Broadway is saddened to report the passing of Mimi Hines. Hines, a Canadian-born star of stage, television and nightclubs, died peacefully Monday at her home in Las Vegas of natural causes at age 91.
After meeting her future partner and husband, Phil Ford, at the Last Chance Saloon in Anchorage, Alaska, the duo’s break came when they were invited to appear on THE TONIGHT SHOW on August 28, 1958.
Mimi’s career kicked off when she sang “Till There Was You”, on the Tonight Show in August 1958. Jack Paar cried, placing she and her partner Phil Ford in instant demand, frequently thereafter appearing on that show and every other talk and variety show imaginable. After headlining in all the top nightclubs and showrooms in the country, Mimi parlayed her career by replacing Barbra Streisand on Broadway in Funny Girl, and led the cast for 18 months.
Following Funny Girl, Mimi starred in national touring companies of I Do! I Do!, Prisoner of Second Avenue, Sugar Babies and Hello, Dolly!, as well as star packages of Anything Goes, Never Too Late, The Unsinkable Molly Brown, No, No Nanette, Sugar, On The Twentieth Century and Nite Club Confidential, among others, frequently appearing with opposite Phil Ford.
During this period, Mimi also recorded several very successful albums, appeared as Mrs. Latimer on the hit series, FRASIER and then returned to Broadway as Miss Lynch in “GREASE” and as Hattie Walker in the New York City Center’s production of “FOLLIES,” stopping the show with her rendition of a song which summed her up best, “Broadway Baby.”
Watch a flashback interview with Hines on Broadway Beat, click here.
Ford & Hines have recently been awarded a Star on the Palm Springs Walk of Fame with a planned ceremony which will serve as a celebration of Mimi’s life, career and marriage.
