BILL ROBINSON (1943) Photo – 1

[Hollywood: Twentieth Century Fox, 1943]. Vintage original 10 x 8″ (25 x 20 cm) black-and-white print still photo. With a mimeographed sheet of film credits on verso, just about fine.

“Bill ‘Bojangles’ Robinson (born Luther Robinson; 1878–1949) was an American tap dancer, actor and singer, the best known and the most highly paid black entertainer in the United States during the first half of the 20th century. His career began in the age of minstrel shows and moved to vaudeville, Broadway theatre, the recording industry, Hollywood films, radio and television.

“He is famous for his dancing with Shirley Temple in a series of films during the 1930s, and for starring in Stormy Weather (1943), loosely based on his own life and selected for preservation in the National Film Registry.” (Wikipedia)

This portrait is from his appearance in the Black-cast musical Stormy Weather.