b. Hinton Battle, 29th November 1956, Neubrücke, Rhineland-Palatinate, West Germany
d. 30th January 2024, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.
Hinton Battle was an actor and dancer, who worked in Hollywood before taking up a career in singing.
Born in Germany, as a child, he relocated to several European cities as his father was in the military.
Showing signs of ability as a dancer, Hinton's mother enrolled him in the Jones-Haywood School of Ballet.
Hinton was offered a scholarship there to develop his skills.
At 13 years of age, Hinton was studying at the School Of American Ballet, which led to several show appearances.
These included 'The Wiz' (in the role of the Scarecrow) with the Dance Theatre Of Harlem along with a starring role in the show 'Dancin', with which he received his first Tony Award in 1981.
Three years later he repeated his Tony success with a role in 'The Tap Dance Kid'.
His major role, however, was in the role of James 'Thunder' Early in 'Dreamgirls'.
untapped - 1986
In 1986 he signed to Quincy Jones's Qwest label and released 'Untapped'.
That album contained the popular soul track 'Super Cautious Girl'.
The album was produced by John Brown, who had previously seen Hinton perform in the musical 'Dreamgirls' and later in the show called 'Tap Dance Kid'.
John had originally tried to sign Hinton to MCA, but when that deal fell through, he landed a contract with Qwest.
To promote 'Untapped', Hinton turned down two musicals.
He is based today in Los Angeles and New York and can be seen in a recent episode of the T.V. series 'Buffy The Vampire Slayer'.
Hinton re-visited a different role in the 2007 movie version of 'Dreamgirls' featuring Beyonce Knowles.
Hinton Battle died, at the age of 67, at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles on the 30th of January 2024.
Albums:
Untapped (Qwest Records 1986)
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