Impacters of Yesterday
Gregory Hines
Gregory Hines was a jack of all trades. He was a singer, dancer, actor and live performer. Overall, Hines has earned 16 award nominations and has won 7 of them.
Hines performed as the lead singer and musician in a rock band called Severance in 1975 based in Venice, California. In 1986, he sang a duet with Luther Vandross , entitled “There’s Nothing Better Than Love”, which reached the #1 position on the Billboard R&B charts.
Hines made his movie debut in Mel Brooks’ History of the World, Part 1. Critics took note of Hines’s comedic charm, and he later appeared in such movies as The Cotton Club, White Nights, Running Scared, Tap, and Waiting to Exhale.
On television, he starred in his own series in 1997 called The Gregory Hines Show on CBS, as well as in the recurring role of Ben Doucette on Will & Grace. In 1999, Hines made his return on television with Nick Jr.’s Little Bill, as the voice of Big Bill.
Hines made his Broadway debut with his brother in The Girl in Pink Tights in 1954. He earned Tony Award nominations for Eubie! (1979), Comin’ Uptown (1980) and Sophisticated Ladies (1981), and won the Tony Award and Drama Desk Award for the revue Jelly’s Last Jam (1992) and the Theatre World Award for Eubie!. He also co-hosted the Tony Awards ceremony in 1995 and 2002.