Andre Tayir
American dancer, actor, and choreographer (1935–2003)
Andre Tayir (born Dalton Herman Baker; September 16, 1935 – November 5, 2003) was an American dancer, choreographer, and actor. He is best known for his role as “Chili” in the film West Side Story (1961), his choreographic work on the television series Shindig!, and as co-director and choreographer of The Fabulous Palm Springs Follies.
Early life
Andre Tayir was born Dalton Herman Baker on September 16, 1935, in Ariton, Alabama. He was raised in Eufaula, Alabama, where he grew up in a large family and was one of multiple siblings.
His father, Obie (O. N.) Baker (1899–1999), served as police chief of Eufaula, while his mother, Evie Garner (born 1901), came from an Alabama farming family. They married in 1920.
From an early age, Tayir demonstrated musical and performance ability. He sang in school and church choirs, directed the choir at Parkview Baptist Church, played piano, and served as drum major and assistant band director during his high school years.
He attended the University of Georgia’s Atlanta Division, majoring in music and drama. Three weeks before graduation, he left for New York City to pursue a professional performing career, a decision he later recalled was difficult for his parents to accept.
“Andre Tayir” enters the record as american dancer, actor, and choreographer (1935–2003). Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Andre, Tayir and American can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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Chronology provides the most reliable spine for this subject; interpretation should follow only after identities and dates are secure. The source revision retrieved here is dated Feb 10, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q138026289. None of the 1 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1935, 2003, 1961 and 1899.
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This entry incorporates text from “Andre Tayir” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.