Mr. Bojangles (Richmond Landmark Series) Traditional Cache

Bill "Bojangles" Robinson was one of the world's most beloved performers. He was born in Richmond shortly after the Civil War, on May 25, 1878, to Maxwell Robinson, a machine-shop worker, and Maria Robinson, a choir singer. Bill Robinson was raised by his grandmother after the death of his parents when he was an infant. He was christened Luther, a name he did not like, so he suggested to his younger brother Bill that they should exchange names. When Bill objected, Luther applied his fists, and the exchange was made! At the age of six, he began dancing for a living in local beer gardens. At the age of 12, he joined a traveling vaudeville company, and gained great success as a nightclub and musical comedy performer. Over the next 25 years, he became one of the toasts of Broadway, yet it was not until he was fifty did he dance for white audiences. The publicity that gradually came to surround him included the creation of his famous "stair dance". He was also well known for his successful gambling exploits, his prodigious charity, his ability to run backward (he set a world's record of 8.2 seconds for the 75-yard backward dash), his ability to consume ice-cream by the quart, his idioms (most notably the neologism "copacetic") and such stunts as dancing down Broadway in celebration of his 61st birthday. He invented many new tap steps that continue to influence dancers today. He appeared in 14 motion pictures, and at the height of his career, was the highest paid black entertainer in the world. Yet, in 1949, he died penniless in New York City at the age of 71. Television host Ed Sullivan is said to have personally paid for the funeral. The funeral for the "honorary mayor of Harlem" was the largest ever seen by NYC, and one that transcended racial boundaries.

Bojangles' human compassion and generosity made him one of the most revered and respected figures in the entertainment industry. In 1933, while in his hometown of Richmond, he saw two children risk speeding traffic to cross a street in Jackson Ward because there was no stoplight at the intersection. Robinson went to the city and provided the money to have a traffic light installed. This statue stands next to that traffic light.