Yes,Bill Robinson was--Mr. Bojangles.
Robinson was known as Bojangles, but, the song, according to Wikepedia:
The song "Mr. Bojangles"
Jerry Jeff Walker's 1968 folk song "Mr. Bojangles" has been misinterpreted as a song about Robinson. According to Walker, it was instead inspired by Walker's encounter with a street performer in the New Orleans first precinct jail, a street performer who called himself "Bo Jangles".[38] In the song, the street performer is a heavy drinker and has a dog that died. By Robinson's own account and those of his friends, he neither smoked nor drank (although he was a frequent and avid gambler),[10]:p. 121 and he never had a dog.