Bunny Briggs (1922-2014) passed away in Las Vegas on Saturday, November 15. Dr. Bunny Briggs’s career extended from the 1920s into the twenty-first century. He was one of the premier artists of tap, an art form that, like jazz, was originated by African Americans and now has spread around the world. Bunny began dancing on the streets of Harlem when he was about 5 and within a few years was appearing regularly with Luckey Roberts and his Society Entertainers. He first tap danced on film in the 1932 movie Slow-Poke. Almost sixty years later he appeared in the 1989 film Tap with Gregory Hines, Sammy Davis, Jr. and other legends of tap. Bunny not only tap dances in the film but also offers a moving rendition of On the Sunny Side of the Street. Bunny Briggs appeared with all the top bands of the forties, dancing with Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Erskine Hawkins, Earl Hines and Tommy Dorsey, among others. Bunny can be seen playing a Western Union delivery man with the Charley Barnet band in a 1949 Movietone short. Later Bunny became known as “Duke’s dancer” because he performed so often with Ellington’s orchestra. His best-known performance for Duke is his solo dance as David in “David Danced (Before the Lord With All His Might) at Ellington’s 1965 Sacred Concert. Comedian, singer and tap dancer extraordinaire, Bunny Briggs was not only one of the great American entertainers but a great artist. Those wishing to make donations for Bunny’s funeral expenses should mail checks to the Bunny Briggs Memorial Fund c/o Sandra Seaton, P.O. Box 1562, East Lansing, MI 48826. We want to make sure that this great artist is laid to rest in a manner befitting his stature.
Posted on: Wed, 26 Nov 2014 02:27:06 +0000
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