Bill Bailey (dancer)

Bill Bailey (December 8, 1912, Newport News, Virginia – December 12, 1978, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia) was an African-American tap dancer. He was the brother of Pearl Bailey. Bill was the first person to be recorded doing the Moonwalk, although he referred to it as the "Backslide", in the film Cabin in the Sky (1943), starring Ethel Waters, Eddie "Rochester" Anderson and Lena Horne. He was trained briefly by Bill "Bojangles" Robinson. He was married to Pernell Bailey, and had nine children and many grandchildren.[1] He died on December 12, 1978, four days after his 66th birthday.

For other uses, see Bill Bailey (disambiguation).

Early Life

Bill Bailey was born in Virginia and spent his adolescence in Philadelphia.[2]

Career

At eighteen years old, Bailey was discovered by Lew Leslie and put in his production Blackbirds of 1930.[2]

References
  1. Tom Masland (December 17, 1978). "Bill Bailey, famed tap-dancer with Ellington, Basie jazz bands". The Philadelphia Inquirer. p. 42 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. Seibert, Brian (2015). What the eye hears : a history of tap dancing (1st ed.). New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. ISBN 978-0-86547-953-1. OCLC 898419561.


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