His official Instagram accountpostedthe news but did not provide other details.
Fly on, Joyboy, it read in part.
I know the dance party up above is going to be amazing.
Bobby BanasAmanda Edwards/Getty Images
His most famous role would come in the Best Picture Oscar-winning musicalWest Side Story,playing the Jets Joyboy.
The pic directed by Jerome Robbins and Robert Wise won 10 Academy Awards in 1962.
Eventually the camera tightened up on him as someone in the control room likely instructed.
The clip was was posted on YouTube in the early 2010s and went viral.
I cantbeleivewhat has happened with the Nitty Gritty clip, he said.
Several years ago a friend said he had a copy that he found somewhere.
He gave me one, I looked at it and put it away.
I didnt think it was anything to get that excited about, and that was that.
Then I guess someone else found a copy, and posted it on YouTube.
Then someone else posted it on Facebook, and the sh*t hit the fan.
Yes, it was my choreography and my own interpretation of the song.
Greg Evans contributed to this report.
