Hinton Battle, 3-time Tony winner and original Scarecrow in The Wiz, dies at 67

Hinton Battle, the three-time Tony winner who made his Broadway debut as the original Scarecrow in The Wiz, has died. He was 67.

The actor died on Jan. 30 at Cedars Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles after a lengthy illness, his agent confirmed to EW.

His friend and fellow performer Debbie Allen also announced the news Tuesday on social media.

“Today I honor Hinton Battle, my dear friend, who left us to dance and sing in God’s Ensemble last night,” Allen wrote on Instagram. “He fought this battle to live and be creative, impacting audiences and young people across the globe.”

She finished, “Let us always hold him high in our hearts and in our mind’s eye and forever speak his name.”

Born Nov. 29, 1956, in West Germany, Battle developed an interest in performing at a very young age, beginning with his role in an elementary school production of The Nutcracker. Continuing his artistic pursuits through dance, he studied at the renowned Jones Haywood School of Ballet in Washington, D.C., and graduated from the School of American Ballet in New York City before unexpectedly landing the part of the Scarecrow in the original Broadway production of The Wiz at the age of 15.

Initially a member of the chorus and cast, Battle was asked to step in as the Scarecrow for the second act of a show for the musical's promotional tour. “I had no idea what to do, but I knew I could dance,” he told The Hype Magazine in 2014. 

Since Battle wasn’t yet off-book, Dorothy actress Stephanie Mills helped him by pulling his scarecrow straw to let him know when he had a line.

“So every time Stephanie would pull my straw, I would jump in the air, do a split and a pirouette turn, and say whatever came out of my mouth,” he said in the interview. “Being that I was the Scarecrow who had no brain, it worked and the crowd loved it.” The day after his debut performance, Battle was offered the role full-time.

After his run in The Wiz, Battle went on to Tony–winning acclaim, earning the award for Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical three times: for Sophisticated Ladies in 1981, The Tap Dance Kid in 1984, and Miss Saigon in 1991. His additional stage credits include turns in Bob Fosse’s Dancin’, Dreamgirls, Chicago, and Ragtime.

Battle moved between the stage and screen throughout his career, appearing in several television shows, such as Smash, Quantum Leap, Sweet Justice, High Incident, and Touched by an Angel.

He also had a memorable role as the singing villain Sweet in the much-beloved musical episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, “Once More, With Feeling.” In 2006, he appeared alongside Jennifer Hudson, Beyoncé, Eddie Murphy, and Jamie Foxx in the movie adaptation of Dreamgirls. 

Battle also employed his dance skills behind the scenes, racking up choreography credits for Dancing With the Stars, the 65th and 66th Academy Awards, the Outkast movie musical Idlewild, and Child Star: The Shirley Temple Story. Battle continued working off stage with Love Lies, a comedy musical he wrote, produced, and directed.

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