Hinton Battle, Tony-Winning Broadway Star, Dead at 67

The three-time Tony Award winner made his Broadway debut at age 15 as the Scarecrow in 'The Wiz'

Hinton Battle, a three-time Tony Award winner, has died at 67, his friend Debbie Allen confirmed on social media on Tuesday.

“Today I honor Hinton Battle, my dear friend who left us to dance and sing in God’s Ensemble last night,” Allen wrote wrote on Instagram. “He fought this battle to live and be creative impacting audiences and young people across the globe.”

“Let us always hold him high in our hearts and in our mind’s eye and forever speak his name,” the Fame star added.

BroadwayWorld was first to report the news of his death.

Battle fell in love with performing in an elementary school production of the The Nutcracker before heading to Washington D.C.’s Jones-Haywood School of Ballet on a scholarship, he revealed in a 2023 interview.

A few years later, he made his Broadway debut at age 15 as the Scarecrow in The Wiz, according to his MSA Talent Agency bio.

After his stint in The Wiz, the German-born performer went on to star in Dancin’, Sophisticated Ladies, Dreamgirls, The Tap Dance Kid, Miss Saigon and Chicago, per Playbill.

Battle won three Tony Awards for best performance by an actor in a featured role in a musical for Sophisticated Ladies in 1981, The Tap Dance Kid in 1984 and Miss Saigon in 1991.

He was also recognized twice at the Drama Desk Awards, where he was nominated for outstanding featured actor in a musical for The Wiz in 1975 and The Tap Dance Kid in 1984.

Later in his career, Battle swapped the stage for the screen, starring in several television shows, including Quantum Leap, Sweet Justice, High Incident and Touched by an Angel.

Memorably, he also starred as the singing villain Sweet in Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s musical episode, “Once More, with Feeling” in 2001 and portrayed Wayne in the 2006 movie adaptation of Dreamgirls.

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Battle also worked behind the scenes of several productions as a director and choreographer.

His choreography credits include the 65th and 66th Academy Awards, Dancing With The Stars, Outkast movie-musical Idlewild and Child Star: The Shirley Temple Story.

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