Hinton Battle was an actor who portrayed Sweet in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer television series.
Career[]
After three years of studying ballet at the Jones-Haywood School of Ballet, Battle received a scholarship to The School of American Ballet where he studied until the age of fifteen under George Balanchine. That same year, Hinton made his Broadway debut starring as the Scarecrow in The Wiz.
Battle has appeared in nineteen films and television programs, including Quantum Leap, Dreamgirls, and Touched by an Angel. He 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. He then starred as Sweet the jazz demon in the musical episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Hinton's other Broadway starring roles include Dancin', Dreamgirls, Sophisticated Ladies — for which he won his first Tony Award —, Chicago (Billy Flynn), and Ragtime (Coalhouse Walker Jr.), which garnered rave reviews from the Chicago press and earned him an Ira Aldridge Award. His role in The Tap Dance Kid also earned Hinton a second Tony Award, the NAACP Award, and the Fred Astaire Award. He won his third Tony Award for Miss Saigon.
Hinton's list of television credits include: Shine, his one man show presented at the HBO Aspen Comedy Arts Festival; The Kennedy Center's 25th Anniversary; These Old Broads, co-starring Shirley MacLaine, Joan Collins, Debbie Reynolds and Elizabeth Taylor; and ABC/Disney's Child Star: The Shirley Temple Story, where Hinton served as choreographer and co-star playing Bill "Bojangles" Robinson. His most recent TV appearance was in Smash as a Pastor.
As choreographer, Hinton's work has been seen on These Old Broads, Foreign Student (with Charles Dutton), The Golden Globe Awards, Dance in America; the sitcoms Fired Up, Sister Sister, The Trouble with Normal, and The Boys. Hinton has choreographed promos for Warner Brothers, commercials for Coca-Cola, Chicago The Millie, and New York Top Appliances. He served as Associate Choreographer on the 65th and 66th Annual Academy Awards with Debbie Allen.
Off-Broadway, Hinton has served as co-director and choreographer for Evil Dead: The Musical. Having finished choreographing the movie musical Idlewild, he joined with Wynton Marsalis for The Buddy Bolden Story, a feature film about the untold story of the man who created jazz in America. He then directed the stage musical Respect, a musical journey of women from the 1900s–2007. Hinton's most recent creation, a dance form called Swop that combines swing and hip-hop, was performed on the highly rated Dancing with the Stars in 2006. In 2014, Hinton starred in the off-Broadway production Cindy: The Musical.
In addition to his prolific dancing career, Battle briefly drifted into singing in the mid-1980s. His song "Think We're Gonna Make It" was featured on the soundtrack to the 1986 movie Playing for Keeps, and he released his lone solo album, Untapped, that same year.
Battle died in January 30, 2024, at age 67.[1]
Buffyverse credits[]
Battle guest-starred as the musical demon Sweet in the Buffy season 6 episode "Once More, with Feeling." He also appears in the featurette "Behind the Scenes of 'Once More, with Feeling.'
His songs "What You Feel," "Walk Through the Fire," and "What You Feel - Reprise" are featured in the episode's albums in CD and LP formats.
Gallery[]
Battle behind the scenes for Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
External links[]
- Hinton Battle on Wikipedia
- Hinton Battle on IMDb
References[]
- ↑ Debbie Allen, "Today I honor Hinton Battle, my dear friend who left us to dance and sing in God’s Ensemble last night. 🥲🥲🥲 He fought this battle to live..." Instagram, January 30, 2024.