Bill Robinson facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Bill Robinson
Robinson in 1933
Born	Luther Robinson (1878-05-25)May 25, 1878 Richmond, Virginia, U.S.
Died	November 25, 1949(1949-11-25) (aged 71) New York City, New York, U.S.
Resting place	Cemetery of the Evergreens
Occupation	Dancer actor activist
Years active	1900–1949
Spouse(s)	Lena Chase ​ ​ (m. 1907; div. 1922)​ Fannie S. Clay ​ ​ (m. 1922; div. 1943)​ Elaine Plaines ​ (m. 1944)​

Bill Robinson, known by his famous nickname Bojangles, was an amazing American tap dancer, actor, and singer. Born Luther Robinson on May 25, 1878, he became the most famous and highest-paid African-American entertainer in the United States during the early 1900s. His long career showed how American entertainment changed over time. He started in minstrel shows, then moved to vaudeville, Broadway, movies, radio, and even early television.

Bill Robinson changed tap dance by making it lighter and more "on its toes." His special dance was the "stair dance," where he would tap up and down stairs in a super tricky rhythm. He also helped make the word copacetic (meaning "excellent" or "fine") popular because he used it all the time in his shows.

He is well-known for dancing with young Shirley Temple in movies during the 1930s. He also starred in the musical movie Stormy Weather (1943), which was partly based on his life. This movie was chosen to be saved in the National Film Registry because it's so important. Bill Robinson used his fame to break down many racial barriers. He was one of the first Black performers to appear without blackface makeup. He was also one of the first Black performers to do a solo act, which was against the rules at the time.

Robinson faced some criticism for the roles he played, but he worked hard behind the scenes to fight prejudice. For example, he helped convince the Dallas Police Department to hire its first Black policeman. He also talked to President Franklin D. Roosevelt about treating Black soldiers fairly during World War II. He even organized the first public event in Miami where both Black and white people attended together.

Bill Robinson was loved by both Black and white audiences. He was known for supporting other performers like Fred Astaire and Lena Horne. Many dancers, like Sammy Davis, Jr. and Ann Miller, looked up to him as a teacher. Even though he was very successful, Robinson died without money in 1949. His friend, Ed Sullivan, paid for his funeral. In 1989, his birthday, May 25, was named National Tap Dance Day to honor him.

Early Life and Start in Entertainment

Bill "Bojangles" Robinson was born Luther Robinson in Richmond, Virginia, on May 25, 1878. His father, Maxwell, was a machinist, and his mother, Maria, directed a church choir. Bill and his younger brother, William, grew up in Richmond's Jackson Ward neighborhood. Their grandmother, Bedelia Robinson, who had been a slave, raised them after both parents passed away in 1884. Bill didn't like the name Luther, so he and his brother decided to switch names. William became Percy, and Bill became Luther, though he was always known as Bill.

At age five, Bill started dancing for money in local beer gardens and outside theaters. People called him a "hoofer" or "busker" because he danced for tossed pennies. A promoter saw him and offered him a job in a minstrel show. Back then, minstrel shows often had white performers pretending to be Black. Bill performed as a "pickaninny," which meant he was a cute Black child singing and dancing on stage.

In 1890, when he was 12, Robinson ran away to Washington, D.C. He worked odd jobs and even briefly as a jockey. He teamed up with a young Al Jolson, where Jolson sang and Robinson danced. In 1891, he joined a touring show called The South Before the War, still playing a "pickaninny" even though he was getting older. He traveled with the show for over a year. In 1898, he joined the United States Army as a rifleman during the Spanish–American War.

Becoming a Vaudeville Star

On March 30, 1900, Robinson won a gold medal in a dance contest in Brooklyn, New York. This win helped him get jobs in many touring shows. He often performed with a partner, and they became a popular tap-dancing act.

By 1912, Robinson was a full partner in his dancing duo. But in 1914, the team split up. A performer named Rae Samuels convinced him to meet her manager, Marty Forkins. Forkins helped Robinson become a solo act. He even made up a story that Robinson had always been a solo performer. This helped Robinson become one of the first Black performers to break vaudeville's "two-colored rule," which usually meant Black acts had to perform in pairs.

During World War I, Robinson volunteered to perform for thousands of troops for free. He received an award from the War Department for boosting morale. Throughout the early 1920s, Robinson continued touring as a solo vaudeville act. He was booked for almost the entire year, often doing multiple shows a night on different stages.

Bill Robinson's Unique Tap Dance Style

Bill Robinson changed tap dance by dancing "up on the toes." Before him, many tap dancers used a flatter foot style. Robinson moved mostly from his waist down, showing amazing control. He was so light on his feet and made such clear tapping sounds that people called him the "Father of Tapology."

In 1918, Robinson performed his famous stair dance in New York. While others might have done similar dances, Robinson made it popular. In this dance, he would make a different rhythm and sound on each step. He even had a special portable set of stairs for his performances. He tried to get a patent for his stair dance, but it didn't work out. Still, everyone knew the stair dance belonged to him.

Robinson's talent was more than just the stair dance. He could easily switch between different rhythms and tap steps. He often talked to his audience, shared stories, and acted surprised by his own feet. His funny and charming personality was a big part of why people loved his shows. He was known for wearing special split-soled wooden shoes made just for him.

Shining on Broadway

In 1928, a show called Blackbirds of 1928 opened on Broadway. It was a Black musical revue for white audiences. Bill Robinson was added to the show after it had been running for a few weeks, and it became a huge hit! He danced and sang a duet with Adelaide Hall, and they captivated audiences. From then on, Robinson became a friendly, smiling ambassador to the white world. He stayed connected to the Black entertainment world through the Hoofers Club in Harlem, a place for entertainers.

Robinson in The Hot Mikado

In 1939, Robinson returned to Broadway in The Hot Mikado, a jazz version of a famous operetta. He played the Emperor, and his performance was so good that the audience demanded eight encores! The show later moved to the 1939 New York World's Fair and was one of the fair's biggest attractions. August 25, 1939, was even named Bill Robinson Day at the fair.

Robinson's next Broadway show, All in Fun (1940), had an all-white cast. When the original stars left, Robinson became the main star. This was a huge moment because it was the first time an African-American headlined a Broadway show with an otherwise all-white cast. Even though critics loved Robinson, the show itself didn't do well.

His last Broadway show was the musical comedy Memphis Bound in 1945. This show had an all-Black cast, with Robinson as the top star. Critics praised his performance, especially his famous stair dance.

Hollywood Film Career

After 1932, Black stage shows became less popular, but Bill Robinson remained a favorite with white audiences. He appeared in about fourteen movies made by big studios like RKO and 20th Century Fox. Most of these were musicals where he played older, charming roles.

Early Films and Shirley Temple

Robinson's first movie was the 1930 musical Dixiana. He was a "specialty performer" in a separate scene. This was common back then, so theaters in the South could easily remove scenes with Black performers. His first starring role was in Harlem Is Heaven (1932), which had an almost all-Black cast.

Robinson and Shirley Temple in Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm

The idea to have a Black dancer star with Shirley Temple in The Little Colonel came from the head of Fox studios. They chose Robinson, and he was hired to dance with Temple and teach her tap. Temple was only seven years old, so Robinson couldn't teach her his complex stair dance right away. Instead, he taught her a simpler version, and then he changed his own routine to match hers. This made it look like she was copying his amazing steps! This dance scene was the highlight of the movie.

Robinson and Temple became the first interracial dance partners in Hollywood history. This was a big deal at the time. In some places, especially in the South, scenes showing them touching were cut from the movies. They made four movies together: The Little Colonel, The Littlest Rebel, Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm, and Just Around the Corner.

Robinson and Temple became very close friends. He carried pictures of her with him, and she always said he treated her as an equal, which she really appreciated.

Other Films and Stormy Weather

Robinson refused to play roles that were too stereotypical. In Hooray for Love (1935), he played an honorary mayor of Harlem, a role based on his own life. In One Mile from Heaven (1937), he even played a romantic lead with a Black actress, which was rare for Hollywood at the time.

He also appeared with Will Rogers in In Old Kentucky (1935). They were good friends, and after Rogers died in a plane crash, Robinson refused to fly again, always traveling by train for his movie work.

Robinson's last movie was the starring role in the 1943 musical Stormy Weather. Lena Horne played his love interest, and the movie also featured famous musicians like Fats Waller and Cab Calloway. The amazing Nicholas Brothers performed a dance sequence in the film that Fred Astaire called "the greatest movie musical number he had ever seen." In 2001, Stormy Weather was chosen to be saved in the United States National Film Registry because it's so important culturally and historically.

Radio and Recordings

From 1936 until he passed away in 1949, Bill Robinson was often on the radio and sometimes on early television. People loved to hear the unique sound of his tap dancing. He also sang, made sound effects, and told jokes from his vaudeville shows. He even talked directly to the audience, which was very unusual for a Black radio performer back then.

Robinson also made several recordings. One recording even showed off each of his tap steps and the sounds they made. It was on the radio and in his recordings that Robinson helped make the word copacetic popular. He had used it for years in his shows, and it was even added to Webster's Dictionary in 1934!

Later Life and Legacy

Robinson's last public appearance was in 1949, just a few weeks before he died. He was a surprise guest on a TV show called Ted Mack's The Original Amateur Hour. He hugged a young tap dancer on the show, and a friend said it was like he was "handing over his crown," saying goodbye.

Little is known about Robinson's first two marriages. His third marriage was in 1944 to Elaine Plaines, and they stayed together until his death. He didn't have any children.

Bill Robinson was a very generous person. He was made an honorary mayor of Harlem and a mascot of the New York Giants baseball team. Even though he was the highest-paid Black performer of his time, earning over $2 million, he died without money on November 25, 1949, from heart failure. His longtime friend, TV host Ed Sullivan, paid for his funeral. About 32,000 people came to see his casket in Harlem. Schools in Harlem even closed early so children could attend or listen to the funeral on the radio.

Jack Witt's statue of Robinson in Richmond, Virginia

Robinson was incredibly successful despite the challenges of racism. There's a famous story about him in a restaurant. A customer didn't want him there, and the manager suggested Robinson leave. Robinson smiled and asked to borrow a ten-dollar bill. He then added six more $10 bills from his own wallet, mixed them up, and said, "Here, let's see you pick out the colored one." The manager served him right away.

In 1936, Robinson helped start the New York Black Yankees baseball team in Harlem. The team was part of the Negro National League until it ended in 1948, after Major League Baseball started allowing Black players.

In 1989, the U.S. Congress declared May 25, Bill Robinson's birthday, as National Tap Dance Day to celebrate his contributions to dance. He was also inducted into the National Museum of Dance and Hall of Fame in 1987.

Common Stories and Facts

There are many stories about Bill Robinson, and sometimes they can be a bit confusing! This is because his manager or even Bill himself sometimes told different versions of events.

For example, it was often said that Robinson served in the trenches during World War I and was a drum major for a famous band. However, he was 36 when the U.S. entered WWI, and he actually received an award for boosting morale at training camps in the U.S., not overseas. While he was very supportive of the military, he wasn't a drum major in the 369th Hellfighters Band.

The Nickname "Mr. Bojangles"

The meaning of his nickname "Bojangles" was seen differently by Black and white people. To some white people, it meant "happy-go-lucky." But a Black artist named Tom Fletcher said it was slang for "squabbler." Robinson himself said he got the nickname as a child in Richmond, which is the most widely accepted story.

Meeting His Manager

The story of how Bill Robinson met his manager, Marty Forkins, was often told as Robinson spilling soup on Forkins while working as a waiter. However, after Robinson died, Forkins and his wife admitted that his wife actually introduced them. They made up the soup story to help promote Robinson as a solo act, which was important for him to break the "two-colored rule" in vaudeville.

The Word "Copacetic"

Robinson is given credit for making the word copacetic popular. He said he invented it when he was a child. The Oxford English Dictionary says the word's origin is unknown, but it was first written down in 1919. However, Robinson definitely helped make it famous by using it in his vaudeville and radio shows, and even in his movies with Shirley Temple.

World Record for Running Backward

One way Robinson got attention was by doing "freak sprinting" races, like running backward. In 1922, he set a world record for running 100 yards backward in 13.5 seconds! This record stood until 1977. While he was definitely fast, this record was likely part of a publicity event rather than a formal athletic competition.

Filmography

Selected Discography

• 1929 Ain’t misbehavin’/Doing the new low down with Irving Mills & His Hotsy Totsy Gang (released September 4, 1929) Brunswick Records Br4535 Re-issued on Cotton Club stars (released 1990) Milan Records OCLC 858508492
• 1931
  • Keep a song in your soul / Bill Robinson blues (released April 3, 1931) Brunswick Records E36441-A-B; also issued on Columbia Records 30183
  • Keep a song in your soul / Just a crazy song (Hi-hi-hi) Brunswick Records Br 6134, 1168b, A9091
• 1935 Living in a great big way with Jeni Legon (recorded 1934, re-released in 2000 on Hollywood swing & jazz : hot numbers from classic M-G-M, Warner Bros., and RKO films) Rino Records ISBN: 9780737901382
• 1943 Stormy Weather Motion picture soundtrack (recorded January–May 1943, re-released 1993) Fox Records: Distributed by Arista Records, 1993.

Images for kids

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  Bill 'Bojangles' Robinson and Adelaide Hall in the musical comedy Brown Buddies on Broadway in 1930

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  Robinson in 1942

See also

In Spanish: Bill Robinson para niños

• List of dancers