Gregory Hines
Birth : 1946-02-14, New York City, New York, USA
Death : 2003-08-09
History
Gregory Hines (1946–2003) was an American actor, singer, dancer and choreographer.
Himself (Archival Footage)
Maurice Hines, a charming, gay African-American entertainer navigates the complications of show business while grieving the loss of his more famous, often estranged younger brother, tap dance legend Gregory Hines.
(archive footage)
The history of tap is an ever-evolving panorama of inclusion, adversity, and reinvention. This in-depth documentary is an absorbing narrative about a quintessentially American dance form—from its origins, to the historic and cultural events that shaped it, to its present day rebirth as a vibrant art form.
Jelly Roll Morton (segment "Jelly's Last Jam")
The annual Tony Award broadcast provides the only filmed record of Broadway's best for audiences to experience as if they were front-row-center on opening night. This second compilation of great musical moments from the Tonys features another dazzling array of stars and performances. Hosts Lauren Bacall, Bebe Neuwirth, Brian Stokes Mitchell and Jerry Orbach introduce these one-of-a-kind performances and share their personal Broadway and Tony memories.
Himself (archive footage)
Cast and crew offer up a nice overview piece, discussing the picture's authenticity, real life in the time of Boyz n the Hood, the parallels between Singleton's real life and his film, the process of making the film, the casting process, the quality of the script, the film's reception, its Oscar nominations, and its legacy.
Zeke
Director
Self
A star-studded tribute (from the creators of That's Entertainment) to the contributions of Afro-Americans in film over the last century. Vanessa Williams traces the struggles and triumphs of the superstars of music and film. Among the many artists featured are: Whitney Houston, Ella Fitzgerald, Sammy Davis Jr., Diana Ross, Michael Jackson, Cab Calloway, Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, Ella Fitzgerald, and Little Richard, Also included are today's contemporary superstars: Snoop Dogg, Ice T, Quincy Jones, Spike Lee, Russell Simmons, and many, more! 80 minutes plus DVD bonus features.
Noel (voice)
Songwriter Noel is struggling to write a hit song, and so he takes his frustrations out on his family. His daughter Dakota is granted one wih for doing a good deed and she wishes that her daddy will write a hit song. There is a sub-plot about kindness to animals that has almost nothing to do with the main story.
Bojangles
The life of Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, African-American tap-dancing star of stage and screen. In 1916, Robinson was a successful vaudeville performer and considered the finest tap dancer of his generation. At the peak of his career, he was the highest paid Black entertainer, but for all the joy he gave others, his life was anything but happy, there was a great deal of tragedy in himself. He died broke and penniless.
Ruffhouse
Two estranged half-brothers, Billy and Torch, reconnect during a brief jail stay. 20/20 Mike concocts a scheme in which the two of them will steal dope from some young couriers. The heist goes wrong when Billy shoots the couriers dead. They hole up in an abandoned building, and 20/20 Mike seeks help from an old cell mate, Tony.
Ron Larson
From 1979 to 1981, 29 African-American males, mostly children, were either missing or found murdered in metro Atlanta. The cases plagued the city until 1982, when Wayne Wiiliams was convicted of the murders of two adult men. Authorities then considered the other cases closed. Some of the parents of the slain children were critical of the way the cases were handled and believed there was some sort of cover up. Nearly four years after the conviction of Williams, "Spin" magazine editor Ron Larson and reporter Pat Laughlin come to Atlanta in search of the truth.
Tyrone Pike
A 10 year old gifted boy wants to be a jazz pianist much to the chagrin of his more classical oriented piano instructor. With his mother's help, he is an underage regular at a local nightspot, where he is teamed up with a sax superstar. Both come to learn that each suffers from Tourette's Syndrome (thus the film title). The older man has developed mannerisms to cover up his own fallibilities and resents the boy and his mother's acceptance of the disease.
Robert (segment "Fantasies About Rebecca")
In California, a group of women struggle with personal problems as their paths intertwine in unexpected ways. Dr. Elaine Keener, the sole caretaker for her aging mother, turns to tarot card reader Christine for spiritual aid. Christine grapples with her own angst due to her lover's debilitating illness. Meanwhile, a bank manager deals with an unwanted pregnancy, two sisters pursue romantic interests and a housewife gets back into the dating game.
Reverend Walton
Four young black men kill a white woman. Now the D.A. is very cautious how to pursue this case because it might start a riot. And adding fuel to the fire is a bombastic and vocal black community leader, who's saying that they will not have a fair trial and that they were justified in their actions because they were in fear for their lives
Jack (segment "Manhattan Miracle")
The actual experiences of New York City subway riders are dramatized in a collection of 10 intriguing and very different vignettes. The tales showcase an ensemble of familiar faces, and range from stories of compassion and love to reflections on violence and loss. Among them: a disabled beggar quarrels with a woman and ruins her shoes with his wheelchair, provoking onlookers to wrath and pity; a skittish tourist proves to be her own worst enemy; a newlywed trysts with a mysterious sexpot; a commuter helplessly witnesses a suicide attempt; and, in the most affecting segment, a young woman grieves over her mother's imminent death.
Bernard 'Bern' Lemley
Bernard "Bern" Lemly (Gregory Hines) is fed up with being in a wheelchair and wants more out of life. Meanwhile, former football player Tony "Ole" Olezniak (Vincent D'Onofrio) is stewing after recently losing his sight. The men soon realize they can put their frustrated energy to good use by competing in a whitewater rafting race on Oregon's Rouge River. In the process, they discover their disabilities don't have to destroy their dreams.
The Undertaker / Jedediah Turner
Isaih Turner didn’t want to be a hero-all he wanted was revenge. Orphaned when both his parents were cruelly murdered by the wealthy and powerful Cyrus Bloomington, the young Isaiah grew up with one air in mind: to find the man who killed his folks and take him down.
Joe Hamilton
Good natured Reverend Henry Biggs finds that his marriage to choir mistress Julia is flagging, due to his constant absence caring for the deprived neighborhood they live in. On top of all this, his church is coming under threat from property developer Joe Hamilton. In desperation, Rev. Biggs prays to God for help - and help arrives in the form of an angel named Dudley.
Jules Flamingo
With his boss in the madhouse, a mobster is temporary boss of the criminal empire just as vicious rivals threaten the control of the empire.
Marvin King
Cheated on, mistreated and stepped on, the women are holding their breath, waiting for the elusive "good man" to break a string of less-than-stellar lovers. Friends and confidants Vannah, Bernie, Glo and Robin talk it all out, determined to find a better way to breathe.
Director
An ill-fated, tender romance between an adult, male, white tutor (Mark Evan Jacobs) and his 17-year-old, African-American, female student (Karen Kirkland).
Barnes
In this made-for-TV movie, Kay's (Jean Smart) small-town life allows her to manage the challenges of caring for her sick baby. But when a mysterious stranger (Gregory Hines) invades her home and reveals that he knows all too many things about Kay's past, she must work fast to preserve her peace -- even if it means taking matters and the law into her own hands.
Mark Jannek / Jim Sheppard
A distraught disc jockey seeks out a mystery caller who may be the killer of his girlfriend.
Sergeant Cass
An advertising man is slowly sliding downhill. When he is fired from his job in Detroit, he signs up for unemployment. One day they find him a job: teaching thinking skills to Army recruits. He arrives on base to find that there is no structure set up for the class.
Oscar nominated short film from 1994. Directed by Sean Astin!
T Bone
A couple of con men look for paradise in a stolen car.
Himself
A behind the scenes look at the Broadway production of Jelly's Last Jam, including a tribute to jazz musician and composer Jelly Roll Morton. Gregory Hines and George C. Wolfe, who wrote the book for Jelly's Last Jam, are interviewed. Includes scenes from the show.
Len Madison Jr.
A black New York man returns to his southern hometown to investigate his father's lynching at the hands of a white mob.
Goldy
A beautiful black gangster's moll flees to Harlem with a trunkload of gold after a shootout, unaware that the rest of the gang, and a few other unsavoury characters, are on her trail. A pudgy momma's boy becomes the object of her affections and the unlikely hero of the tale.
Colonel Jim McQuade
Eve is a military robot made to look exactly like her creator, Dr. Eve Simmons. When she is damaged during a bank robbery, the robot becomes an unstoppable killing machine. Colonel Jim McQuade is assigned to stop the robot and with the help from Dr. Simmons they have to predict where she will go next.
Himself
Celebrating Sammy Davis Jr 's 60th anniversary in show business, including musical,comic and dancing performers.
Max Washington
Max Washington has just been released from prison after serving time for burglary. He returns to his old hangout, a hoofer club. His old girl friend, Amy, who still works at the club as a Tap instructor, is less than thrilled to see him. Her father, Little Mo, is happy to see him, because he has plans for a show involving Max. In addition, Max's old partners in crime have another job for him.
Albaby Perkins
McGriff and Albaby are probably doing the worst law enforcement job in the world - they are plain clothes U.S. military policemen on duty in war-time Saigon. However, their job becomes even harder when they start investigating the serial killings of local prostitutes. Their prime suspect is high ranking U.S. Army officer which brings their lives in danger.
Ray Hughes
Two street-wise Chicago cops have to shake off some rust after returning from a Key West vacation to pursue a drug dealer that nearly killed them in the past.
Raymond Greenwood
After his plane crashes in Siberia, a Russian dancer, who defected to the West, is held prisoner in the Soviet Union. The KGB keeps him under watch and tries to convince him to become a dancer for the Kirov Academy of Ballet again. Determined to escape, he befriends a black American expatriate and his pregnant Russian wife, who agree to help him escape to the American Embassy.
Edgar - Miller's Son
A young man (Gregory Hines) journeys from rags-to-riches thanks to his talented Puss in Boots (Ben Vereen). Starring Ben Vereen, Gregory Hines, Alfre Woodard, George Kirby, and Brock Peters. Narrated by Shelley Duvall.
Self
This special is the second "Night of 100 Stars" to benefit The Actors Fund of America. Edited from a seven-hour live entertainment marathon that was taped February 17, 1985, at New York's Radio City Music Hall, this sequel to the 1982 "Night of 100 Stars" special features 288 celebrities.
Self
ABOUT TAP features stylistic performances and recollections by three of America’s leading male tap dancers: Steve Condos, Jimmy Slyde, and Chuck Green.
Delbert 'Sandman' Williams
Harlem's legendary Cotton Club becomes a hotbed of passion and violence as the lives and loves of entertainers and gangsters collide.
Rollerskater
When the Muppets graduate from Danhurst College, they take their song-filled senior revue to New York City, only to learn that it isn't easy to find a producer who's willing to back a show starring a frog and a pig. Of course, Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy won't take no for an answer, launching a search for someone to take them to Broadway.
Ray Kasternak
Arms dealers from several companies vie to sell the most expensive and highest tech weapons to a South American dictator. There are complications; understanding the exact nature of how 'gifts' are used to grease the wheels of a sale, a religious conversion from one of the salesman and a romance that begins to grow between two competitors.
Self
Shirley MacLaine uses music and drama to look at ways in which things are not necessarily what they seem to be.
Self / Lionel Foot
Steve Martin's fourth NBC special was in the spirit of his previous association with Saturday Night Live. It was broadcast live from Studio 8H, produced by Lorne Michaels and featured some original cast members of the show.
Whittington
A New York City cop and an expert criminologist trying to solve a series of grisly deaths in which the victims have seemingly been maimed by feral animals discover a sinister connection between the crimes and an old legend.
Josephus
An uproarious version of history that proves nothing is sacred – not even the Roman Empire, the French Revolution and the Spanish Inquisition.
Eubie! began life as a Broadway musical, celebrating the life and work of legendary black entertainer/composer Eubie Blake. This taped version was specially prepared for cable TV in 1981, then released on videocassette a few years later. Gregory and Maurice Hines head the exuberant, toe-tapping cast. Among the highlights are such Blake standards as "I'm Just Wild About Harry". The race issue is brought into play every once in a while, but never in such an omnipresent fashion as to dampen the spirits of this sparkling example of Broadway at its best.
himself
The story of legendary jazz bassist Milt Hinton and tap dancer Charles "Honi" Coles offers a front row seat to the creation of Jazz History. The film includes rehearsals, practice sessions, photographs, historical film footage, as well as a lunch break interview at New York's China Song restaurant in which the artists discuss everything from the mathematical principles of music to the dance acts who played the Apollo. The film also features a special appearance by choreographer/tap dancer Brenda Bufalino.
Self (archive footage)
After the huge financial and cultural success of WOODSTOCK (1970), filmmaker and political activist Michael Wadleigh spent many years in Hollywood writing scripts that were never produced. However, WOLFEN (1981), his only other major motion picture, was. After that he would never complete another feature film again. This is the story of that film.