The Broadway community has lost a star.
Hinton Battle—who originated the role of the Scarecrow in The Wiz—died on Jan. 29 at the age of 67, his longtime friend Debbie Allen confirmed. A cause of death was not revealed.
“Today I honor Hinton Battle, my dear friend who left us to dance and sing in God’s Ensemble last night,” the actress wrote on Instagram. “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.”
Battle took on the role of the Scarecrow 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.
He went on to win three Tony Awards for his roles in Sophisticated Ladies, The Tap Dance Kid and Miss Saigon and also appeared in the musicals Chicago, Dreamgirls and Dancin’.