Hinton Battle, a three-time Tony Award-winning actor who first brought to life the role of Scarecrow in Broadway’s The Wiz, has died. He was 67.
His passing was confirmed by his friend, actor and choreographer Debbie Allen, who shared the news on her Instagram page. “Today I honor Hinton Battle, my dear friend who left us to dance and sing in God’s Ensemble last night,” she wrote. “He fought this battle to live and be creative impacting audiences and young people across the globe.”
She continued, “Let us always hold him high in our hearts and in our mind’s eye and forever speak his name.”
A cause of death has not been revealed at time of writing.
Battle was born on November 29, 1956, in West Germany, part of the Baumholder Army Military Community, and raised in Washington, D.C. and New York City. He studied ballet for three years at the Jones-Haywood School of Ballet, after which he received a scholarship to The School of American Ballet, where he studied until he was 15.
Hinton Battle (center) with dancers on set of Idlewild, 2006, (c) Universal/courtesy Everett Collection
He made his Broadway debut in The Wiz (1975), originating the role of Scarecrow and would go on to appear in several highly-lauded musicals, including Dancin’, Sophisticated Ladies, Dreamgirls, The Tap Dance Kid, Miss Saigon, and the revival of Chicago.
Battle received Tony Awards for Best Featured Actor/Musical for his roles in Sophisticated Ladies (1981), The Tap Dance Kid (1983), and Miss Saigon (1991).
In addition to his illustrious stage career, Battle appeared on-screen, including in television series such as Quantum Leap, Touched by an Angel, and Smash. Perhaps most notably, he appeared as the jazz demon Sweet in the popular Buffy the Vampire Slayer musical episode, “Once More With Feeling.”
Battle also choreographed the Buffy episode he starred in. His other choreography credits include the 65th and 66th Annual Academy Awards (with Debbie Allen), The Trouble With Normal, Sister Sister, Dancing With The Stars, Outkast movie-musical Idlewild, and Child Star: The Shirley Temple Story.
He also featured in the films Daddy’s Boys and Wedding Band and played Wayne in the 2006 Academy Award-winning movie adaptation of Dreamgirls.