a Grave
• Obituary atBlog of Death
• "Tapping into history",Deborah Jowitt,Village Voice, August 2003.
• TonyAwards.com Interview with Gregory Hines
• Archival footage of Gregory Hines, Dianne Walker and Jimmy Slyde in 1996 at Jacob's Pillow