He was born on December, 8, 1912, in Newport News, Virginia, one of four children of Ella Mae and Joseph James Bailey, a cement worker by day and a minister by night. One of Bailey's three sisters, singer-entertainer Pearl Bailey, suggested in her memoirs that the Bailey children were drawn to music by their father's highly active and highly musical church in Washington, the House of Prayer.
The family moved to Washington, D. C. , in 1922, where Willie (as he was called at home) attended Garnett-Patterson Public School.
In the late 1920's, Bailey's parents separated and his mother moved to Philadelphia, leaving the children with her husband. According to family legend, Bill followed her there on his bicycle. Although he did not have her address, he found his mother more or less by accident. He lived with her as he tried to find a place in show business, and he brought his sisters to Philadelphia as well. After a series of peripheral jobs, including one selling candy at the Pearl Theater, Bailey started getting work as a dancer in Philadelphia and on tour. In the mid-1930's, Bailey established himself in the New York City entertainment world.
Bailey formed an important professional partnership in the 1930's, becoming a protégé of famed tap dancer Bill ("Bojangles") Robinson, whom he replaced in 1937 at the Cotton Club. Like Robinson, Bailey performed as a "tapologuist, " that is, he accompanied his tap-dance routine with patter directed at the audience. During the 1930's and early 1940's, Bailey performed in vaudeville, nightclubs, and even a few motion pictures.
At one time or another his tap percussion accompanied most of the major African-American bands of the day, including those of Count Basie and Duke Ellington. His most important theatrical role was a supporting part in the pioneering all-black Broadway musical Cabin in the Sky in 1940; he also appeared in the 1943 motion picture of the same name. Bailey worked steadily and his performances were generally well received critically, although he never moved beyond comparisons to Robinson to establish a strong independent image in the press.
Bailey spent a year engaged in itinerant preaching in southern states, then returned to his former theatrical home base in New York City. In 1950, after preaching for several years on New York's streets, he opened a small church above a pool hall on West 126th Street. He was particularly interested in reaching fellow entertainers with his message of salvation and drew performers from the nearby Apollo Theater to his congregation. Bailey noted, "My background had equipped me with the understanding and idiom of show people. I felt I had a special mission to help them spiritually. " Stagehands from the Apollo helped him build his altar, and the theater's owner, Frank Schiffman, donated seats for the church.
Despite the goodwill and financial support of many entertainers, including his sister Pearl, Bailey was unable to make a living as a minister. He returned to dancing from time to time beginning in 1951. He stated in print that he was still doing God's work--"I've taken wings off my back and put 'em on my feet"--noting that it seemed ordained from on high that he once more step into the shoes of Bill Robinson, who had died in 1949. Throughout the 1950's and early 1960's, Bailey obtained sporadic work on the stage. He performed with Duke Ellington, Cab Calloway, Miles Davis, and Pearl Bailey. He also kept his name in the public eye through semi-regular appearances on Ed Sullivan's television variety show.
Bailey's health deteriorated in the late 1960's, and a series of operations on his legs ended his dancing career. He died in Philadelphia.
He was widely known for his gift of gab and sense of humor. Despite his showbusiness success, he suffered from a number of personal problems, many of them drug related. In 1946 he attempted to put his drug addiction behind him by shifting careers and following his father into the ministry.
He married a dancer Jessie Scott. The date of the dissolution of this marriage is uncertain, as are the dates of his subsequent marriages, of which there were at least two. He had a total of eleven children.
