Bill Bojangles Robinson (1997)

[Music] maybe talk about tap dancing he said who's the world's greatest dancer we always say bill raphson was the world's greatest tech desk he really had the tap thing going and he had the joy thing going and so it was very pleasurable to watch him dance because he appeared to be having such a great time honest to god he was something else he was the greatest and doors have opened for us that would never have opened had he not been Bill Bojangles Robinson was a legend among dancers and the hero to his public with his ever-present smile and endless energy he charmed his way into the hearts of millions but few knew of the obstacles he had to overcome to get to the top or the lives he touched along the way [Music] the year was 1878 Rutherford behaves was president there were just 38 states in the Union and men like Alexander Graham Bell and Thomas Edison were experimenting with new inventions to leave the world into a modern age but America was also in the process of healing the wounds of a dark past the Civil War had ended just thirteen years earlier and the country was desperately trying to rebuild itself it was during this period of change and uncertainty that bill Robinson was born on may 25th in Richmond Virginia Richmond the farmer capital of the Confederacy was struggling to regain its status as a major center of commerce that was slavery now abolished many recently free blacks were in a new fight to hold on to their rights as citizens the whole south after Civil War wasn't complete utterly turmoil Black's almost had to began to build a whole existence from scratch the whole agrarian economy had broken down you have many many blacks coming into the city who were recently out of slavery looking for jobs it was a very difficult time the South was essentially still fighting a civil war little is known about Bill Robinson's parents who died by the time he was five or six years old although he had a grandmother and a brother the young often made the streets his home that many other poor black children born in the shadow of slavery bill left school in the first grade and did not learn to read or write instead he spent his days in the local marketplace working odd jobs like shelling peas shining shoes and dancing in the streets for pennies in the evenings bill joined the crowd of children who gathered outside Richmond's elegant Ford theater to dance for the wealthy patrons inside the whites-only theater Richmond's upper-crust enjoyed minstrel shows a popular tradition left over from pre-war days were white performers and blackface makeup imitated the Psalms and dances of plantation slaves in the minstrel show as opposed to giving blacks the opportunity to play those roles the roles actually went to white people what they did was to pee at this makeup and put it on white faces and hands to make the white entertainers appear as if they were blacks every time a new minstrel show came into town they used to announce it by parading down the main street of the town which happened in Broad Street over in Virginia they'll learn to imitate the parading minstrel performers and he gained a reputation on the streets as a skillful dancer he also had a reputation for swiping food from the local merchants which earned him the nickname Bojangles Bojangles was southern turn for mischief-maker which was more than appropriate for a boat at that time Venice made his own name at the age of 12 bill hopped a freight train to Washington DC to seek his fortune there he found a job as a stable boy at benning's racetrack and considered becoming a jockey one of the few lucrative professions open to blacks but he learned more about betting on the horses than about riding them having failed to launch a career at the racetrack bill returned to street dancing and soon landed his first paying job in show business playing a in a musical show called the south before the war a ticking me was a young black child who had to sing dance and look cute up on stage a lot of people later on looked at this as a demeaning situation but if it was the only way to get involved in show business and get an education some people took the opportunity in those days they had slavery scenes and they had the little black kids sitting around with the bandanas on their heads and they doing the dance or doing the shuffle in the sand dance they were all pickaninnies bill traveled with the show for several years but when he grew too old for the role of a he ended up back on the street the teenager lived from hand to mouth dancing in beer halls and honky tonks any place that would have him by the time he was 19 he was old enough to join the spanish-american war as a drummer and a black regiment [Music] after the war the 22 year old made his way to the bustling metropolis of New York City which was growing busier and more exciting everyday immigrants from all over the world poured into the urban mecca in search of the American dream it was the turn of the century in New York was emerging as the center of the nation's arts commerce and entertainment bill was able to make a name for himself dancing in Manhattan's clubs music halls and small vaudeville theaters he soon caught the attention of George W Cooper a successful black comedian who invited Bojangles to go on the road with him as his new partner George Cooper was phenomenal for both at that point Cooper was an incredibly talented straight man and he taught bow comedy and that was an important part of Bo's future and he taught him professionalism working with Cooper met a steady paycheck for Bill and a chance to play the most prestigious theatres in vaudeville traveling with their song and dance act 52 weeks a year vaudeville was a very interesting type of entertainment they didn't have the big bands or the chorus lines and just had acts very good acts the most famous theaters in vaudeville were on the Keith and Orpheum circuits however these circuits were also predominantly white only a handful black performers like Williams and Walker and Cooper and Robinson found success they're treated as second-class citizens they were placed under a number of restrictions including the two colored rule the two college rule meant that you could not perform alone on stage as a black performer the white theatre owners would say that it took two black heads north to have enough sense to entertain a white audience which was of course ridiculous to say but those were the rules that he was working under Robinson started out playing the clown too Cooper's a straight man but by the time bill was thirty the act had evolved to highlight his dancing which by now was the most popular part of their act while bill was a consummate professional on stage his off snake behavior was another story never a smoker or a drinker bill had only one weakness gambling his obsession was so great that he would sometimes gamble away the weekly paycheck before Cooper ever saw it oh he was a gambler bill bet on the racetrack bet on the horses but his big thing was pool he would go to any town and look up the best pool player he got beat a lot in 1914 after 12 successful years Cooper and Robinson ended their partnership and for the first time since 1902 bill was on his own finding another partner would be difficult and the 36 year old dancer longed to have his own solo act he set his sights on breaking the two-colored rule and approached a successful agent named Marty Falcons for help Porkins admired his bold ambition and he devised a plan to make bill the first solo black dancer in vaudeville Marty for conceals very aggressive and trying to make things happen form and and I don't think there were a lot of people who had managers who believed in them so much in 1916 bill made history by performing without a partner at Chicago's marigold gardens theater through sheer determination and talent bill Robinson had broken-down vaudeville's color barrier but he could never have imagined the heights to which his fame with soon saw [Music] the world was getting to know and love Bill Bojangles Robinson his dancing was winning him a place among America's top vaudeville entertainers but he still had many doors to open and many barriers to cross the year was 1916 President Woodrow Wilson was struggling to keep the country out of war and Americans were enjoying the last moments of peace theater goers across the country welcomed the light-hearted comic style of bill Robinson who by now was being billed as the dark cloud of joy the Robinson would talk while he was dancing and he would say you know I'm gonna do a step for you now that I made up you know when I danced for the king of Sweden and then he said you know watch out here it comes here it is and it was like the height of entertainment work in the vaudeville circuit meant constant travel never having known the comforts of a real home bill loved life on the road but for a black performer traveling from town to town and that dealing with racism everyday even though he had reached such stature as a performer beau is never allowed to eat in most places and would have to find meals and kitchens and could never stay at the hotels even though he could very well afford to go to the top hotel of any city he was playing in racism in America was escalating DW Griffith glorified the Ku Klux Klan in his epic film The Birth of a Nation lynchings in the south were on the rise and with America now at war black soldiers found they were treated better abroad than in their own country by 1920 membership in the Ku Klux Klan soared to 4 million bill had learned long ago that segregation and racism were facts of life however he would not tolerate injustice whatever the cost even if it meant a fight bill stood up for his rights he had an attitude built had an attitude that he didn't want anybody to walk over him and they didn't he was more than anything else someone who was willing to fight for self-respect and put his own neck on the line in order to do so and he did so many times bill was accustomed to taking care of himself although there were rumors of a failed marriages past he was known for his fiercely independent spirit but in 1921 at the age of 43 he surprised everyone by marrying an ambitious young drug store clerk named Fanny clay fanny clay was a remarkable young woman who was attending the Chicago School of Pharmacy for a woman to go on for advanced education in those days was extremely rare for a black woman to go on for advanced education that was almost unheard of she loved that man more than she loved herself not only that but she was his business manage and whatnot so she saved his money sometimes she acted like she was his mother she was so protective of him in the shadow of Manhattan's towering skyscrapers lies black sprawling harlem greatest Negro metropolis in the world bill and Fannie made their home in Harlem the new scent of America's black culture and the home of New York's most dazzling nightlife it was the Roaring Twenties a time of prosperity extravagance and hedonism and all could be found in abundance in Harlem white New Yorkers came in droves to Harlem prohibition nightclubs to drink bootleg whiskey and be entertained by exotic black musicians and chorus girls the Cotton Club was a first-class Club had beautiful dancing girls beautiful showgirls the best orchestras every celebrity you could think from from Broadway and Hollywood they were there it was wonderful everything was first-rate everything was glamorous even the chorus girls were glamorous when they left they had Massoni and make stones and foxes the girls were sharp even more exciting was a new artistic and intellectual movement known as the Harlem Renaissance it's a beginning of the appear of the flowering of the Arts a rebirth of black talent all in one place you can imagine Harlem with Duke Ellington Langston Hughes Paul Robeson all these people living in this place there is glamor glamor and it was fashion and was music and dance and poetry and art and all its form it's like a Canada and Harlem everything was just swinging everything Bill and Fanny were part of a new black upper class the joined in the celebration of haarlem's Golden Age he loved Harlem Harlem was a place where he could be we wanted to be it was a place where he felt at home and people Norman and people appreciated it was his town he owned the place by the mid 1920s the popularity of haarlem's all-black shows has spread downtown to Broadway stars like eubie Blake Ethel Waters and Florence Mills were making a name for themselves on the legitimate stage bill Robinson made his Broadway debut in an extravagant all-black musical entitled Lou Leslie's black birds of 1928 Lou Leslie would always get the best talent for his shows naturally around Cinelli hall well the two great stars and they had such great songs like I can't give you anything but love did he did he do doing the new lowdown blackbirds was a smash hit and at the age of 50 Bill Bojangles Robinson had truly hit the big time recognized as one of Broadway and vaudeville's top performers bill was now to command as much as $3,000 a week making him the highest-paid black entertainer in the world [Music] on October 29 1929 the stock market crash and the Roaring Twenties came to an abrupt halt Harlem was hit hard by the depression and it's exotic nightclubs now stood alongside soup kitchens and red lines although bills still made top dollar entertaining New York's elite he was painfully aware of the suffering of those around him Uncle Bob could not stand to see anybody I don't care who you were without on any level on any level he just couldn't stand to see it I think the thing was that he having had to live the way he did as a youngster never wanted anybody else to live that way and for that reason you could be 90 years old and you out of luck or you were having a rough time uncle beau had to take care of you he would find families dispossessed on the streets of Harlem pay their back rents and they give some money to some guys on the street to have furniture move back in at a time when many gave in to desperation bill Robinson's generosity made him a hero to the people of Harlem and they named him the honorary in there he had a special badge that he will from the police department and they gave him a special type of pistol that was gold with a pearl hammer and so if he saw anyone doing something wrong he could arrest them because he had that authority they'll put all of his extra time and energy and to benefit performances for charities both as an entertainer and as a producer they called him the benefit King he would always do these charity shows you just call him and he'd go there and he did more benefits than anybody else use children up homeless or whatever it might be he was there to raise money for huge people he was one of them by 1930 bill Robinson was one of the best-loved celebrities in New York and on the other side of the country Hollywood was beginning to take notice [Music] [Applause] it was the 1930s and motion pictures that replaced broadville as the nation's number one a form of entertainment bill Robinson made the step up to movies with a starring role in Harlem is heaven and all-black film made for black audiences but he wanted to work in mainstream Hollywood even though it had little to offer black actors in his only studio picture the 1930 RKO musical Dixie Anna he had been relegated to a brief dance number but he was determined to make it in the big time and in acting 34 when he was offered a role in a major motion picture he was off to Hollywood [Music] builds big chance at a movie Kira came when Fox Studios chose him as the new dancing partner for their Battlestar a six-year-old named Shirley Temple fast becoming the country's number one star Shirley had been busy churning out a succession of cheerful musicals that brought a message of hope to depression weary audiences ensured his 1935 film the little curl bill was given a supporting role as a butler you taught the precocious youngster a simplified version of his staircase number and together they made Hollywood history he used to say Shirley take small steps small steps or you know what happens and she would look at him and just say yeah Atlanta my keister and that was their bonding together the dimpled youngster and the elegant old-timer made a magical tea the little colonel was a box-office smash and Bill was immediately signed to a four picture deal at Fox his first film on his new contract was in old Kentucky with America's favorite grown-up stop Will Rogers at Boyd's a second anything that you'll ever see that eNOS matches the dance he does when they set the table for lunch you ought to see the one Sigurd when he said it for dinner [Music] in Old Kentucky was one of Fox's top moneymakers of 1935 by pairing build with its biggest stars Fox had found a surefire formula for success but for Bill this success came at a price when beau was in vaudeville and on Broadway he was very proud of his dress symbol which was top hat and tails it was an extremely important uniform for beau because it was a sign of respect that was one of the first things a Hollywood stripped him of and said you will play slave roles you will talk below your abilities it was a very demeaning situation yes always the roles were as chauffeurs as janitors servants of every kind you could think of although frustrated by the limits placed on him in Hollywood Bill refused to lose sight of his goal of screen stardom bill Robertson was a very smart man and he always said you got to learn to stoop to conquer you know he said I'll get there sooner or later and he did by popular demand bill reteamed with Shirley Temple and the littlest rebel although he was once again cast in a stereotypical role his character was pivotal to the story and proved to be a step and changing Hollywood standards no cha it's going to take more money in what we got I know how to get some more money come on honey child it was the first time that a black man had responsibility for a white child now doesn't sound like a lot in today's society but in those days it was a major offense a black and white hand touching those days it was taboo you weren't supposed to do that with no children of his own bill treated surely as if she were his daughter he proudly displayed 17 pictures of her in his home oh god they're you talking about the most beautiful relationship they really loved each other and really respected each other and I know I know how much uncle both loved her he really a daughter they used to sneak off and eat ice cream together that was his favorite food in the world ice cream vanilla ice cream for one of her birthdays he had given her this electric cart that she used to ride around the Fox lot with Bill Robinson well first supreme makes his next appearance in play Metropole in 1937 bill was finally scheduled to play a role that allowed him to trade and his servant garb for an elegant top hat and tails but in a last moment decision the studio inexplicably cut his part from the film and this rare footage was locked away in the studio vault never to be seen [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] with his dance number pulled from public view bills hopes for a sophisticated screen image were lost and the studio returned him to playing stereotypical roles he was disappointed but like surely he had learned that to get to the top he had to take small steps [Music] [Applause] the next year bill and Shirley delighted audiences with two more films Rebecca of Sunnybrook farm and just around the corner the chemistry between them still glowed brightly but Shirley was growing up public tastes were changing and the dancing ghouls popularity was failing it was becoming clear that the partnership would have to come to an end I sure hate to see you go miss Rebecca sure you will honey and don't forget this in 1938 after appearing in eight Fox films bill was dropped from the studio rasta Shirley would soon be let go as well [Music] and only three years bill had reached an unprecedented level of success for a black performer although he had not achieved everything he hoped for he had won the respect and adoration of his public many thought the best part of the 60 year old dances career was over but bill would soon show everyone that he wasn't finished as the big time yet but nearly a dozen Hollywood films to his name bill Robinson returned to his beloved in New York City where he was welcomed with open arms delighted to be home he paraded down the streets in celebration of the World's Fair of 1939 as the toast of the town bill starred in Mike Todd's production of the hot Mikado the most elaborate or black musical that had ever been produced governor Dewey J Edgar Hoover and several battalions of the New York City Police Department showed up on opening night where bill received eight encores I'll never forget my being in the hot mikado opening night on Broadway every number stop the show we never could come out of the stage door without actually trying to find our ways to the bust or the subway because the whole audience would be read out there by the stage door waiting for us to come out to get our autographs or to try to get in to see him veteran bill Robinson mr. Bojangles himself at the age of 61 Bill Bojangles Robinson had become an entertainment icon in the city of New York the veteran dancer seed ageless his energy endless he performed three shows of the hot mikata every day and two Cotton Club shows every night we wait the Cotton Club with the Rumson and Cab Calloway he was a great performer his taps were so clear crystal clear and he never missed a tap and I could understand why they called him the world's greatest actor wrote angers a gained fame beyond his wildest dreams although it never learned to read or write he earned the respect of an entire city and his blissful existence could best be summed up in an expression he had coined himself bill is credited for saying everything is copasetic ever since phrase and everybody said everything is copasetic meant everything was good when the United States entered World War two the country's top stars focused their energy on the war effort bill joined in with unfailing enthusiasm performing in countless bond rallies I remember Danny Kaye being quoted as saying that bill Robinson once took off his shoes one night in a benefit performance and sold the shoes for ten thousand dollars for the war effort as the 64 year old dancer tirelessly continued with his full schedule of shows and benefits his wife Fanny grew worried about his health noticing his chest pains and shortness of breath she begged him to slow down but bill ignored her concerns and seized every opportunity to work in 1943 as President Roosevelt began a push for wider employment of black Americans he urged Hollywood studios to hire more black actors 20th Century Fox responded with stormy weather a big-budget all-black musical with a star-studded cast headed by Bill Bojangles Robinson [Music] joining bill in this lavish extravaganza when music legends Cab Calloway and Fats Waller his romantic interest in the film was a 26 year old singer named Lena Horne stormy weather also featured two of bills favorite honorary nephews the Nicholas brothers and a show-stopping dance number I remember when we were that made to our number and he saw these big stairs that they had built for us to jump over each other's heads into spits I hate them he said Victor are you really gonna do that I say yes it he said that well good luck Strom II weather was a major milestone for blacks in Hollywood and it was a personal milestone for Bill not only was he playing the leading character in a Hollywood film he was finally given the opportunity to act and dress like the successful performer that he was [Music] I can't give you anything but it was a movie stuff that that was the thing that that separated him that that made everybody so proud of him he was a real movie star [Music] [Applause] [Applause] in a world that was still very much segregated bill Robinson had transcended racial boundaries in both his career and his personal life his diverse group of close friends and colleagues included Jackie Robinson Fred Astaire Edie Sullivan Joe Lewis and Milton Berle he had many many friends all different nationalities racism and they all loved them because of his personality he had a great personality onstage and offstage bill returned to the stage and born happy but when he began spending too much time with a shy young chorus girl named Elaine Plains his wife Fanny asked for a divorce in June of 1943 the couple ended the 21 year marriage bo was aging at this point and Bo had a bad heart Fanny wanted him to stop dancing to live longer this is something that bill Robinson would not listen to and that more than anything else it was one of the major causes of the divorce she couldn't live with him and watch him in pain and he couldn't live without dancing On January 27th 1944 at age 65 bill married the 24 year old Elaine as always bill flaunted convention and continued to live the life he wanted to lead defying his age and his health in 1945 bill Robinson was 67 and enjoying his status as a legendary figure in the entertainment world he was also enjoying domestic life embracing his new wife's family as his own well he got in his old ages security within a family environment he became the head figure of a family with brothers and sisters and nieces and nephew and they would play cards with him and they would have fun with him and he loved that part of it but bill wasn't about to retire in 1945 he starred in yet another Broadway show Memphis bound an all-black version of Gilbert and Sullivan's HMS pinafore he also continued to perform in as many benefits as he could fit into his schedule by this time he had danced in over 3,000 shows for charity he was generous to a fault he was a very very generous person and I think he enjoyed his celebrity and he enjoyed what his celebrity enabled him to do to help other people at age 68 bills health was seriously deteriorating but he insisted on taking another show on the road the bill Robinson concert review his longtime manager Marty for khun's gave up all his other clients in order to go on one last tour with his dearest friend with whom he had shared so many battles and triumphs god bless mr. forcas he was right there he really treated uncle beau as though he was a blood relative instead of just a client he protected him all the way down the line Bill's family grew alarmed as his heart began to fail him but despite doctors warnings he refused to slow down on November 14 1949 bill at a massive heart attack for days an anxious public listened to frequent radio bulletins on his condition as he lay in the hospital on November 25th bill Robinson died at the age of 71 as his fans across the country mourned the loss of a national treasure the people of New York joined in a tearful farewell to the man who had brought them so much joy there has never been an I doubt there will ever be another funeral like that you saw people lining both sides of the street and the park and the Thruway he didn't have a mother he didn't have a father but nobody in this world has ever been grieved for as he kings and queens haven't gotten that you never saw so many grown men the tears coming down and reaching back to get their handkerchiefs it was the largest funeral in New York City history over a million and a half people lined the streets from Harlem to Brooklyn his body lay in state at the Armory up in Harlem because was large enough to hold the crowds it was now pouring of love he was so generous to New York City and so revered he was a dignitary his death they lined up was huge him it wasn't just New Yorkers I mean people came from all over the world to to to mourn his passing having spent gambled of given away his fortune bill died virtually penniless friends and colleagues raised the needed funds for his elaborate funeral Ed Sullivan coordinated the ceremony an honorary pallbearers included Duke Ellington Joe Lewis Bob Hope Jackie Robinson Joe DiMaggio and Irving Berlin and his eulogy the Reverend Adam Clayton Powell jr. said bill wasn't a credit to his race meaning the Negro race bill was a credit to the human race he was not a great Negro dancer he was the world's greatest dancer bill was so revered by everyone bill had both white and black people who in all of him everybody loved bill Robeson all of us who have come behind the Robinson Oh him a debt of appreciation because as I sat in the movie theater watching him dance I could also see the Little Rock riots and how they didn't want people like me to come to a school to see him it made me feel like it was possible that I could do that I don't think that'll beat me another person like him and I miss him very much because he he was my favorite he was in a class all by himself there was only one bill Robinson [Music] [Applause] [Music] yeah I'd like to see you looking swell baby diamond bracelets wolf doesn't sell baby tell that lucky day you know darn well baby I can't give you anything but [Music] [Applause] [Music]

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Views: 401,267

Rating: 4.7842455 out of 5

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Id: UWtImcRU_ug

Length: 44min 22sec (2662 seconds)

Published: Wed Jul 17 2019