Re: [ARSCLIST] Mystery singer -- who is this lady?

[David Lennick <dlennick@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I like the bio by Tyrone..probably more accurate than most Wackypedia entries,
except for the "Name That Time" reference. Incidentally, "Beulah" started on
television in 1950, so you can make what you want of Leslie Uggams or Crayne
appearing in it (she's not listed in any of my radio or TV encyclopedias).

Leslie Uggams

At six Leslie Uggams appeared on the television show "Beulah." By the time she
was seven, Leslie was appearing at the Apollo Theatre in Harlem, New York. At
fifteen she appeared on the TV series "Name That Time." Mitch Miller, head of
recordings for Columbia Records liked her voice very much. He gave her a
contract and gave her a job on the show "Sing Along with Mitch." She was in
many TV shows, on Broadway and in the movies. She is famous for her singing.


2000, by Tyrone, third grade

http://www2.lhric.org/pocantico/womenenc/uggams.htm

dl

Lou Judson wrote:

> Hah! You made me look - but her offical website doesn't say!
> Interesting story though.
> copy & paste:
>
> Raised in the Washington Heights section of New York City...
>
> ... Leslie Uggams made her national television debut at age six on the
> TV series Beulah, portraying the niece of Ethel Waters.  Appearances on
> Your Show of Shows, The Milton Berle Show, Arthur Godfrey Show, and
> several children's programs followed.  At age seven, Leslie began
> performing regularly at the Apollo Theatre in Harlem as an extra added
> attraction before the performances of such legends as Louis Armstrong,
> Ella Fitzgerald, and Dinah Washington.
>
> Leslie attended the New York Professional Children's School, and at age
> fifteen she appeared on the CBS-TV series Name That Tune.  Her
> appearance proved to be fortuitous: Mitch Miller, head of recordings
> for Columbia Records, was impressed by her vocal talents, signed her to
> a recording contract and then made her a regular on Sing Along With
> Mitch, TV's first pre-recorded music show.
>
> Concurrent with her musical composition and theory studies at the
> Julliard School, Ms. Uggams released the first of ten LP's she was to
> record for Columbia, including her first hit single, "Morgan."
> Alternating major nightclub appearances with her stage work, Leslie
> Uggams appeared in the musical The Boyfriend in Berkeley, California.
> Soon she won the lead in Hallelujah, Baby!, which had originally been
> written for Lena Horne, and earned the 1968 Tony Award for Best Actress
> In A Broadway Musical Comedy.
>
> Two years later she had her own musical variety television series on
> CBS-TV, The Leslie Uggams Show, and a new recording contract with
> Atlantic Records, and in 1970 she made her dramatic film debut in
> "Skyjacked."
>
> Her portrayal of Kizzy in the most watched dramatic show in TV history,
> "Roots," won her the Critics Choice Award for Best Supporting Actress
> in 1978, and her first Emmy nomination for Best Leading Actress.  She
> also starred in the miniseries Backstairs at the White House, Sizzle,
> an ABC-TV Movie of the Week, and Christmas at Radio City Music Hall, an
> HBO special.  She won an Emmy as co-host of the NBC-TV series Fantasy.
>
> In addition to ongoing concert dates, Leslie returned to Broadway to
> star in the musical Blues in the Night; she also enjoyed a two year run
> in the hit musical Jerry's Girls. In 1987, she toured with Peter Nero
> and Mel Torme in The Great Gershwin Concert, for which she received
> rave reviews, and in 1988 starred as Reno Sweaney, in the National
> Company of the Lincoln Center Production of Anything Goes. Leslie
> reprised her role in 1989/90 at the Lincoln Center's Vivien Beaumont
> Theatre on Broadway.  1991 saw Leslie touring in Stringbean, a new play
> with music based on Ethel Waters' rise to fame in the twenties and
> thirties.
>
> Off stage, Leslie is a founding member of the BRAVO Chapter/City of
> Hope-- a charitable organisation dedicated to the study, treatment, and
> eradication of all blood-related diseases, a board member of the Alvin
> Alley Dance Theatre, and TADA, a children's musical theatre.
> Among her most recent concerts are the Pittsburgh Symphony, Rhode
> Island Symphony, and The Memorial Day Concert on the Washington Mall,
> in front of 300,000 people, televised live by PBS.
>
> Quite a resume, but no age 10 stage name...
>
> Lou Judson ? Intuitive Audio
> 415-883-2689
>
> On Mar 9, 2006, at 3:46 PM, David Lennick wrote:
>
> >> Leslie Uggams