Original ‘The Wiz’ Star Dead: Hinton Battle Was 67

Three-time Tony Award winner Hinton Battle, who originated the role of the Scarecrow in The Wiz, has died. The Broadway star passed away on Monday, Jan. 29 at the age of 67, his longtime friend Debbie Allen confirmed in a social media tribute. Battle’s family will not be disclosing his exact cause of death, a representative for the actor confirmed to USA Today, adding that Battle died “at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles following a lengthy illness.”

“Today I honor Hinton Battle, my dear friend who left us to dance and sing in God’s Ensemble last night,” Allen wrote in a tribute shared to Instagram Tuesday. “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.”

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Born in West Germany, Battle’s love of performing was sparked after he appeared in an elementary school production of The Nutcracker, he revealed in a 2023 interview. After graduating from the Jones Haywood School of Ballet in Washington D.C. and the School of American Ballet in New York, according to his bio from his talent agency MSA, Battle, then just 15, made his Broadway debut in 1975 when he originated the role of the Scarecrow in The Wiz, an adaptation of L. Frank Baum’s 1900 novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.

Following The Wiz, Battle went on to appear in Dancin’, Sophisticated Ladies, Dreamgirls, The Tap Dance Kid, Miss Saigo, and Chicago, according to Playbill. He won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical three times throughout his career for his roles in Sophisticated Ladies, The Tap Dance Kid, and Miss Saigon.

Battle also had a bustling career off the Broadway stage, appearing in guest roles on TV shows like Touched by An Angel, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Smash, Quantum Leap, and Sweet Justice. On the big screen, he portrayed Wayne in the 2006 film adaptation of Dreamgirls, starring Beyoncé, Jennifer Hudson, and Jamie Foxx. He also appeared in the movies Child Star: The Shirley Temple Story and Foreign Student.

Behind the scenes, Battle worked as a choreographer on the 65th and 66th Academy Awards, the Outkast musical Idlewood, and Dancing With the Stars, and also directed and choreographed the off-Broadway musicals Respect, The Marvelous Wonderettes, Evil Dead, and Sistas: The Musical. He is survived by his sisters, Eddie and Lettie, according to The Hollywood Reporter.