Bill "Bojangles" Robinson (May 25, 1878 - November 25, 1949) was an American tap dancer and actor, the best known and most highly paid African-American entertainer in the first half of the twentieth century. His long career mirrored changes in American entertainment tastes and technology. He started in the age of minstrel shows and moved to vaudeville, Broadway, the recording industry, Hollywood, radio, and television.
Vaudeville
On March 30, 1900, Robinson entered a buck-and-wing dance contest at the Bijou Theater in Brooklyn, New York, winning a gold medal and defeating Harry Swinton, star of the show In Old Kentucky and considered the best dancer of his day. The resulting publicity helped Robinson to get work in numerous traveling shows, sometimes in a troupe, more frequently with a partner, though not always as a dancer (Robinson also sang and performed two-man comedy routines).  By 1912, Robinson was a full partner in the duo, which had become primarily a tap dancing act, booked on both the Keith and Orpheum Circuits. The team broke up in 1914, and vaudeville performer Rae Samuels, who had performed in shows with Robinson, convinced him to meet with her manager (and husband), Marty Forkins. Under Forkins' tutelage, Robinson matured and began working as a solo act, increasing his earnings to an estimated $3,500 per week. Forkins accomplished this by inventing an alternate history for Robinson, promoting him as already being a solo act. This technique succeeded, making Robinson one of the first performers to break vaudeville's two colored rule, which forbade solo black acts.  When the U.S. entered World War I, the War Department set up a series of Liberty Theaters in the training camps. The Keith and Orpheum Circuits underwrote vaudeville acts at reduced fees, but Robinson volunteered to perform gratis for thousands of troops, in both black and white units of the Expeditionary Forces, receiving a commendation from the War Department in 1918.  Throughout the early 1920s, Robinson continued his career on the road as a solo vaudeville act, touring throughout the country and most frequently visiting Chicago, where Marty Forkins, his manager, lived. From 1919-1923 he was fully booked on the Orpheum Circuit, and was signed full-time by the Keith in 1924 and 1925. In addition to being booked for 50-52 weeks (an avid baseball fan, he took a week off for the World Series), Robinson did multiple shows per night, frequently on two different stages.

Q: What was Vaudeville?
A: vaudeville performer Rae Samuels, who had performed in shows with Robinson, convinced him to meet with her manager

Q: What was Robinson's role?
A: By 1912, Robinson was a full partner in the duo,

Q: Did they see any success?
A: working as a solo act, increasing his earnings to an estimated $3,500 per week.

Q: How long did he perform solo?
A: Throughout the early 1920s, Robinson continued his career on the road as a solo vaudeville act,

Q: What was his act about?
A: primarily a tap dancing act,

Q: Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?
A: Robinson volunteered to perform gratis for thousands of troops,
Where did he perform for the troops?
Liberty Theaters in the training camps.
Liberty Theaters in the training camps.