Bill bojangles robinson biography
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Entertainer Bill “Bojangles” Robinson’s original name was Luther Robinson. He was born on May 25, , to Maxwell, a machinist, and Maria Robinson, a church choir director, in Richmond Virginia. Both parents died tragically in Robinson did not like his birth name, Luther, and forced his brother, Bill, to exchange names with him. Robinson and his younger brother, who changed his name to Percy, were raised by their grandmother, Bedelia Robinson, a former enslaved individ. As a young man, Robinson earned the nickname “Bojangles” for his happy-go-lucky, enthusiastic personality.
Robinson began his entertainment career performing as a song and dance man, referred to as a “hoofer” at that time, in Richmond beer gardens. In , around the age of nine, he joined Mayme Remington’s touring troupe. By Robinson joined a traveling vaudeville company, where he performed skits. In his teens, Robinson joined various traveling companies and vaudeville tours, slowly building up a reputation as a comedia
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He was a year-old Black man, she was six years old and white. Together, they danced into history as the first interracial tap-dancing couple in ’s The Little Colonel. Bill “Bojangles” Robinson called Shirley Temple his “darlin’.” He was “Uncle Billy” to her. They would act and dance in three other films &#; The Littlest Rebel, Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm, and Just Around the Corner. While Robinson was a star onstage in minstrel shows and vaudeville, he did not become famous as a Hollywood movie star until his collaboration with Temple.
Donald Bogle, in his history of Blacks in American film, Toms, Coons, Mulattoes, Mammies, & Bucks, calls Robinson “the Cool-Eyed Tom” because many of his earlier film roles were confined to subservient Black servants of white masters. Although he became famous at the height of segregation and Jim Crow laws, Robinson made the choice to accept these roles. In so doing, however, he achieved the stature that allowed him to be instrum
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Bill "Bojangles" Robinson
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Who Was Bill "Bojangles" Robinson?
Broadway legend Bill "Bojangles" Robinson started his career as a vaudeville performer, transitioning to Broadway and to Hollywood films in the s and s. His delicate tap-dance style and cheerful demeanor made Robinson a favorite of both Black and white audiences. He died in New York City on November 25,
Early Life
Bill "Bojangles" Robinson was born Luther Robinson in Richmond, Virginia, on May 25, His father, Maxwell, worked in a machine shop, while his mother, Maria, was a choir singer. After both of his parents died in , Robinson was raised by his grandmother, Bedilia, who had been an enslaved person earlier in her life. According to Robinson, he used physical force to compel his brother, Bill, to switch names with him, since he did not care for his given name of Luther. Additionally, as a young man, he earned the nickname "Bojangles" for his contentious tend