[1] Hines began tap dancing when he was two years old, and began dancing semi professionally at age five. ''Gregory always thought of himself as a student with the old guys, Chuck Green, Jimmy Slyde, Buster Brown, Lon Chaney, all of the old hoofers, and Sammy Davis Jr.,'' Ms. Glover said. Gregory Oliver Hines, dancer and actor, born February 14 1946; died August 9 2003, Gifted American tapdancer who bridged generations of his art and broke into Hollywood films, Hines: 'The greatest tap dancer of his generation'. Hines spoke of the honor that Sammy thought that Hines could carry on from where he left off.

(1979), Comin' Uptown (1980), and Sophisticated Ladies (1981), and won the Tony Award and Drama Desk Award for Jelly's Last Jam (1992) and the Theatre World Award for Eubie!. At the time of his death, production of the television show Little Bill was ending, and he was engaged to female bodybuilder Negrita Jayde, who was based in Toronto.

Gregory Oliver Hines, dancer and actor, born February 14 1946; died August 9 2003

In 1985, Gregory Hines was paired up with Mikhail Baryshnikov, another well-known dancer at the time, in an Academy Award winning Taylor Hackford film called "White Nights".

He is considered one of the most celebrated tap dancers of all time. He successfully petitioned the creation of National Tap Dance Day in May 1989, which is now celebrated in forty cities in the United States, as well as eight other nations. Mr. Hines encouraged hosts of younger tap-dancers, including Mr. Glover, Dianne Walker, Ted Levy and Jane Goldberg, in their careers and frequently proclaimed the talents of the old-time stars. “He was hoping he could beat it — and he didn’t want anyone fussing over him,” a source told The ENQUIRER. He had a large role in The Cotton Club (1984), where he and his brother Maurice (in Maurice's sole film credit) played a 1930s tap-dancing duo reminiscent of the Nicholas Brothers. ''He doesn't sneak up on you,'' Canby wrote.

Hines is buried at Saint Volodymyr's Ukrainian Catholic Cemetery in Oakville, Ontario.

Recently Passed Away Celebrities and Famous People. He was married to Pamela Koslow and Patricia Panella.

But everything in his life was influenced by his dancing, Mr. Hines told Stephen Holden in a 1988 interview in The Times. He was married to Pamela Koslow and Patricia Panella. |  At the time of his death, production of the television show Little Bill was ending, and he was engaged to female bodybuilder Negrita Jayde, who was based in Toronto. Aug. 11, 2003 Gregory Hines, the genial, suave dancer, singer and actor who for many personified the art of classical tap in the 1980's and 90's, died late Saturday on his way to … Gregory's father was of African-American background. Gregory Oliver Hines was an American actor, singer, dancer and choreographer.

Jayde died of cancer on August 28, 2009 at the age of 51, weeks after holding the sixth annual memorial/celebration to Hines. Philip Wuntch Dallas Morning News.

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 the Sugar Hill neighborhood of Manhattan's Harlem. He voiced Big Bill in the Nick Jr. animated children series Little Bill, which ran from 1999 to 2004. [14], Jayde died of cancer on August 28, 2009, at the age of 51, just weeks after holding the sixth annual memorial/celebration to Hines.

Maurice Hines Sr.'s information is not available now.

Mr. Hines was generally more successful on Broadway, establishing himself as a first-rate actor with his portrayal of Morton, a chill, egocentric genius, in ''Jelly's Last Jam.'' Hines' marriages to Patricia Panella and Pamela Koslow ended in divorce. On television, he starred in his own sitcom in 1997, The Gregory Hines Show, which ran for one season on CBS, and had a recurring role of Ben Doucette on Will & Grace.

Hines had a live-in nurse in the weeks before his death and was hospitalized briefly. [16], American dancer, actor, choreographer and singer. (He also shared a Tony nomination for choreography for that show with Hope Clarke and Mr.

Hines made his Broadway debut with his brother in The Girl in Pink Tights in 1954.

Gregory Oliver Hines (February 14, 1946 – August 9, 2003) was an American dancer, actor, choreographer and singer.

Your contribution is much appreciated! Died: August 9, 2003 in Los Angeles, California, USA (liver cancer) Birth Name: Gregory Oliver Hines: Height: 6' (1.83 m) He died on August 9, 2003 in Los Angeles, California, USA.

''Anyone who has watched his superb virtuosity over the years would notice how the dancer's weight-shifting style is now ornamented with a jaunty rhythmic filigree,'' Anna Kisselgoff, dance critic of The New York Times, wrote of Mr. Hines's guest performance in 1995 in a benefit for Eliot Feld's New Ballet School.

Gregory Hines was born on February 14, 1946 in New York City, New York, USA as Gregory Oliver Hines. The complexity of sound grows in intensity and range.''. After Davis died, an emotional Hines spoke at Davis's funeral of how Sammy had made a gesture to him, "as if passing a basketball … and I caught it." Inducted into the International Tap Dance Hall of Fame in 2004. After that, he and his older brother Maurice performed together, studying with choreographer Henry LeTang. In the late '60s he decided to try his hand at performing rock 'n' roll music, and writing his own songs. [15] On January 28, 2019, the United States Postal Service honored Hines with a postage stamp, issued with a ceremony at the Buffalo Academy for Visual and Performing Arts. Levy.) Gregory Hines died of cancer in Los Angeles August 9, 2003 at the age of 57. View agent, publicist, legal and company contact details on IMDbPro, (1968 -

He was awarded the 1992 Antoinette Perry (Tony) Award for Best Actor in a Musical for "Jelly's Last Jam" on Broadway in New York City.

[Ottawa, Ont]30 June 1986: D10.

By the age of four, Hines and his older brother Maurice were taking tap lessons with renowned dancer and … In 1988 he lobbied successfully for the creation of a National Tap Dance Day, now celebrated in 40 cities in the United States and in eight other nations. Ted Levy, one of Mr. Hines's protégés, described him as ''the Pied Piper of modern tap.''. He appeared in the highly successful 1995 film Waiting to Exhale. Hines, a 1992 Tony winner for “Jelly’s Last Jam,” and a frequent guest star on “Will & Grace” (as Will’s gruff legal boss), died of cancer late Saturday night on his way to a …

?) In addition to ''White Nights'' (1985), Mr. Hines's films included ''Tap'' (1989), ''Eve of Destruction'' (1991) and ''The Tic Code'' (1998). The stamp is part of its Black Heritage Series. Death: 9 Aug 2003 (aged 57) ... a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com: accessed ), memorial page for Gregory Oliver Hines (14 Feb 1946–9 Aug 2003), Find a Grave Memorial no. It was around that time, in 1978, that he had his first Broadway success, starring in the musical ''Eubie,'' for which he received his first Tony nomination. Had his professional debut when only 5 years old. Hope Clarke, Ted L. Levy and he were awarded the 1993 New York Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Choreography in a Musical for "Jelly's Last Jam" on Broadway in New York City. Pictured on a USA nondenominated "forever" postage stamp in the Black Heritage series, issued 28 January 2019. Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window). He was the son of Alma Iola (Lawless) and Maurice Robert Hines. Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program, Buffalo Academy for Visual and Performing Arts, Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program, Outstanding Individual Performance in a Variety or Music Program, Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Program, Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie, Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child, Things You Can Tell Just by Looking at Her, "Coppola's Cotton Club Encore Remakes American Entertainment", "Gregory Hines, Versatile Dancer and Actor, Dies at 57", "Gregory Hines buried in Oakville City, Ontario", "Gregory Hines As Honoree on New Forever Stamp", TonyAwards.com Interview with Gregory Hines, Archival footage of Gregory Hines, Dianne Walker and, Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actor in a Musical, NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture, Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Gregory_Hines&oldid=986642281, Short description is different from Wikidata, Wikipedia articles with MusicBrainz identifiers, Wikipedia articles with SNAC-ID identifiers, Wikipedia articles with SUDOC identifiers, Wikipedia articles with WORLDCATID identifiers, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, 1992 Drama Desk Award Outstanding Actor in a Musical —, 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 —, 1979 Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical—, 1980 Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical—, 1981 Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical—, 1992 Drama Desk Award Outstanding Choreography—, 1995 Image Awards Outstanding Lead Actor in a Motion Picture—, 1998 American Comedy Awards Funniest Male Guest Appearance in a TV Series—, 1998 Image Awards Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series—, 2001 Black Reel Awards Network/Cable Best Actor—, 2001 Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries—, This page was last edited on 2 November 2020, at 03:15.

His improvisation was like that of a drummer, doing a solo and coming up with rhythms. The sudden death of the beloved star — who played Eric McCormack’s boss Ben Doucette on “Will & Grace” — was devastating to those who knew him. I couldn’t believe it.

[1], Hines was an avid improviser of tap steps, tap sounds, and tap rhythms alike. He also improvised the phrasing of a number of tap steps, mainly based on sound produced.

In 1986, he sang a duet with Luther Vandross called "There's Nothing Better Than Love", which reached the No. He won the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program for the role in 2003. He was 57. In that moment, he aligned tap with the latest free form experiments in jazz and new music and postmodern dance."[4].

''Visual elegance, as always, yields to aural power. He hid his condition to the end, hoping he could overcome it and keep moving on. He had two children, a son named Zach and a daughter named Daria, as well as a stepdaughter named Jessica Koslow, and a grandson. Gregory's cause of death was liver cancer. [12] Hines is buried at St. Volodymyr Ukrainian Cemetery in Oakville, Ontario.