Bill Bailey a Master tap dancer & one of the Tap Kings. He is the older brother of actress singer Pearl Bailey.
It is said that he was the first to be recorded doing The Moonwalk, he referred to it as the Backslide during the Taking a Chance on Love number in the film Cabin In the Sky 1943. A motion picture based on the Broadway musical produced by MGM and released in 1943.
The film version of Cabin in the Sky also starred Ethel Waters as Petunia Jackson and Rex Ingram as Lucifer Junior. Eddie ‘Rochester’ Anderson of Jack Benny’s fame took over the role of Little Joe, Kenneth Lee Spencer portrayed The General, and Lena Horne co-starred as the temptress Georgia Brown in her first and only leading role in an MGM musical.
Louis Armstrong was also featured in the film as one of Lucifer Junior’s minions, and Duke Ellington and his Orchestra have a showcase musical number in the film.