He left us too soon.
:-(
Generation's greatest tap star dies
August 11, 2003
BY TIM MOLLOY
LOS ANGELES--Gregory Hines, the greatest tap dancer of his generation, who transcended the stage with a successful screen career that included starring roles in ''White Nights'' and ''The Cotton Club,'' has died at 57.
Mr. Hines died of cancer Saturday in Los Angeles, publicist Allen Eichhorn said Sunday.
With his smooth, solo tap style reminiscent of Fred Astaire, Mr. Hines became internationally known at an early age as part of a jazz tap duo with his brother, Maurice. He won a 1992 Tony Award for the musical ''Jelly's Last Jam.''
''His dancing came from something very real,'' said Bernadette Peters, who appeared with Mr. Hines as co-hosts of the 2002 Tony Awards show. ''It came out of his instincts, his impulses and his amazing creativity. His whole heart and soul went into everything he did.''
''He was the last of a kind of immaculate performer--a singer, dancer, actor and a personality,'' said George C. Wolfe, who directed ''Jelly.'' ''He knew how to command.''
Mr. Hines and his brother performed in the musical revue ''Eubie!'' in 1978, in Broadway's ''Sophisticated Ladies'' and on film in 1984's ''The Cotton Club.''
In ''The Cotton Club,'' Mr. Hines also had a lead acting role, which led to more film. He starred with Mikhail Baryshnikov in 1985's Cold War-era dancers' story ''White Nights'' and with Billy Crystal in 1986's ''Running Scared,'' and he appeared with Whitney Houston in 1995's ''Waiting To Exhale,'' among other movies.
On television, he had his own series in 1997 called ''The Gregory Hines Show,'' as well as a recurring role on ''Will and Grace.'' Last March, Mr. Hines appeared in the spring television series ''Lost at Home.''
Gregory Oliver Hines was born on Feb. 14, 1946, in New York City. He said his mother urged him and his older brother toward tap dancing because she wanted them to have a way out of the ghetto.
When he was a toddler, his brother was already taking tap lessons and would come home and teach him steps. They began performing together when Gregory was 5, and they performed at the Apollo Theater in Harlem for two weeks when he was 6.
Paired with brother Maurice, Gregory was a professional child star. In his teens, joined by their father, Maurice Sr., on drums, they were known as Hines, Hines and Dad.
Mr. Hines had a falling out with his older brother in the late 1960s because the younger was becoming influenced by counterculture and wanted to perform to rock music and write his songs. In 1973, the family act disbanded and Mr. Hines moved to Venice Beach.
He returned to New York in 1978, partly to be near his daughter, Daria, who was living with Mr. Hines' first wife, dance therapist Patricia Panella.
The brothers reunited for ''Eubie!'' an homage to composer Eubie Blake. Gregory Hines was lauded for his singing of ''Low Down Blues'' and his tapping during ''Hot Feet.'' He was nominated for a Tony.
Mr. Hines also earned Tony nominations for ''Comin' Uptown'' and ''Sophisticated Ladies,'' and he won a Tony for best actor in a musical playing jazz legend ''Jelly Roll'' Morton in ''Jelly's Last Jam.''
Mr. Hines landed his first film role in the 1981 Mel Brooks comedy ''History of the World Part I,'' in which he played a Roman slave as a last-minute replacement for Richard Pryor. After that he was nominated for a number of awards, most recently an Emmy in 2001 for his lead role in the miniseries ''Bojangles.''
He also won a Daytime Emmy Award in 1999 for his work as the voice of ''Big Bill'' in the Bill Cosby animated TV series, ''Little Bill,'' and NAACP Image Awards for ''Bojangles'' and ''Running Scared.''
Mr. Hines was engaged to Negrita Jayde and, in addition to his father and brother, is survived by his daughter, Daria; son, Zach, and stepdaughter, Jessica.
AP, with Mike Kuchwara contributing to this report.
CAREER HIGHLIGHTS OF GREGORY HINES
STAGE
***''Jelly's Last Jam,'' 1992
''Sophisticated Ladies,'' 1981
''Comin' Uptown,'' 1980
''Eubie!'' 1978
''The Girl in Pink Tights,'' 1954
FILM
***''Things You Can Tell Just by Looking at Her,'' 2001
''The Preacher's Wife,'' 1996**
''Waiting to Exhale,'' 1995*
''Renaissance Man,'' 1994
''A Rage in Harlem,'' 1991*
''Tap,'' 1989
''Running Scared,'' 1986
''White Nights,'' 1985
''The Cotton Club,'' 1984
''History of the World: Part I,'' 1981
TELEVISION
***''Lost at Home,'' 2003
''Bojangles,'' 2001
''Little Bill,'' 1999
''Will & Grace,'' 1998
''The Gregory Hines Show,'' 1997
''Gregory Hines: Tap Dance in America,'' 1989
''Motown Returns to the Apollo,'' 1985
''I Love Liberty,'' 1982
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