Classic Entertainment Autographs

Cat. #003112623: BILL "BOJANGLES" ROBINSON

Highly scarce vintage 8x10-inch glossy black and white portrait for the classic 1943 musical Stormy Weather, boldly signed and inscribed in blue fountain pen at the time of the film. In good condition for its age, with a diagonal crease traversing the lower left-hand quadrant, chiefly visible only when the photo is angled toward a light source. Legendary Black dancer Bill "Bojangles" Robinson revolutionized traditional "buck and wing", flat-footed tap, performing on the balls of his feet with a shuffle-tap style which allowed for more improvisation. He created a unique, jazz-inspired musical sound with his tapping and thralled audiences with his marvelous "stair dance," which involved tapping up and down a flight of steps both backwards and forwards.  In his later years, Robinson was a frequent character actor in musicals, typically cast as butlers or servants. His best-loved films were the four in which he was teamed with Shirley Temple:  The Little Colonel (1935), The Littlest Rebel (1935), Just Around the Corner (1938), and Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm (1938).