A Brief Look At Bill Bojangles

Bill ‘Bojangles’ Robinson Biography
Bill “Bojangles” Robinson was most the legendary of all Black American tap dancers that lived in the 20th century. Bill was also an actor who was best known for his film roles and Broadway performances. Bill dancing style that involved dancing upright, while extracting and swinging his light footwork, took tap from the previous flat-footed shuffling style and developed tap dancing art to a delicate perfection, pushing performers to their toes. Bill ‘Bojangles’ Robinson was born on 25th of May 1878 in Richmond, Virginia. He was a son of Maxwell, who served in a machine shop and Maria, who was a singer in a choir. Bill was named Luther Robinson after birth. However, he later exchanged his name Luther with
He dropped out of school at the age of seven and started taking part in professional dances a year after. He performed in various resident bars and gardens for a living. Later, he joined touring troupe named Mayme Remingtons in 1886 and shifted to a travelling company in 1891 and shortly after that a vaudeville actor. Robinson attained great success as a musical-comedian and nightclub performer. At an early stage in his career, Robinson almost exclusively performed in black theaters, which only hosted black audiences, with his performances including movies and musical stage. Robinson performed locally for a while by 1900, he had managed to travel to New York, and grew rapidly to be among the most loved American music comedy and nightclub performers. In 1908, Bill met Marty Forkins in Chicago who ended up being his lifetime manager which landed him a solo act under Forkins management mostly in nightclubs thus, increasing his popularity and earnings (Biography.com,
Irrespective of his success, his chances were still restricted to black American venues, due to racism. However, in 1928, Robinson got a chance to face white audiences for the first time where he starred on Broadways, which included his popular stair dance. As a star, Robinson performance immediately managed to captivate White audiences. In the following decade, Robinson performed 14 motions pictured for Paramount, 20th Century Fox, and RKO. He played opposite Shirley Temple in his most repeated role of an old Antebellum in a number of films that include Just Around the Corner published in 1938, The Little Colonel in 1935, Rebecca of Sunnybrook Far in 1938, and The Little Rebel in 1935. Irrespective of his fame, Bill was unable to transcend the slim range of black actor stereotypical role at the time. By taking these roles, he managed to maintain his professional position even at his old age. At the age of 61, Robinson starred in The Hot Mikado, a Sullivan and Gilbert’s operetta jazz-inspired interpretation. He publicly celebrated his 61st birthday by dancing down 61 Broadway blocks (Blackpast.org,