Trivia

He originated the role of the Scarecrow in "The Wiz" in 1975, but was replaced by Michael Jackson for the 1978 movie version.

Has won three Tony Awards on three nominations, all in the category of Best Actor (Featured Role - Musical): in 1981 for "Sophisticated Ladies," in 1984 for "The Tap Dance Kid, " and in 1991 for "Miss Saigon."

Although many people primarily know him as a tap dancer, he didn't learn to tap until he was hired for "The Tap Dance Kid" in 1983.

His role in The Tap Dance Kid earned Hinton a second Tony Award as well as the NAACP Award and the Fred Astaire Award.

He served as Associate Choreographer on the 65th and 66th Annual Academy Awards with Debbie Allen.

He attended the Jones-Haywood School of Ballet. At age 13 he earned a scholarship to George Balanchine's School of American Ballet.

After three years of studying ballet at the Jones-Haywood School of Ballet, he received a scholarship to The School of American Ballet where he studied until the age of fifteen under George Balanchine.

He directed the stage musical "Respect", a musical journey of women from the 1900s to 2007.

In 2017, Battle founded the Hinton Battle Dance Academy.

Battle had written a children's book and had been working on an autobiography at the time of his death.

In addition to his prolific dancing career, Battle briefly drifted into singing in the mid-1980s. His song "Think We're Gonna Make It" was featured on the soundtrack to the 1986 movie Playing for Keeps, and he released his lone solo album, Untapped, that same year.

Battle's talent became apparent at the age of nine.

He was an American actor, singer, dancer, and dance instructor.

Hinton has choreographed promos for Warner Brothers, commercials for Coca-Cola, Chicago the musical, and New York Top Appliances.

Battle was born in Neubrücke, Hoppstädten-Weiersbach, West Germany, part of the Baumholder Army Military Community, and raised in Washington, D.C., and New York City.

On October 21, 1974, the new musical The Wiz opened at the Morris A. Mechanic Theatre in Baltimore, Maryland and then moved to Broadway's Majestic Theatre with a new cast on January 5, 1975. This is where Battle made his Broadway debut starring as the Scarecrow. Thus he was the first to portray the Scarecrow in the stage version of The Wiz (a role then taken on by Michael Jackson in the 1978 film adaptation).

Battle's creation, a dance form called "Swop" that combines swing and hip-hop, was performed on the highly rated Dancing with the Stars in 2006.

Battle's long list of television credits included Shine, his one-man show presented at the HBO Aspen Comedy Arts Festival.

Off-Broadway, Battle served as co-director and choreographer for Evil Dead The Musical.

In 2014, Battle starred in the off-Broadway production Cindy: The Musical.

Son of Hilton Govorn Battle, Sr, and Currie Griffin Battle.

Has two brothers, and two sisters, Lettie and Eddie Battle.