Hinton Battle
Born in Germany, and raised in Washington, D.C. and New York City, HINTON BATTLE's tremendous talent became apparent at the early age of nine. After three years of studying ballet at the Jones & Haywood School of Ballet, he received a scholarship to the School of American Ballet, under the legendary George Balanchine, where he studied till the age of 15. At the age of 15, Battle found himself on Broadway playing the Scarecrow in the historic Broadway musical The Wiz. Battle has the honor to have been the first African American to have received three Tony Awards for his work in the Broadway Shows Sophisticated Ladies (1981), The Tap Dance Kid (1984) and Miss Saigon (1992). He has also received the NAACP Award and the Fred Astaire Award for his work in The Tap Dance Kid. Other Broadway shows Battle has starred in include Dancin', Dreamgirls and Chicago as Billy Flynn. He received rave reviews as Coalhouse Walker, Jr. in the Chicago production of Ragtime, which garnered him an Ira Aldridge Award. Battle served as associate choreographer on both the 65th and 66th Annual Academy Awards. He received great notices for his work as an actor and choreographer on the feature film Foreign Student. The following year, Battle wrote, directed and choreographed 712 Cathedral for WJZ-TV. He has also choreographed for Coca-Cola and Disney; the sitcoms Fired Up, Sister, Sister, The Trouble With Normal, Andy Richter Controls the Universe, Warner Bros.' network promos; The Ella Fitzgerald Tribute; and prepared recording artists for music videos and touring. In 1995, Battle performed Elton John's nominated song Circle of Life on the 67th Annual Academy Awards. With Otis Sallid, Battle developed his one-man show, Shine, for the 1997 HBO Comedy Festival - where he received tremendous attention as a comic force. Battle also performed on The Kennedy Center 25th Anniversary Special. Battle narrated The Kennedy Center's children's ballet, Pepito's Story. As an actor, Battle starred opposite Shirley MacLaine, Joan Collins, Debbie Reynolds and Elizabeth Taylor in the ABC television special These Old Broads and choreographed and starred as Bill "Bojangles" Robinson in Child Star: The Shirley Temple Story for ABC. He also had the pleasure of playing Sweet, the evil dance master in Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Battle will be acting in the upcoming Sony musical feature Dreamgirls. Bio as of August, 2006. American Theatre Wing programs, interviews and/or credits include: Working in the Theatre (video) Performance - September, 1991 - Watch now. Downstage Center (audio) Hinton Battle - August, 2006 - Listen Now. Internet Broadway Database Listing (IBDB.com)