Rubberlegs Williams
Henry "Rubberlegs" Williams (born July 14, 1907 in Atlanta , † October 17, 1962 in New York City ) was an American blues and jazz singer and dancer.
Williams has been performing professionally as a dancer on the minstrel show Bobby Grants Female Impersonators since he was sixteen . After he was successful in several Cakewalk and Charleston competitions, he had his own vaudeville number, which was seen on numerous TOBA tours. He got his nickname because he danced as if he had rubber legs. In 1933 he appeared in the short film Smash Your Luggage . He has also appeared as a singer with, among others, the Count Basie Band , Fletcher Henderson and Chick Webb . In 1945 he made recordings with Clyde Harts All Stars , which included Charlie Parker , and with the band of Herbie Fields . He also took over the vocal part on the first recording of Dizzy Gillespie's Hot House (April 1, 1945 in New York).
Web links
- Entry in the Streetswing's Dancer Archive
- Rubberlegs Williams at Allmusic (English)
- Rubberlegs Williams in the Internet Movie Database (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ My First Gig. Report on one page about Alfred McKibbon on Bassland.net (English).
- ↑ These are the first recordings Miles Davis was involved in.
personal data | |
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SURNAME | Williams, Rubberlegs |
ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Williams, Henry Brady |
BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American jazz singer and dancer |
DATE OF BIRTH | July 14, 1907 |
PLACE OF BIRTH | Atlanta |
DATE OF DEATH | 17th October 1962 |
Place of death | New York City |