Biography of robionson bojangles bill

Entertainer Bill “Bojangles” Robinson’s original name was Luther Robinson. He was born on May 25, , to Maxwell, a machinist, and Maria Robinson, a church choir director, in Richmond Virginia. Both parents died tragically in   Robinson did not like his birth name, Luther, and forced his brother, Bill, to exchange names with him.

Robinson and his younger brother, who changed his name to Percy, were raised by their grandmother, Bedelia Robinson, a former enslaved person.

Biography of robionson bojangles bill clinton

As a young man, Robinson earned the nickname “Bojangles” for his happy-go-lucky, enthusiastic personality.

Robinson began his entertainment career performing as a song and dance man, referred to as a “hoofer” at that time, in Richmond beer gardens.

In , around the age of nine, he joined Mayme Remington’s touring troupe. By Robinson joined a traveling vaudeville company, where he performed skits. In his teens, Robinson joined various traveling companies and vaudeville tours, slowly building up a reputation as a comedia