Tony Nominee Maurice Hines, Choreographer and Dancer on Stage and Screen, Dies at 80

Dancer, choreographer and actor Maurice Hines died of natural causes at the Actors Fund Home, an assisted living facility in Englewood, New Jersey, on December 29, 2023, according to Variety. He was 80 years old.

Hines received a Tony Award nomination in 1986 for Best Actor in a Musical for Uptown … It’s Hot, which he conceived, directed and choreographed. He also conceived, directed, choreographed and starred in the Earth, Wind & Fire musical Hot Feet, which ran on Broadway in 2006.

Born in Harlem in 1943, Hines started tap dancing at five years old, studying at the Wally Wanger dance studio in Harlem. “This teacher said, ‘What can you do?’” Hines told The Boston Globe in 2013. “I said, ‘I can turn around,’ and I did six pirouettes on one foot, and she said, ‘Get this child to class.’” Soon after, both Hines boys [with brother Gregory] were studying tap with Broadway choreographer and teacher Henry LeTang.

As a dancer, Hines often appeared alongside his younger brother Gregory Hines, who died of cancer in 2003. The siblings co-starred in the 1984 movie Cotton Club, directed by Francis Ford Coppola. As a touring act, the Hines brothers opened for the likes of Gypsy Rose Lee and Lionel Hampton, making appearances on The Tonight Show, The Ed Sullivan Show and others. Their drummer father, Maurice Sr., also joined in on the act, which was dubbed Hines, Hines & Dad.

Hines made his Broadway debut in 1954 in the musical The Girl in Pink Tights. Among the stage credits that followed, he performed in the national touring company of Guys and Dolls as well as in Eubie!, Bring Back Birdie and Sophisticated Ladies. As a choreographer and director, Hines’ credits include the national tour of Satchmo, the musical about the life of Louis Armstrong, and the national tour of Harlem Suite. In 2013, Hines brought the story of his decades-long career to the stage in Tappin’ Thru Life: An Evening with Maurice Hines, which played Cutler Majestic Theatre in Boston, Manhattan’s 54 Below and Arena Stage in D.C.

Actor, producer and dancer Debbie Allen, who co-starred with Hines in Guys and Dolls, paid tribute to Hines on social media. “I will always treasure our journey together,” she wrote. “I always speak your name.”