Maurice Hines, a powerhouse singer and dancer who rose to stardom as a child in a tap dance act with his brother, Gregory, and later performed on and off Broadway, including in shows he directed and choreographed, died Friday. in Englewood, New Jersey. He was 80 years old.
His death, at the Actors Fund Home, was confirmed by his cousin Richard Nurse. No specific cause was given.
The Hines brothers inherited a fading tap dancing tradition and, decades later, had a lot to do with bringing it back to the public consciousness. They began dance classes in Harlem when Maurice was 5 and Gregory was 3. After two years, they came under the tutelage of the great tap master and choreographer Henry LeTang, who turned them into an act inspired by the high-flying Nicholas Brothers.
They spent many days watching show after show at the Apollo Theater in Harlem, absorbing the styles of tap dancers like Teddy Hale, Bunny Briggs, and the duo Coles and Atkins, and sometimes taking lessons from them in the back alley. As the Hines Kids, they also performed at the Apollo and Catskills resorts, Las Vegas casinos, Miami nightclubs, and theaters in Europe, as well as in the 1954 Broadway show “The Girl in Stockings.” roses.”
Since tap dancing was going out of style, the Hines brothers increasingly incorporated comedy and singing into their act, inspired by Sammy Davis Jr., a role model with whom they performed. His father, a drummer, joined them later, and like Hines, Hines and Dad, they toured the country, appeared often on “The Tonight Show” with Johnny Carson and, in 1968, recorded an album, “Pandemonium.” !”
The brothers had different styles. Gregory gravitated toward Helmets’ loose but hard-edged improvisational style like John Bubbles, while Maurice drew more broadly from ballet and jazz dance, embellishing his low-to-the-floor footwork with florid arm gestures like those of his hero, Fayard Nicholas. , as he throws high kicks and spins.
His approach to the public was also different. Gregory “was so relaxed, so natural,” Maurice told The New York Times in 2016, “and he always said that he never had to worry about the audience when we performed together because I got them. Because I was relentless. “That’s why we work so well together.”
“Maurice was always in charge,” Nurse said in the 2019 documentary “Maurice Hines: Bring Them Back.” On the spot, Gregory was often the butt of jokes – “the lovable idiot,” his father called him – and in 1973, Gregory quit, moved to Southern California and became something of a hippie who played in a jazz-rock band.
At first, Maurice was on the loose without his brother, but he was soon hired for a production of “Guys and Dolls” and convinced Gregory to return to New York with the promise of work. It was he and LeTang who got Gregory hired to join Maurice in “Eubie!”, a 1978 Broadway revue based on the songs of early jazz composer Eubie Blake. They acted like brothers again, did joint interviews and appeared together on “Sesame Street.” But it was Gregory, not Maurice, who was nominated for a Tony Award for his performance in the show.
And it was Gregory who became a star in Hollywood movies and again on Broadway in Duke Ellington’s 1984 revue “Sophisticated Ladies.” When Gregory toured the show in Los Angeles, Maurice took over Gregory’s role in New York. “Gregory said he would make the show last longer, and I did,” Maurice recalled in an interview.
With Mercedes Ellington, Duke’s granddaughter, Hines created Balletap USA, a company that danced not only jazz but also contemporary music, such as that of Michael Jackson. But he soon left the company for the opportunity to appear with his brother in a 1984 film, Francis Ford Coppola’s “The Cotton Club.”
In the film, set in and around the famous Harlem nightclub of the same name in the 1920s, the Hines brothers play a brother much like themselves. Their brotherly affection and his tension inform scenes that were largely improvised, as they repeat the Hines brothers’ routines, fight when Gregory’s character becomes a star soloist, and eventually reconcile on stage. Offstage and off camera, they soon quarreled again and did not speak for a decade for reasons they never publicly revealed.
In 1986, Maurice created, directed, choreographed and starred in a Broadway show, “Uptown…It’s Hot,” a rare accomplishment for a black performer. His performance, which reviewed several decades of black popular music, earned him a Tony nomination for best actor in a musical, but the show closed within weeks.
In 1994, Maurice replaced his brother again, this time in a touring production of the groundbreaking Broadway musical “Jelly’s Last Jam,” for which Gregory had won a Tony Award for his portrayal of jazz pioneer Jelly Roll Morton. (In his acceptance speech, Gregory thanked all members of his family, but left out his brother.)
Filling the role meant going head-to-head with the teenager who played young Morton: Savion Glover, who would soon be considered Gregory’s successor as the king of tap. Once, during a challenge dance exchange between the older and younger Mortons, Maurice, then in his 40s, turned and broke away: “and Savion knelt before me,” Hines said in an interview.
Hines created more touring shows, such as “Harlem Suite,” but success on Broadway eluded him. “Hot Feet,” a 2006 Broadway revue, with music by Earth, Wind and Fire, that he conceived, directed and choreographed, closed within a few months.
In her last show, the critically acclaimed “Tappin’ Thru Life,” which toured from 2010 to 2019, she sang, danced and told stories, mostly about her brother, who died of cancer at age 57 in 2003.
Maurice Robert Hines Jr. was born on December 14, 1943 in Manhattan. His father worked various jobs, including as a salesman, janitor, and semi-professional baseball player, before becoming a musician and joining his children’s band. His mother, Alma (Lawless) Hines, was a waitress at the Audubon Ballroom and helped manage her sons’ careers. The family soon moved from Harlem to Brooklyn and the brothers, while pursuing their careers, attended schools for professional children.
In the early 1980s, Hines joined jazz dance teacher Frank Hatchett to run the Hines-Hatchett Dance Studio in Manhattan (now Broadway Dance Center).
Later that decade, she moved to Los Angeles, where, with Silas Davis, her partner at the time, she adopted and raised a daughter, Cheryl Davis. She is the only immediate survivor of him.
Hines was known for speaking his mind. He liked to tell a story about him appearing on Regis Philbin’s television show, refusing to dance and then, after Mr. Philbin danced, informing him: “Your charisma doesn’t extend to your feet.”
In interviews, Hines often complained about New York theater critics, the economics of Broadway, and prejudice against black performers. However, in his later years he mainly talked about a glorious past and missing his brother.
