What
a colorful life Luther Robinson led!
For
one thing, he began tap dancing for money at an early age (some say
age 5), and he soon dropped out of school to pursue his career.
Tragically, both of his parents died, so his grandmother became his
guardian. He didn't like his first name, Luther, so he convinced his
brother Bill to switch names.
(Later on, the new Luther decided that
HE didn't like the name Luther, either, so he changed his name
agains, to Percy.)
Robinson
was still young when he first joined a dancing troupe, and he
eventually worked on a vaudeville team, in nightclubs, on Broadway,
and in movies. He is well known for tap dancing with Adelaide Hall in
Broadway shows and with Shirley Temple in movies.
Interestingly
enough, with all his tap-dancing success and despite his early start
as a performer, Robinson never danced for white audiences until he
was 50 years old. Of course, America was much more segregated back
then than now. You will probably not be surprised to hear that
Robinson faced racism. One story he liked to tell concerned sitting
down to eat in a restaurant. A white customer complained to the
restaurant manager that he didn't want a “colored person” eating
in the same restaurant, and the manager suggested to Robinson that
perhaps he should leave. Robinson just smiled and asked the manager
if he had a ten-dollar bill. Puzzled, the manager gave him the money.
Robinson pulled out six $10 bills from his own wallet and mixed them
up. “Here, let's see you pick out the colored one,” he said to
the manager. The restaurant manager saw the point and took Robinson's
order.
(Are
you puzzled? This is the way the story is told—in six or seven
different places all over the internet!—but I would've thought that
Robinson would have said, “Here, let's see you pick out the white
one.” Or something like that.)
Check
out Mr. Bojangles' famous stair dance!
Plan
Ahead...
Check out my Pinterest boards of June holidays, historical anniversaries in June, and June birthdays.
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