A former boxer, Sandman (as everyone called him) taught footwork to such boxing legends as Sugar Ray Robinson and Muhammad Ali. But it was as a dancer that he excelled: he liked to tapdance after sprinkling sand in a box, which reminded him of “dancing” in the rosin box before a bout. He taught footwork to dancers, too: Gregory Hines and Ben Vereen were among his dancing students.
Sims was a fixture at the Apollo Theater, where he not only won a record 25 straight amateur night contests, but also where he served more than 30 years as the “executioner” — escorting unpopular acts off the stage. Sims was a “virtuoso among virtuosos,” said dance critic Anna Kisselgoff, “in a class by himself.”
In 1984, Sims won a National Heritage Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts. “I thought I was making noise all these years,” he said at the time. “Now they’re calling it culture.” The Sandman died in the Bronx May 20. He was 86.