Leslie Uggams
{{short description|American actress and singer (born 1943)|bot=PearBOT 5}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2019}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Leslie Uggams
| image = Leslie Uggams 1997a.jpg
| image_size =
| caption = Uggams in 1997
| birth_name = Leslie Marian Uggams
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1943|5|25}}
| birth_place = New York City, U.S.
| occupation = {{hlist|Actress|singer}}
| education = Juilliard School
| yearsactive = 1951–present
| known_for = Kizzy Reynolds – Roots
| spouse = {{marriage|Grahame Pratt|1965}}
| children = 2
| website = {{URL|leslieuggams.com}}
}}
Leslie Marian Uggams ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|ʌ|ɡ|ə|m|z}};{{cite web|url=https://www.loc.gov/nls/who-we-are/guidelines-and-specifications/nls-other-writings-say-how/uvwx/#u|title=Say How: U|publisher=National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled|access-date=December 16, 2023}} born May 25, 1943){{cite book |editor-first=Jessie Carney| editor-last=Smith |year=1996 |title=Notable Black American Women, Book II |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ssMBzqrUpjwC&pg=PA664 |publisher=Gale Research |page=664 |isbn=978-0810391772}} is an American actress and singer. After beginning her career as a child in the early 1950s, she garnered acclaim for her role in the Broadway musical Hallelujah, Baby!, winning a Theatre World Award in 1967 and the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical in 1968. Uggams gained wider recognition for portraying Kizzy Reynolds in the television miniseries Roots (1977), earning Golden Globe and Emmy Award nominations for her performance.
Later in her career, Uggams received renewed notice with appearances as Blind Al in the superhero films Deadpool (2016), Deadpool 2 (2018), and Deadpool & Wolverine (2024). Her other prominent roles were as Leah Walker on the Fox musical drama series Empire (2016–2020); as Agnes Ellison in the comedy-drama film American Fiction (2023); and as Betty Pearson in the Amazon Original post-apocalyptic drama series Fallout (2024), based on the video game of the same name.
Early life
Uggams was born in the Harlem neighborhood of New York City,{{cite web|url=http://www.leslieuggams.com/about_leslie.php|title=About Leslie • Leslie Uggams|website=leslieuggams.com}} the daughter of Juanita Ernestine (Smith), a Cotton Club chorus girl/dancer, and Harold Coyden Uggams, an elevator operator and maintenance man,{{Citation needed |date=July 2021}} who was a singer with the Hall Johnson choir.[http://www.allmusic.com/artist/leslie-uggams-p42146/biography "Leslie Uggams Biography"] AllMusic. Retrieved July 15, 2015. She attended the Professional Children's School of New York and Juilliard.{{cite journal| last=Uggams| first=Leslie| author2=Hugh Curnowh |title=Why I Married an Australian: Young singer tells of her marriage across color line |journal=Ebony |date=May 1967 |volume=22 |issue=7 |pages=140–142, 144–149 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=I0edoFFVVLkC&q=ebony+may+1967 |access-date=April 19, 2020}} Her aunt, singer Eloise C. Uggams, encouraged her musical training.{{Cite web|date=April 2004|title=Guideposts Classics: Leslie Uggams on Lending a Helping Hand|url=https://www.guideposts.org/better-living/entertainment/movies-and-tv/guideposts-classics-leslie-uggams-on-lending-a-helping|access-date=2021-02-16|website=Guideposts|language=en}} One of her grandfathers was Coyden H. Uggams, twice pastor of Zion Presbyterian Church in Charleston, South Carolina, from 1902 to 1906 and 1913 to 1919.{{cite book |last1=Simms |first1=Lois Averetta |title=A history of Zion, Olivet, and Zion-Olivet churches, 1850-1985, Charleston, South Carolina |date=1987 |publisher=L.A. Simms |pages=3–4, 35 |oclc=21410845 |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/21410845 |access-date=18 July 2021 |language=English}}
Career
=Early work=
Uggams started in show business as a child in 1951, playing the niece of Ethel Waters on Beulah. That same year she appeared as a featured performer at the famed Apollo Theater in Harlem, alongside Ella Fitzgerald. She made her professional debut at the age of six on Jack Barry's NBC show "Stars And Stardust." Following that, she performed on "Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts". Uggams got her biggest break on The Lawrence Welk Show and was a regular on Sing Along with Mitch, starring record producer-conductor Mitch Miller. In January 1954, ten-year-old Uggams released a double-sided single by MGM Records."[https://books.google.com/books?id=yx4EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA44 New Records To Watch]". Billboard. February 13, 1954. p. 44. In 1960, she sang, off-screen, "Give Me That Old Time Religion" in the film Inherit the Wind. Uggams came to be recognized by TV audiences as an upcoming teen talent in 1958 on the musical quiz show series Name That Tune. A record executive was in the studio audience and signed her to a contract.{{cite news| last=Petrow| first=Richard| title=The good luck show| newspaper=New York Daily News Sunday Magazine| date=August 9, 1959| page=10| url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/33791668/bennye_gatteys_name_that_tune_1959/| via=Newspapers.com| access-date=July 12, 2019| url-status=live| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190712140143/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/33791668/bennye_gatteys_name_that_tune_1959/| archive-date=July 12, 2019}} Her records "One More Sunrise" (an English-language cover of Ivo Robic's "Morgen", 1959) and "House Built on Sand" made Billboard magazine's charts.
=Television and film=
File:Leslie Uggams "Fantasy" (1983 Columbia press photo).jpg
She appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show singing The Beatles' "Yesterday" in 1965 and later had her own television variety show, The Leslie Uggams Show in 1969. This was the first network variety show to be hosted by a black person since The Nat King Cole Show of the mid-1950s.[http://www.museum.tv/eotvsection.php?entrycode=leslieuggams "The Leslie Uggams Show"] museum.tv. Retrieved March 4, 2012 She had a lead role in the 1977 miniseries Roots, for which she received an Emmy nomination, as Kizzy.[http://www.museum.tv/eotvsection.php?entrycode=roots "Roots"] museum.tv. Retrieved March 4, 2012 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130411020845/http://www.museum.tv/eotvsection.php?entrycode=roots |date=April 11, 2013 }} In 1979, she starred as Lillian Rogers Parks in the Emmy-winning miniseries Backstairs at the White House. She also made guest appearances on such television programs as Family Guy (as herself), I Spy, Hollywood Squares, The Muppet Show, The Love Boat and Magnum, P.I.. In 1996, Uggams played the role of Rose Keefer on All My Children. She won a 1983 Daytime Emmy Award as a host of the NBC game show Fantasy.{{cite news| url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1983/06/09/TV-WorldNEWLNABC-leads-in-Daytime-Emmy-awards/4728423979200/| title=ABC leads in Daytime Emmy awards| date=June 9, 1983| work=United Press International| access-date=May 8, 2018| archive-date=May 8, 2018| archive-url=https://archive.today/20180508220403/https://www.upi.com/Archives/1983/06/09/TV-WorldNEWLNABC-leads-in-Daytime-Emmy-awards/4728423979200/| url-status=live}}
In her first film, she was neither seen, nor credited. In Inherit the Wind (1960), she sang the opening, "(Gimme Dat) Old Time Religion", and the closing, "Battle Hymn of the Republic". Her film career includes roles in Skyjacked (1972), Black Girl (1972) and Poor Pretty Eddie (1975), in which she played a popular singer who, upon being stranded in the deep South, is abused and humiliated by the perverse denizens of a backwoods town.Stafford, Jeff. [https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/499034/poor-pretty-eddie#articles-reviews " 'Poor Pretty Eddie' Synopsis"]. Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved March 4, 2012 She later appeared in Sugar Hill (1994) opposite Wesley Snipes, and played Blind Al in Deadpool (2016) in February 2016.{{cite journal |url=https://comicbook.com/2015/07/10/leslie-uggams-cast-as-blind-al-in-deadpool/ |title=Leslie Uggams Cast As Blind Al In Deadpool |date=September 6, 2017| last=Jayson| first=Jay| access-date=April 19, 2020| website=Comicbook.com}} In April 2016, she portrayed Leah Walker, the bipolar mother of Lucious Lyon in the hit Fox series Empire. Uggams appeared as Sadie in the 2017 television film The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, and in 2018, she returned as Blind Al in Deadpool 2.{{Cite journal| url=http://www.joblo.com/movie-news/leslie-uggams-will-return-for-deadpool-2-138|title=Leslie Uggams Will Return As Blind Al For Deadpool 2| last=Rooney| first=Matt| journal=JoBlo|date=April 19, 2017 }}
She is an active Democrat and hosted a 1984 Democratic Telethon.{{cite news| url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1983/05/28/democrats-hope-to-get-6-million-in-telethon/12f1abe7-6358-49b4-ac9a-9934c56751b3/| title=Democrats Hope to Get $6 Million in Telethon| first=Jay| last=Mathews| date=May 28, 1983| newspaper=The Washington Post}} In 1999 and 2021, she guest starred in two episodes of Family Guy. Additionally, she reprised her role as Blind Al in Deadpool & Wolverine.
In 2023, Uggams voiced a character, Grandma, in My Dad the Bounty Hunter{{cite web|last=Oddo|first=Marco Vito|url=https://collider.com/my-dad-the-bounty-hunter-trailer-netflix/|title='My Dad the Bounty Hunter' Trailer Makes Catching Space Criminals a Family Business|website=Collider|date=November 16, 2022|access-date=February 16, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230115115049/https://collider.com/my-dad-the-bounty-hunter-trailer-netflix/|archive-date=January 15, 2023|url-status=live}} and appeared as Agnes in the film American Fiction.{{cite web|last=Murphy|first=Chris Vito|url=https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2023/08/awards-insider-first-look-american-fiction
|title=First Look - 'American Fiction' Challenges Hollywood's 'Poverty of Imagination' About Black People|website=Vanity Fair|date=August 31, 2023|access-date=December 20, 2023}}
=Stage=
Uggams was picked to star in Hallelujah, Baby! after Lena Horne declined the role of Georgina. The musical premiered on Broadway in 1967 and "created a new star" in Uggams.{{cite news| last=Siegel| first=Naomi| date=October 24, 2004| url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/24/nyregion/theater/theater-review-of-its-moment-1967.html| title=Theater Review; Of Its Moment: 1967| newspaper=The New York Times| url-access=subscription}} She won the Tony Award for Best Actress in a musical (in a tie with Patricia Routledge).[http://www2.broadwayworld.com/tonyawardsyear.cfm?year=1968 "Tony Awards, 1968"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160407225811/http://www2.broadwayworld.com/tonyawardsyear.cfm?year=1968 |date=April 7, 2016 }} broadwayworld.com. Retrieved March 5, 2012 She appeared on Broadway in the revue Blues in the Night in 1982 and in the musical revue of the works of Jerry Herman, Jerry's Girls in 1985.Rich, Frank (December 19, 1985). [http://theater.nytimes.com/mem/theater/treview.html?res=9D01E0DA153BF93AA25751C1A963948260 "Theater: 'Jerry's Girls,' A Musical Entertainment"] The New York Times. Uggams replaced Patti LuPone as Reno Sweeney in the Lincoln Center revival of Cole Porter's musical Anything Goes on Broadway in March 1989. She had played Reno in a US tour in 1988–1989.Nemy, Enid (March 17, 1989). [https://www.nytimes.com/1989/03/17/theater/on-stage.html?scp=11&sq=%22Leslie+Uggams%22&st=nyt "On Stage"] The New York Times. Later Broadway roles include Muzzy in Thoroughly Modern Millie (2003–2004) and Ethel Thayer in On Golden Pond at the Kennedy Center in 2004{{cite news| last=Jones| first=Kenneth| url=https://www.playbill.com/article/james-earl-jones-and-leslie-uggams-open-in-on-golden-pond-oct-2-com-122265| title=James Earl Jones and Leslie Uggams Open in 'On Golden Pond' Oct. 2| journal=Playbill| date=October 2, 2004| access-date=April 19, 2020}} and on Broadway at the Cort Theatre in 2005.Jones, Kenneth (April 7, 2005). [http://www.playbill.com/news/article/92171-Jones-and-Uggams-Face-Facts-of-Family-Life-in-Broadway-Return-of-On-Golden-Pond "Jones and Uggams Face Facts of Family Life in Broadway Return of 'On Golden Pond' "] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714131834/http://www.playbill.com/news/article/92171-Jones-and-Uggams-Face-Facts-of-Family-Life-in-Broadway-Return-of-On-Golden-Pond |date=July 14, 2014 }} Playbill.
In 2001, she appeared in the August Wilson play King Hedley II,Brantley, Ben (May 2, 2001). [http://theater.nytimes.com/mem/theater/treview.html?res=9401E5DF1738F931A35756C0A9679C8B63 "Theater Review: The Agonized Arias Of Everyman In Poverty and Pain"] The New York Times, Subscription required. receiving a nomination for the Tony Award, Best Actress in a Play.[http://www2.broadwayworld.com/tonyawardsyear.cfm?year=2001 "Tony Award, 2001"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170902003625/https://www.broadwayworld.com/tonyawardsyear.cfm?year=2001 |date=September 2, 2017}} broadwayworld.com. Retrieved March 5, 2012 In January 2009, Uggams played Lena Horne in a production of the stage musical Stormy Weather at the Pasadena Playhouse in California, directed by Michael Bush and choreographed by Randy Skinner.Jones, Kenneth. [https://archive.today/20120906051214/http://www.playbill.com/news/article/125404-Stormy-Weather-Musical-of-Hornes-Life-Starring-Uggams-Begins-West-Coast-Premiere Stormy Weather, Musical of Horne's Life, Starring Uggams, Begins West Coast Premiere"] Playbill, January 21, 2009 In June 2012, Uggams played Muzzy in a production of Thoroughly Modern Millie at The Muny in St. Louis.{{cite press release| title=Lelie Uggams to star in the Muny's Production of Thoroughly Modern Millie| url=http://www.muny2.org/press_release/attachments/2012-02-24_leslie_uggams.pdf| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120703235808/http://www.muny2.org/press_release/attachments/2012-02-24_leslie_uggams.pdf| url-status=dead| archive-date=July 3, 2012| publisher=The Muny| date=February 2, 2012| access-date=April 19, 2020}} In 2014, she starred as Rose in Connecticut Repertory Theatre's Nutmeg Summer Series production of Gypsy. In 2024, Uggams appeared in the role of Gran Mimi in the New York City Center Encores! production of Jelly's Last Jam, which ran from February 21 to March 3.
Personal life
Uggams has been married to her longtime manager Grahame Pratt since 1965, at the time a rare high-profile interracial marriage. “It was not as hard as I expected it to be,” Uggams says. “I think the reason is that Grahame was not an American white man. But of course we did get mail.”{{cite magazine| url=https://people.com/movies/leslie-uggams-love-story/| magazine=People| title=Leslie Uggams' Amazing Love Story: How Her 53-Year Interracial Marriage Defied the Odds| first=Nigel| last=Smith| date=May 25, 2018| access-date=April 19, 2020}} Uggams met her husband at the Professional Children's School of New York, where they were both students. The couple met again while she was performing in Sydney, Australia, during one of Uggams's celebrity tours, and he became her manager afterward.{{cite journal| url=https://amomama.com/165733-inside-leslie-uggams-54-year-interracial.html| journal=Amo Mama| title=Inside Leslie Uggams' 54-Year Interracial Marriage That Defied the Odds| first=Oyin| last=Balogun| date=August 12, 2019}} After their wedding, they decided to settle in New York City for its relative tolerance of interracial relationships. The couple's daughter Danielle was born in 1970, and their son Justice in 1975.
Acting credits
=Film=
| class="wikitable sortable" |
| Year
! Title ! Role ! Notes |
|---|
| 1962
| Chanteuse | |
| rowspan="2"| 1972
| Lovejoy Wells | |
| Black Girl
| Netta | |
| 1975
| Elizabeth 'Liz' Wetherly | |
| 1993
| Doris Holly | |
| 2009
| Toe to Toe | Grandma | |
| 2014
| Just the Three of Us | Regina | Short film |
| 2016
| Deadpool | Blind Al | |
| 2018
| Blind Al | |
| 2021
| The Ravine | Joanna | |
| rowspan="2"| 2022
| Nanny | Kathleen | |
| Dotty & Soul
| Dotty | |
| 2023
| Agnes Ellison | |
| 2024
| Blind Al | |
=Television=
| class="wikitable sortable" |
| Year
! Title ! Role ! Notes |
|---|
| 1966
| Herself / Host | January 10 |
| 1966
| Natasha Brimstone | Episode: "The Jewels of Topango Affair" |
| 1967
| I Spy | Tonia | Episode: "Tonia" |
| 1969
| Herself | 10 episodes |
| 1970
| Saloon Singer | TV special |
| 1972
| Dina Lane | Episode: "Kill Gently, Sweet Jessie" |
| 1974
| Laurie Williams | Episode: "Feedback" |
| 1977
| Roots | Kizzy Reynolds | Miniseries |
| 1979
| Backstairs at the White House | Miniseries |
| 1981
| Sizzle | Vonda | Television film |
| 1982–1984
| Fantasy | Host | 4 episodes |
| 1984
| Alexis Carter | Episode: "Paradise Blues" |
| 1987
| Hotel | Amanda Price | Episode: "Discoveries" |
| 1981–1987
| Leslie / Marion / Callie | 3 episodes |
| 1991
| Kris Temple | Episode: "The Return of the Clairettes" |
| 1993
| Dr. Eileen Redding | Episode: "College Kid" |
| 1995
| Geneva | Episode: "Secrets" |
| 1996
| Rose Keefer | October 15 – December 11, 1996 |
| 2011
| Estelle | Episode: "Troubled Water" |
| 2011
| Suzanne Packer | Episode: "Death Row Tip" |
| 2015
| Vivian | 3 episodes |
| 2016–2020
| Empire | Leah Walker | 21 episodes |
| 2017
| The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks | Sadie | Television film |
| 2021
| The Bite | Dr. Hester Boutella | 3 episodes |
| 2021
| Herself | Episode: "The Birthday Bootlegger" |
| 2019–2022
| Mama Reynolds | 5 episodes |
| 2023
| Isabel Zucker | 2 episodes |
| 2023
| Grandma | Voice |
| 2024
| Fallout | Betty Pearson | 5 episodes |
| {{TableTBA}}
| Mrs. Ernestine Brown | Season 3 |
= Theatre =
Discography
- The Eyes of God (Columbia CS8174, 1959)
- LESLIE UGGAMS ON TV with Mitch Miller's sing along chorus (Columbia CL1706, 1962)
- So in Love! (Columbia CS8871, 1963)
- A Time to Love (Atlantic 8128, 1966)
- What's an Uggams? (Atlantic SD8196, 1968)
- Just to Satisfy You (Atlantic SD8241, 1969)
- Leslie (Columbia CS9936, 1970)
- Try to See It My Way (Sonday SL8000, 1972)
- Leslie Uggams (Motown M6846S1, 1975)
- Leslie Uggams: On My Way to You: Songs of Alan and Marilyn Bergman (2003){{cite web| url=https://www.discogs.com/Leslie-Uggams-On-My-Way-to-You-Songs-of-Alan-Marilyn-Bergman/release/10501381| title=Leslie Uggams – On My Way to You: Songs of Alan & Marilyn Bergman| website=Discogs| access-date=2 September 2019}}
Awards and nominations
- 1979: Supersisters trading card set (one of the cards featured Uggams's name and picture){{cite web |last=Wulf |first=Steve |url=https://www.espn.com/espnw/news-commentary/story/_/id/12535055/original-roster |title=Supersisters: Original Roster |website=ESPN |date=March 23, 2015 |access-date=4 June 2015}}
=Honorary Degrees=
- 2015: Awarded an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree from the University of Connecticut
- 2019: Awarded an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree from the University of Michigan{{cite journal |url=https://record.umich.edu/articles/four-recommended-honorary-degrees-spring-commencement-0/ |title=Four to receive honorary degrees at Spring Commencement| journal=The University Record| date=March 28, 2019 |first=Safiya |last=Merchant |access-date=4 October 2019}}
Notes
{{Notelist}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
{{commons category}}
- [http://www.leslieuggams.com/ Official website]
- {{IBDB name}}
- {{IMDb name|0880081}}
- {{iobdb name|9034}}
- [https://soundcloud.com/american-theatre-wing/episode-51 Leslie Uggams] – Downstage Center interview at American Theatre Wing.org
- {{emmytvlegends name|leslie-uggams}}
{{TonyAward MusicalLeadActress 1948–1975}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Uggams, Leslie}}
Category:American film actresses
Category:American television actresses
Category:20th-century African-American women singers
Category:Actresses from Manhattan
Category:American musical theatre actresses
Category:20th-century African-American actresses
Category:20th-century American actresses
Category:20th-century American women singers
Category:20th-century American singers
Category:21st-century African-American actresses
Category:21st-century American actresses
Category:21st-century American women singers
Category:21st-century American singers
Category:New York (state) Democrats