Personal Info
Luther Robinson
Bojangles
Bill "Bojangles" Robinson
Bill Robinson
Acting
Biography
According to one jazz dance source, Bill 'Bojangles' Robinson was the chief instigator for getting tap dance "up on its toes." Early forms of tap, including the familiar "buck and wing", contained a flat-footed style, while Robinson performed on the balls of his feet with a shuffle-tap style that allowed him more improvisation. It obviously got him noticed and it certainly made him a legend.
Born Luther Robinson in Richmond, Virginia, on May 25, 1878, he was orphaned in infancy and reared by a grandmother. He took his brother Bill's name for his own once he went professional. His brother, in …
Filmography
Movies
Dancetime Tap Dance History
The Harlem Renaissance
as Self (archive footage)
Hidden Hollywood: Treasures from the 20th Century Fox Film Vaults
as Self (Archival Footage)
That's Dancing!
Stormy Weather
as Bill Williamson
Let's Scuffle
as HImself
By an Old Southern River
as Self
Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm
as Aloysius
Just Around the Corner
as Samuel G. Henshaw
Up the River
as Memphis Jones
