People named Charles Coles

New York Times OBITUARY Charles (Honi) Coles, 81, Dancer; Known for Elegance and Speed By JENNIFER DUNNING Published: November 13, 1992 Charles (Honi) Coles, a virtuoso tap dancer who won a Tony Award for his performance in the Broadway musical "My One and Only" and whom Lena Horne once described as making "butterflies look clumsy," died yesterday at his home in East Elmhurst, Queens. He was 81 years old. He died of cancer, said his wife, Marian. Mr. Coles was a dancer of superb elegance and feathery light technique, both as a member of Coles and Atkins, the tap duo, and as a soloist. A disciple of Bill (Bojangles) Robinson, he believed in dancing up on the toes and moving naturally. Although he never appeared in the kinds of movie musicals that helped to make dancers like Robinson and the Nicholas Brothers famous, Mr. Coles appeared in star dance roles on Broadway. He and his longtime tap partner, Cholly Atkins, performed a show-stopping routine they choreographed in "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" in 1949, and Mr. Coles appeared as a soloist in "Bubbling Brown Sugar" in 1976 and "My One and Only" in 1982; his Tony Award, as well as the Drama Desk Award he won that year, were for best featured actor in a musical. Sophistication and Speed He and Mr. Atkins performed together with many of the great jazz bands from 1945 to 1949. Coles and Atkins was the last of the "class acts," tap duos that performed from the late 1920's to the late 1940's, known for their sophistication and musicality and the innovation of their dancing. But Mr. Coles was also known for his speed. As a young, self-taught dancer, he practiced alone for long hours each day for a year, in 1931, learning not just to speed up his dancing and to add more taps but, unusually, how to complicate patterns by extending the duration of the steps. Reminiscing about his long career in 1983, Mr. Coles, a courtly, unflappable man, said: "Things happen with me now from the knees down, nice and easy. But at one time I had the fastest feet in show business -- barring nobody. I'm not saying I was the best dancer, but I was the fastest." Mr. Coles grew up in Philadelphia, also the home of the Nicholas Brothers, at a time in the 1920's when every sidewalk and alley seemed filled with competing young tap-dancers, and his career mirrored the ups and downs of tap. His first jobs were in New York with the Three Millers in 1931, with the Lucky Seven Trio in 1932, and with Cab Calloway's band, where Mr. Coles and Mr. Atkins met. Time Out for the Army Mr. Coles and Mr. Atkins joined the Army in 1943, returning to New York after the war to dance together on Broadway, at the Apollo Theater and other famous theaters and clubs around the country and in Europe, including a highly successful tour of England in 1948. They broke up as a team, then reunited in 1955, performing in Las Vegas with Tony Martin and later with Pearl Bailey. With no jobs in sight, Mr. Coles worked as production manager at the Apollo through 1976, also serving as the president of the Negro Actors Guild. There were other brief reunions, including a 1962 appearance on a tap history program at the Newport Jazz Festival. While Mr. Atkins continued his solo career and taught Motown singers how to move, Mr. Coles became a major figure in the tap revivals of the 1960's and 70's, on the stage and television. Major stage shows included "Steps in Time" at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, for which he was an artistic consultant, and "Black Broadway, 1900-1945" at Avery Fisher Hall, both in 1979. He returned to the academy in 1982 in "Tappin' Uptown," and appeared at the Village Gate with the Copasetics tap revue in 1984. Acting and Educating Mr. Coles also appeared in the films "Dirty Dancing" and "The Cotton Club." He was a master teacher at tap workshops throughout the country and taught black dance and its history at Yale, Cornell, Duke and George Washington Universities. He was a guest artist in Agnes de Mille's "Conversations About the Dance" programs with the Joffrey Ballet in 1977 and 1978. Mr. Coles received the New York City Award of Honor for Arts and Culture in 1986, the Capezio Award in 1988 and the National Medal of the Arts in 1991. In addition to his wife, he is survived by a brother, George, of Atlantic City, N.J.; a sister, Juanita, of Atco, N.J.; a daughter, Isabelle Coles-Dunbar of Rosedale, Queens; a son by a previous relationship; eight grandchildren, and 11 great-grandchildren. The funeral is to be on Monday at noon at St. Peter's Lutheran Church, Lexington Avenue at 54th Street.

Charles E Coles of Noble, Cleveland County, OK was born on May 26, 1920, and died at age 86 years old on July 31, 2006.

Charles Coles of Ridgefield, Fairfield County, CT was born on September 11, 1922 in British North America or Canada or Labrador or Newfoundland, and died at age 80 years old on March 10, 2003.

Charles R Coles of Ashland, Boyd County, Kentucky was born on February 7, 1910, and died at age 64 years old in April 1974.

Charles F Coles of Vandalia, Montgomery County, OH was born on December 16, 1915, and died at age 87 years old on September 26, 2003.

Charles E Coles of Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, PA was born on July 7, 1922, and died at age 75 years old on January 1, 1998.

Charles W Coles of Baltimore, Baltimore City County, MD was born on February 7, 1933, and died at age 77 years old on June 17, 2010. Charles Coles was buried at Garrison Forest Veterans Cemetery Section N-5 Row 17 Site 9 11501 Garrison Forest Rd, in Owings Mills.

Charles H Coles of Richmond, Richmond City County, VA was born on January 26, 1931, and died at age 62 years old on January 24, 1994. Charles Coles was buried at Quantico National Cemetery Section 7 Site 708 18424 Joplin Road (route 619), in Triangle.

Charles H Coles of Bronx, Bronx County, NY was born on January 18, 1919, and died at age 72 years old on May 17, 1991. Charles Coles was buried at Calverton National Cemetery Section 69 Site 2653 210 Princeton Boulevard - Rt 25, in Calverton.

Charles William Coles of Melbourne Australia died in 1951 in Melbourne. Family, friend, or fan, this family history biography is for you to remember Charles William Coles.

Charles H Coles was born on April 1, 1929, and died at age 59 years old on December 15, 1988. Charles Coles was buried at Calverton National Cemetery Section 12 Site 4342 210 Princeton Boulevard - Rt 25, in Calverton, Ny. Family, friend, or fan, this family history biography is for you to remember Charles H Coles.

Charles Coles was born on April 28, 1929, and died at age 44 years old in December 1973. Family, friend, or fan, this family history biography is for you to remember Charles Coles.

Charles Coles of Washington, District of Columbia County, District Of Columbia was born on August 8, 1894, and died at age 74 years old in April 1969.

Charles Coles of San Carlos, San Mateo County, California was born on October 25, 1907, and died at age 73 years old in December 1980.

Charles Coles of Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, California was born on July 14, 1891, and died at age 76 years old in July 1967.

Charles L Coles of Torrance, Los Angeles County, CA was born on September 26, 1936, and died at age 65 years old on August 31, 2002.

Charles Coles of Everson, Whatcom County, Washington was born on December 29, 1887, and died at age 84 years old in July 1972.

Charles D Coles of Santa Rosa, Sonoma County, CA was born on January 16, 1920, and died at age 80 years old on November 26, 2000.

Charles Coles of Seattle, King County, Washington was born on May 13, 1897, and died at age 83 years old in October 1980.

Charles Coles of Utah was born on October 22, 1885, and died at age 77 years old in May 1963.

Charles Coles of Salt Lake City, Salt Lake County, Utah was born on August 13, 1911, and died at age 71 years old in October 1982.

Charles Coles was born on September 10, 1923, and died at age 55 years old in November 1978. Family, friend, or fan, this family history biography is for you to remember Charles Coles.

Charles R Coles of Des Moines, Polk County, IA was born on August 28, 1915, and died at age 84 years old on July 12, 2000.

Charles Coles was born on March 31, 1894, and died at age 53 years old in December 1947. Family, friend, or fan, this family history biography is for you to remember Charles Coles.

Charles E Coles of Tallahassee, Leon County, FL was born on June 25, 1902, and died at age 86 years old on September 3, 1988.

Charles Coles of Grayling, Crawford County, MI was born on January 6, 1881, and died at age 88 years old on December 15, 1969.

Charles A Coles of Grayling, Crawford County, MI was born on March 17, 1909, and died at age 83 years old on February 18, 1993.

Charles Coles of Dousman, Waukesha County, Wisconsin was born on March 31, 1889, and died at age 81 years old in May 1970.

Charles Coles was born on April 1, 1944, and died at age 26 years old in December 1970. Family, friend, or fan, this family history biography is for you to remember Charles Coles.