Bill Robinson

Bill Robinson (born May 25, 1878, Richmond, Virginia, U.S.—died November 25, 1949, New York, New York) was an American dancer of Broadway and Hollywood, best known for his dancing roles with Shirley Temple in films of the 1930s.

Robinson’s parents having died when he was a child, he was raised by a grandmother and received little formal schooling. He began dancing for pennies at the age of eight, when he had also begun to work as a stableboy. He eventually made a swing of a vaudeville circuit and in 1908 entered a business association with Marty Forkins, actors’ agent, who helped him to fame.

Robinson went on to become a star of black musical comedies, later a top vaudeville star, and finally a star of motion pictures, appearing in 14 films, notably The Little Colonel (1935), In Old Kentucky (1935), The Littlest Rebel (1935), Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm (1938), and Just Around the Corner (1938). He also appeared in the wartime all-black musical film Stormy Weather (1943).

His soft-shoe and tap routines were widely copied by other dancers, but Robinson was probably unmatched for ingenuity in creating new steps, especially his famous “stair dance.” He also was famed for a unique ability to run backward—almost as fast as other men could run forward; he once ran 75 yards backward in 8.2 seconds.

Despite his earnings, which reached $6,600 a week for at least one year, he died in relative poverty, chiefly because of his spendthrift generosity and habits of gambling. On his death, he received tributes from royalty, the White House, and members of the U.S. president’s cabinet.