--- name: "Gregory Hines" canonical: "https://film.one/person/gregory-hines" fi1m_id: "gregory-hines" imdb_id: "nm0002138" tmdb_id: 66804 wikidata_id: "Q367653" roles: ["Actor"] born: "14 February 1946" died: "9 August 2003" reviewed_on_fi1m: 1 average_as: "actor" average_over: 1 updated: "2026-10-04T21:58:07.058934+00:00" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Gregory Hines ## Identity Gregory Hines - **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/gregory-hines - **Type:** Person - **Fi1m ID:** gregory-hines - **IMDb ID:** nm0002138 - **TMDB ID:** 66804 - **Wikidata ID:** Q367653 - **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gregory_Hines, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q367653, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0002138/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/66804 Actor. Born 14 February 1946 in New York City, New York, USA. Died 9 August 2003. ## Details - **Work:** Actor - **Born:** 14 February 1946, New York City, New York, USA - **Died:** 9 August 2003 - **Also known as:** Hines, Hines, and Dad, Gregory Oliver Hines - **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gregory_Hines, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q367653, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0002138/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/66804 ## Fi1m on Gregory Hines > Gregory Hines brings a dancer’s physical ease to characters who need not be dancing. We value his warmth and his willingness to look vulnerable, though an agreeable presence can only do so much for an underwritten part. In *A Rage in Harlem* (1991), Gregory Hines’s Goldy belongs to the company we want to stay with, even when the crime comedy loses its way. Hines is an actor we readily warm to, and the pleasure is not confined to his dancing. We enjoyed his company here because he remained engaging through stretches of busy plotting with little comic surprise. With Danny Glover as Easy Money, he helps Bill Duke keep an uneven film worth watching. That is useful work, though it asks less of him than we might wish. His film career began with *History of the World: Part I* (1981) and *Wolfen* (1981), before the mid-1980s gave him more substantial screen opportunities. Francis Ford Coppola’s *The Cotton Club* (1984) put him alongside his brother Maurice, while *White Nights* (1985) paired him with Mikhail Baryshnikov. Those partnerships matter: Hines’s loose, low-to-the-ground tap style could stand beside ballet without trying to resemble it. Then *Running Scared* (1986), opposite Billy Crystal, gave him a buddy-cop lead that did not depend primarily on dance. His physical expressiveness comes with a gentleness that is attractive but can become a limitation. He sought parts that allowed Black men vulnerability, including roles originally written for white actors, rather than accepting the cool, untroubled figure as his lot. *Tap* (1989) brought him together with Sammy Davis Jr. and older tap performers, but its predictable plotting makes the stretches between dances less rewarding. His agreeable manner cannot make those scenes sufficiently interesting on its own. *A Rage in Harlem* shows both the value and the limit of that friendliness. Forest Whitaker and Robin Givens provide much of its charm, and Hines and Glover help sustain it; none of them can supply the missing comic invention. We would not confuse a welcoming supporting performance with a fully rewarding part. For a fuller introduction, start with *Running Scared*, where Hines gets the responsibility of a lead rather than the job of making weaker stretches agreeable. ## Biography Gregory Oliver Hines (14 February 1946 – 9 August 2003) was an American tap dancer, actor, choreographer and singer. He began tap dancing at the age of two or three and performed professionally from the age of five with his older brother Maurice as the Hines Kids, later joined by their father as Hines, Hines and Dad. He made his Broadway debut in 1954. Hines appeared in more than 40 films, including *History of the World: Part I* (1981), *The Cotton Club* (1984), *Running Scared* (1986) and *A Rage in Harlem* (1991), in which he played Goldy. On television he had a recurring role as Ben Doucette on *Will & Grace* (1999–2000) and voiced Big Bill on the animated series *Little Bill* (1999–2004). He also performed on Broadway, winning a Tony Award and a Drama Desk Award for *Jelly's Last Jam* (1992). He received a Daytime Emmy Award and was nominated for four Primetime Emmy Awards and a Screen Actors Guild Award. *Sources: en.wikipedia.org, britannica.com.* ## On Fi1m (1) - *A Rage in Harlem* (1991), Fi1m 71, as Goldy — [page](https://film.one/film/a-rage-in-harlem.md) ## Complete filmography (50) Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page. - *American Tap* (2018), as (archive footage) - *Broadway's Lost Treasures II* (2004), as Jelly Roll Morton (segment "Jelly's Last Jam") - *Lost at Home* (2003), series, as Jordan King - *The Red Sneakers* (2002), as Zeke · Director - *Santa, Baby!* (2001), as Noel (voice) - *Bojangles* (2001), as Bojangles - *Once in the Life* (2000), as Ruffhouse - *Who Killed Atlanta's Children?* (2000), as Ron Larson - *Things You Can Tell Just by Looking at Her* (2000), as Robert (segment "Fantasies About Rebecca") - *Little Bill* (1999), series, as William "Big Bill" Glover (voice) - *Will & Grace* (1998), series, as Ben Doucette - *The Tic Code* (1998), as Tyrone Pike - *The Gregory Hines Show* (1997), series, as Ben Stevenson - *Color of Justice* (1997), as Reverend Walton - *Subway Stories* (1997), as Jack (segment "Manhattan Miracle") - *Good Luck* (1997), as Bernard 'Bern' Lemley - *The Cherokee Kid* (1996), as The Undertaker / Jedediah Turner - *The Preacher's Wife* (1996), as Joe Hamilton - *Mad Dog Time* (1996), as Jules Flamingo - *Waiting to Exhale* (1995), as Marvin - *Bleeding Hearts* (1995), Director - *Amazing Stories: The Movie IV* (1995), as Falsworth (archive footage) - *A Stranger in Town* (1995), as Barnes - *Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child* (1995), series, as The Beast (voice) - *Dead Air* (1994), as Mark Jannek / Jim Sheppard - *Baseball* (1994), series, as Various (voice), (voice) - *Renaissance Man* (1994), as Sergeant Cass - *Kangaroo Court* (1994), Actor - *T Bone N Weasel* (1992), as T Bone - *Warrior: The Life of Leonard Peltier* (1991), Thanks - *White Lie* (1991), as Len Madison Jr. - *A Rage in Harlem* (1991), as Goldy — Fi1m 71, [page](https://film.one/film/a-rage-in-harlem.md) - *Eve of Destruction* (1991), as Colonel Jim McQuade - *Law & Order* (1990), series, as Defense Attorney Carl Halpert — Fi1m 72, [page](https://film.one/tv/law-and-order.md) - *Tap* (1989), as Max Washington - *Off Limits* (1988), as Albaby Perkins - *Running Scared* (1986), as Ray Hughes - *An All-Star Celebration Honoring Martin Luther King Jr.* (1986), Actor - *White Nights* (1985), as Raymond Greenwood - *Amazing Stories* (1985), series, as Falsworth - *Puss in Boots* (1985), as Edgar - Miller's Son - *Motown Returns to the Apollo* (1985), Actor - *The Cotton Club* (1984), as Delbert 'Sandman' Williams - *The Muppets Take Manhattan* (1984), as Rollerskater - *Deal of the Century* (1983), as Ray Kasternak - *Faerie Tale Theatre* (1982), series, as Edgar, Miller's son - *Wolfen* (1981), as Whittington - *History of the World: Part I* (1981), as Josephus - *Eubie!* (1981), Actor - *Omnibus* (1967), series, Actor ## Gallery - ![Gregory Hines](https://film.one/media/person/5559029/gallery-c94cd9750574.jpg) Gregory Hines — Kingkongphoto & www.celebrity-photos.com from Laurel Maryland, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Gregory_Hines_1993.jpg/1280px-Gregory_Hines_1993.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail) - ![Gregory Hines](https://film.one/media/person/5559029/gallery-22ea4568bda5.jpg) Gregory Hines — Image via TMDB ## Awards ### Other awards — 2 won, 2 nominated - Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical 1992: Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical (won) - Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical 1981: Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical (nominated) - Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical 1980: Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical (nominated) - Theatre World Award 1979: Theatre World Award (won) *From Wikidata, which records wins more completely than nominations.* --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/gregory-hines