Tiger Haynes and Joy Hatton collection

George Vernon Haynes, also known as "Tiger," and sometimes "Colonel" Tiger Haynes, was born in St. Croix, Virgin Islands on December 13, 1907. As one of four children, Haynes was born into a musical family. His father and brother Chris were both guitar players, his brother Richard played piano, and his mother and sister both sang. Upon moving to New York shortly after World War I, Tiger learned to play the ukulele, and eventually the guitar which became his instrument of choice, though he never received formal training. He has listed some of his influences as Django Reinhardt, Charlie Christian and Barney Kessel.

During the Great Depression Haynes ventured west in search of work, and often found himself homeless. He worked as a lumberjack, a welterweight boxer and elevator attendant upon his return to New York until 1936, when he played guitar at a club in Bayonne, NJ. He received enough in tips alone that he quit his elevator job and never looked back. Haynes began playing with such small groups as the Billy Moore Trio, The Three Dandies, and Plink, Plank, Plunk in 1941, which he stayed with until September 1945 before joining the most successful band, The Three Flames. Performing at such places as the Village Vanguard, Spivy's Roof, and the Blue Angel, The Three Flames hit it big with the single "Open the Door, Richard" in 1947 for Colombia Records. The group eventually went on to host their own radio show on NBC. The Three Flames Show, one of the first all-African-American television programs, premiered on the Du Mont Television Network in 1948 and ran for 39 weeks. In 1951, the band began a lengthy and successful run at the famous Bon Soir club in Greenwich Village which lasted nearly a decade. It was there that Haynes was discovered by producer Leonard Sillman, who cast him in his perennial musical revue New Faces, in 1956, on Broadway, launching an acting career which continued over the next three decades.

Haynes pursued a successful career both on and off Broadway, performing in such productions as Fade Out-Fade In with Carol Burnett (1964), Fade Out-Fade In, The Great White Hope (1969), and Comin' Uptown with Gregory Hines, in 1979. However, his most notable role was as the Tin Man in the original Broadway production of The Wiz, in 1975, featuring an African-American cast. The Wiz was a smash hit, receiving eight Tony Awards. Haynes continued his acting career in commercials, television shows, and movies. Haynes has appeared on such television shows as The Cosby Show (1984) and In the Heat of the Night (1988), as well as such films as Awakenings (1990) and Jungle Fever (1991). His career was managed by his wife Joy Hatton, an accomplished singer and actress. Tiger Haynes died February 14, 1994. Joy Hatton died on January 27, 1998.