Maurice Hines.Photo:Dominik Bindl/Getty for Film at Lincoln Center
Dominik Bindl/Getty for Film at Lincoln Center
Maurice Hines, Broadway star and brother of fellow tap-dancing legendGregory Hines, has died. He was 80.
Maurice died on Friday of natural causes at the Actors Fund Home in Englewood, New Jersey, an assisted living facility where he lived in recent years, the home’s executive director, Jordan Strohl, confirmed to PEOPLE.
The Harlem, New York, native first gained public attention while touring with his father, Maurice Sr., and his younger brother Gregory (who died of cancer in 2003) in a dance show called Hines, Hines & Dad. In 1963, the family performed together onThe Ed Sullivan Show.
Dancer-choreographer Maurice Hines in 1989.Jack Mitchell/Getty
Jack Mitchell/Getty
In 1984, Maurice and Gregory played feuding brothers Clay and Sandman Williams in the Francis Ford Coppola filmThe Cotton Club, about the reknowned jazz club in Harlem.
Early in their careers, they performed together as the Hines Brother, but there were real-life tensions in their relationship. The 2019 documentary filmMaurice Hines: Bring ThemBackrevealed that Gregory and Maurice had a falling-out and didn’t talk for 10 years.
Hines co-directed and choreographed the national tour of the Louis Armstrong musical biographySatchmo,along with a production ofHavana Night in Cuba.
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In 2013, he toured select cities in the U.S. in a tribute show to his brother calledTappin' Thru Life.
Maurice’s friend, actress-producer-director and former dancer-choreographer, Debbie Allen, posted a tribute to himon Instagram Friday.
“Maurice Hines, I was your first leading lady in a show, ‘Guys and Dolls,’ and I will always treasure our journey together,” Allen, 73, wrote. “My tears are for my inability to speak with you or to hold you. I will ALWAYS SPEAK YOUR NAME. See you on the other side. 🥲🥲🙏🏼🙏🏼❤️❤️.”
source: people.com
