Hinton Battle

Hinton Govorn Battle Jr. (November 29, 1956 – January 30, 2024) was an American actor, singer, dancer, and choreographer. He won three Tony Awards, all in the category of Featured Actor in a Musical. He was the first to portray the Scarecrow in the stage version of The Wiz (a role then taken on by Michael Jackson in the 1978 film adaptation).

Early life Hinton Govorn Battle Jr. was born in Neubrücke, Hoppstädten-Weiersbach, West Germany, part of the Baumholder Army Military Community, and raised in Washington, D.C., and New York City. His mother was a homemaker and his father a U.S. Army officer. Battle's talent became apparent at the age of nine. After three years of studying ballet at the Jones-Haywood School of Ballet, he received a scholarship to The School of American Ballet where he studied until the age of fifteen under George Balanchine.

Career On October 21, 1974, the new musical The Wiz opened at the Morris A. Mechanic Theatre in Baltimore, Maryland, and then moved to Broadway's Majestic Theatre with a new cast on January 5, 1975. This is where Battle made his Broadway debut starring as the Scarecrow.

Battle appeared in 15 films and television programs, including Quantum Leap, Dreamgirls, and Touched by an Angel. On Quantum Leap, he played Thames, the evil Observer from the future, in the final installment of the Evil Leaper trilogy of episodes.

Battle played the role of the Cat in the first U.S. pilot for science-fiction sitcom Red Dwarf, based on the British show of the same name. Notably, he guest-starred as Sweet the jazz demon, in "Once More, with Feeling", Buffy The Vampire Slayers musical episode in which his spell forces the characters to sing their biggest secrets and fears.

Battle's other Broadway starring roles included Dancin', Dreamgirls, Sophisticated Ladies for which he won his first Tony Award,

Writing Battle had written a children's book and had been working on an autobiography at the time of his death.