Adolfo Quiñones
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Adolfo Gutierrez Quiñones or Adolfo Gordon Quiñones (sources differ) (May 11, 1955 – December 29, 2020), known professionally as Shabba Doo, was an American actor, break dancer, and choreographer of African American and Puerto Rican descent.Herguth, Bob (1987) "Shabba Doo", ''
Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the ''Chicago ...
'', July 31, 1987
Quiñones is one of the forefathers of hip-hop dancing, and played Orlando "Ozone" in the 1984
breakdancing Breakdancing, also called breaking or b-boying/b-girling, is an athletic style of street dance originating from the African American and Puerto Rican communities in the United States. While diverse in the amount of variation available in t ...
hit film ''
Breakin' ''Breakin (also known as ''Breakdance'' in the United Kingdom and ''Break Street '84'' in other regions) is a 1984 American breakdancing-themed musical film directed by Joel Silberg and written by Charles Parker and Allen DeBevoise based on a ...
'' and its sequel, '' Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo''.


Early life and education

Quiñones was born and raised in
Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...
, United States; His father, Adolfo, had been born in Puerto Rico and became a salesman and a laborer. His mother, Ruth (McDaniel) Quiñones, was an accountant whose family had moved from Mississippi to Chicago during the Great Migration. His mother raised him as a single parent from the age of three. He had a younger sister, Fawn Quiñones, who was also a dancer, and frequently featured on the musical variety television program '' Soul Train''. Quiñones was raised in the Cabrini–Green housing complex in the city's North Side. For high school, Quiñones attended
Cooley Vocational High School Edwin Gilbert Cooley Vocational High School (also known as Cooley Vocational High School and Upper Grade Center, commonly known as Cooley High) was a public 4–year vocational high school and middle school located in the Old Town neighborhood o ...
and Robert A. Waller High School (now known as Lincoln Park High School). In the 1970s, his family moved to the Los Angeles area. He began dancing in clubs around Crenshaw Boulevard and at venues like Radiotron, near MacArthur Park. Break-dance culture was growing at these establishments, and he dueled nightly in them with rivals on the dance floor. He started calling himself Sir Lance-a-Lock, which then became Shabba-Dabba-Do-Bop, which was finally shortened to Shabba-Doo.


Career

As a member of The Original Lockers along with Don "Campbellock" Campbell, Fred "Rerun" Berry and
Toni Basil Antonia Christina Basilotta (born September 22, 1943), better known by her stage name Toni Basil, is an American singer, choreographer, dancer, actress, and director. Her song "Mickey" topped the charts in the US, Canada and Australia and hit th ...
, Quiñones became one of the innovators of the dance style commonly known as locking.Banes, Sally (1994) ''Writing Dancing in the Age of Postmodernism'', Wesleyan University Press; His best-known role was as Ozone in the 1984 hit cult film ''
Breakin' ''Breakin (also known as ''Breakdance'' in the United Kingdom and ''Break Street '84'' in other regions) is a 1984 American breakdancing-themed musical film directed by Joel Silberg and written by Charles Parker and Allen DeBevoise based on a ...
'' and its sequel, '' Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo''.Adams, Michael (2010
"Michael Adams discovers top ten films so bad they're actually worth watching"
'' Herald Sun'', January 8, 2010; retrieved 2010-01-22
Quiñones also appeared in ''Rave - Dancing to a Different Beat'', which he also directed. He made guest appearances on TV shows including ''
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'', '' Married... with Children'', ''
Miami Vice ''Miami Vice'' is an American crime drama television series created by Anthony Yerkovich and produced by Michael Mann for NBC. The series stars Don Johnson as James "Sonny" Crockett and Philip Michael Thomas as Ricardo "Rico" Tubbs, two M ...
'', ''
What's Happening!! ''What's Happening!!'' is an American sitcom television series that aired on ABC from August 5, 1976, until April 28, 1979, premiering as a summer series. Due to other shows being cancelled across the network, and good ratings and reviews from ...
'', ''
Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock (streaming service), Peacock. ...
'' and ''
Lawrence Leung's Choose Your Own Adventure ''Lawrence Leung's Choose Your Own Adventure'' is a six-part Australian television comedy series, starring and primarily written by Melbourne comedian Lawrence Leung and produced by Chaser Broadcasting. The series was filmed over nine weeks fr ...
''. Quiñones was writing ''A Breakin’ Uprising.'' Besides acting and dancing work in film and television, Quiñones has served as a choreographer to many singers, such as Lionel Richie, Madonna, and Luther Vandross. He was a primary dancer and main choreographer for Madonna's ''Who's That Girl?'' Tour in 1987. He served as choreographer for
Jamie Kennedy James Harvey Kennedy (born May 25, 1970) is an American actor and comedian. He has played Randy Meeks in the ''Scream'' franchise (1996–2000) and a multitude of characters in '' The Jamie Kennedy Experiment'' (2002–2004) on The WB. His oth ...
's MTV sitcom, ''
Blowin' Up ''Blowin' Up'' is a comedic reality show on MTV. The show stars Jamie Kennedy, an actor who follows his dream of becoming a successful rapper. The show was written by Kennedy after the success of the movie ''Malibu's Most Wanted,'' in which he sta ...
''. He choreographed
Three Six Mafia Three 6 Mafia is an American hip hop group from Memphis, Tennessee, formed in 1991. Emerging as a horror-themed underground hip hop group, they would eventually go on to enjoy mainstream success. The group's 1995 debut album '' Mystic Stylez'' ...
's performance on the
78th Academy Awards The 78th Academy Awards presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), took place on March 5, 2006, at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, Hollywood, Los Angeles beginning at 5:00 p.m. Pacific Time Zone, PST ...
; the group won the
Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People * Oscar (given name), an Irish- and English-language name also used in other languages; the article includes the names Oskar, Oskari, Oszkár, Óscar, and other forms. * Oscar (Irish mythology) ...
for best original song for their song " It's Hard out Here for a Pimp". He appeared in the music video for Lionel Richie's "All Night Long" and was featured in the music video for Chaka Khan's 1984 song " I Feel for You".


Personal life and death

Quiñones was married twice and had two children. His first marriage was to Gwendolyn Powell from 1976 until 1982. After divorcing Powell, Quiñones married actress
Lela Rochon Lela Rochon Staples (born April 17, 1964) is an American actress, best known for her starring role as Robin Stokes in the 1995 romantic drama film ''Waiting to Exhale''. She also had notable roles in the films ''Harlem Nights'' (1989), ''Boomerang ...
in 1982. Quiñones and Rochon were married until 1987. He died at his home from undisclosed causes on December 29, 2020, at age 65. A later coroner's report listed the cause of death as arteriosclerotic cardiovascular disease.


Filmography


References


External links

*
Interview with Shabba-Doo
at Ham Radio Nation
Interview
at Blogtalkradio
Shabba-Doo performing in the 1970s to 1980s
on YouTube {{DEFAULTSORT:Doo, Shabba 1955 births 2020 deaths American choreographers American male dancers American dancers American male film actors American male television actors American people of Puerto Rican descent American people of Ethiopian descent Male actors from Chicago Puerto Rican dancers Dancers from Illinois African-American dancers People of Afro–Puerto Rican descent 20th-century African-American people 21st-century African-American people American breakdancers