Gregory Hines: Difference between revisions

| name = Gregory Hines

| image = Gregory Hines 1993.jpg

| caption = Hines in 1993

| birth_name = Gregory Oliver Hines

| birth_date = {{birth date|1946|02|14}}

| birth_place = [[New York City]], New York, U.S.

| death_date = {{death date and age|2003|08|09|1946|02|14}}

| death_place = [[Los Angeles]], California, U.S.

| resting_place = Saint[[St. Volodymyr Ukrainian Cemetery|Saint Volodymyr Ukrainian Cemetery]]<br> [[Oakville, Ontario]], Canada

| occupation = {{flatlist|

| years_active = 1951–20031948–2003

| spouse = Patricia Panella <br> (m. 1968; div. 1972) <br>= {{marriageplainlist|Pamela Koslow|1981|2000|end=divorced}}

'''Gregory Oliver Hines''' (February 14, 1946 – August 9, 2003) was an American dancer, actor, choreographer, and singer. He is one of the most celebrated [[tap dance]]rs of all time. As an actor, he is best known for ''[[Wolfen (film)|Wolfen]]'' (1981), ''[[The Cotton Club (film)|The Cotton Club]]'' (1984), ''[[White Nights (1985 film)|White Nights]]'' (1985), ''[[Running Scared (1986 film)|Running Scared]]'' (1986), ''[[The Gregory Hines Show]]'' (1997–1998), playing Ben on ''[[Will & Grace]]'' (1999–2000), and for voicing Big Bill on the [[Nick Jr. Channel]] animated children's television program ''[[Little Bill]]'' (1999–2004).

In 1989, he created and hosted a PBS special called ''Gregory Hines' Tap Dance in America'', which featured various tap dancers such as [[Savion Glover]] and [[Bunny Briggs]].<ref>{{cite news |first=Mervyn |last=Rothstein |title=The Man in the Dancing Shoes |url=http://www.cigaraficionado.com/Cigar/CA_Profiles/People_Profile/0,2540,63,00.html |magazine=[[Cigar Aficionado]] |date=September 1, 1992 |access-date=May 25, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091008115337/http://www.cigaraficionado.com/Cigar/CA_Profiles/People_Profile/0,2540,63,00.html |archive-date=October 8, 2009 |df=mdy-all}}</ref><ref name=nyplcatalog>{{cite book| title=Tap: With Gregory Hines| year=1989| url=http://catalog.nypl.org/record=b12168289~S1| website=New York Public Library| publisher=WNET/New York| access-date=April 23, 2013}}</ref>

In 1990, Hines visited his idol (and ''Tap'' co-star) [[Sammy Davis Jr.]], who was dying of [[Esophageal cancer|throat cancer]] and was unable to speak. After Davis died, an emotional Hines spoke at Davis's funeral of how SammyDavis made a gesture to him, "as if passing a basketball ... and I caught it." Hines spoke of thehow honored he had honorbeen that SammyDavis thought that Hineshe could carry on from where heDavis left off.<ref>{{cite web|title=Gregory Hines Interview |url=http://www.sammydavis-jr.com/Pages/read/hines/hines.htm |website=The Sammy Davis, Jr. Association |year=1992 |access-date=June 9, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080513180559/http://www.sammydavis-jr.com/Pages/read/hines/hines.htm |archive-date=May 13, 2008}}</ref>

In 1986, he sang a duet with [[Luther Vandross]] called "[[There's Nothing Better Than Love]]", which reached the No. 1 position on the [[Billboard R&B charts|''Billboard'' R&B charts]].<ref>[{{BillboardURLbyName|artist=luther vandross|chart=all}} Luther Vandross Chart History]</ref> 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 #86 on the [[BillboardR&B Hot 100|''Billboard'' Hot 100]]charts in MayJune 1988.<ref>[{{BillboardURLbyName|artist=Gregory hines|chart=all}} Gregory Hines Chart History]</ref><ref>[https://www.musicvf.com/songs.php?page=artist&artist=Gregory+Hines&tab=songchartstab&sort=songdown&filter=all Gregory Hines songs Top Songs/Chart Singles Discography @musicvf.com] Retrieved 15 December 2023.</ref>

In 1981, Hines made his movie debut in [[Mel Brooks]]'s ''[[History of the World, Part I]]'', replacing [[Richard Pryor]], who was originally cast in the role but sufferedsustained severe burns just days before he was due to begin shooting.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/2003/aug/12/guardianobituaries.artsobituaries| title=Gregory Hines| newspaper=[[The Guardian]]| location=London| first=Terry| last=Monaghan| date=August 12, 2003| access-date=March 31, 2020}}</ref><ref name="world">{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/06/07/movies/the-world-according-to-mel-brooks.html| title=The World According to Mel Brooks| newspaper=[[The New York Times]]| first=Mel| last=Brooks| date=June 7, 1981| access-date=March 31, 2020| url-access=subscription}}</ref> [[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.<ref name="world" /> He also appeared in the [[horror film]] ''[[Wolfen (film)|Wolfen]]'' later that year.

Hines's peak as an actor came in the mid-1980s. He had a large role in ''[[The Cotton Club (film)|The Cotton Club]]'' (1984), where he and his brother Maurice (in his sole film credit) played a 1930s tap-dancing duo reminiscent of the [[Nicholas Brothers]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Coppola's Cotton Club Encore Remakes American Entertainment |url=https://news.yahoo.com/coppola-cotton-club-encore-remakes-222448254.html |first=Armond |last=White |date=October 23, 2019 |magazine=[[National Review]]}}</ref> Hines co-starred with [[Mikhail Baryshnikov]] in the 1985 film ''[[White Nights (1985 film)|White Nights]]'', and co-starred with [[Billy Crystal]] in the 1986 [[buddy cop film]] ''[[Running Scared (1986 film)|Running Scared]]''. He starred in the 1989 film ''[[Tap (film)|Tap]]'' opposite [[Sammy Davis Jr.]] (in Davis's last screen performance). He appeared alongside [[Whitney Houston]] and [[Loretta Devine]] in the highly successful 1995 film ''[[Waiting to Exhale]]'' and opposite Houston, [[Denzel Washington]] and [[Courtney B. Vance]] the following year in ''[[The Preacher's Wife]]''. 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 [[Supporting characters on Will & Grace#Other supporting characters|Ben Doucette]] on ''[[Will & Grace]]''.

Hines's marriages to Patricia Panella and Pamela Koslow ended in divorce. He had two children and a stepdaughter.<ref name=dunning>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/08/11/arts/gregory-hines-versatile-dancer-and-actor-dies-at-57.html |title=Gregory Hines, Versatile Dancer and Actor, Dies at 57 |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |first=Jennifer |last=Dunning |date=August 11, 2003 |access-date=March 31, 2020 |url-access=subscription}}</ref> He had a daughter, Daria, with Panella, and a son, Zachary, with Koslow.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.tampabay.com/archive/1990/06/17/dads-in-the-limelight|title=Dads in the Limelight|first=Glenn|last=Plaskin|date=June 17, 1990|work=Tampa Bay Times}}</ref> For the last three years of his life, he was engaged to bodybuilder [[Negrita Jayde]], who was based in [[Toronto]].<ref name=dunning />

Hines died of [[hepatocellular carcinoma|liver cancer]] on August 9, 2003, en route to the 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 show ''[[Little Bill]]'' was ending. He was survived by his fiancée Jayde, children Daria and heZachary, wasex-stepdaughter engagedJessica, toand bodybuildergrandson [[NegritaLucian.<ref>{{cite Jayde]]news|title=Tap Dance Idol Gregory Hines, whoStar wasof basedTV, inStage And Screen, Dies|date=August 25, 2003|work=[[TorontoJet (magazine)|Jet]]|page=59|url=https://books.<ref namegoogle.com/books?id=dunning RL0DAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA59}}</ref>

His funeral was held at [[St. Monica Catholic Church (Santa Monica, California)|St. Monica Catholic Church]] in [[Santa Monica, California]]. He was buried at [[St. Volodymyr Ukrainian Cemetery|St. Volodymyr Ukrainian Catholic Cemetery]] in [[Oakville, Ontario]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Pallbearers carry the coffin of Gregory Hines' at the memorial... |url=https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/pallbearers-carry-the-coffin-of-gregory-hines-at-the-news-photo/2398486 |access-date=January 24, 2022 |website=Getty Images |language=en-us}}</ref><ref name="cbc">{{cite news |title=Gregory Hines buried in Oakville City, Ontario |url=httphttps://www.cbc.ca/newsamp/canada/story/2003/08/18/hines_oakville0308181.html374725 |work=[[CBC News]] |access-date=August 21, 2013}}</ref>

*[https://web.archive.org/web/20120324054702/http://danceinteractive.jacobspillow.org/dance/gregory-hines-dianne-walker-jimmy-slyde?ref=artist&refcar=%2Fartist%2Fg-h Archival footage of Gregory Hines, Dianne Walker and [[Jimmy Slyde]] in 1996 at Jacob's Pillow]

[[Category:BurialsAmerican indance Ontarioteachers]]

[[Category:Deaths from liver cancer in California]]

[[Category:Male actors from New York CityManhattan]]

[[Category:PeopleMusical fromtheatre Harlemchoreographers]]