Post by Kaz ~;~ on Mar 12, 2011 15:00:17 GMT -5
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Pearl Bailey
Date of Birth
29 March 1918, Newport News, Virginia, USA
Date of Death
17 August 1990, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA (heart failure)
Birth Name:: Pearl Mae Bailey
Nickname:: Dickie, Pearly Mae
Biography::
Her father Joseph was a minister and her mother was named Ella Mae. Her birth name was Pearly Mae but her parents anticipated she would be a boy and when a girl was born she was nicknamed "Dickie". Her brother was entertainer Bill Bailey (1912-1978). She spent her early life in Washington DC where she received her early education. Bailey frequently appeared in the Old Howard theater in downtown Washington. As a young woman she toured the Pennsylvania mining towns as a dancer and later as a singer in Vaudeville. She starred in the film St. Louis Blues opposite Nat King Cole, which was the biography of W.C. Handy. Her greatest theater role was in the Broadway musical "Hello Dolly".
Composer, singer and songwriter. She was a dancer, then a singer in New York in the early 1940s, touring with the Cootie Williams orchestra, and later a featured singer in night clubs, radio and television. She made stage appearances in "Arms and the Girl", "St. Louis Woman"; and "House of Flowers". She made many records. Joining ASCAP in 1958, her popular-song compositions include: "A Five Pound Box of Money"; "Jingle Bells Cha Cha Cha"; "I'm Gonna Keep On Doin'"; and "Don't Be Afraid to Love".
Spouse
Louie Bellson (19 November 1952 - 17 August 1990) (her death) 2 children
John Randolph Pinkett (31 August 1948 - March 1952) (divorced)
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Trivia::
Died in Philadelphia after collapsing at a local hotel.
Received the Women's International Center (WIC) Living Legacy Award in 1989.
Was an avid baseball fan, especially of the New York Mets.
Appointed as a special ambassador to the United Nations in 1975 by President Gerald Ford.
Awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Ronald Reagan in 1988.
Won a Special Tony Award in 1968 for her performance as a replacement in the lead in "Hello, Dolly!". RCA released a new version of the Broadway Cast Recording with Bailey, the first time this was done during a Broadway show's original run. (Carol Channing had originated the role in 1964.).
Sang "He'll Understand" at Joan Crawford's funeral in 1977.
Biography in: "The Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives". Volume Two, 1986-1990, pages 47-50. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1999.
According to her daughter Dee Dee Belson, she was highly amused by Garrett Morris playing her in drag on "Saturday Night Live" (1975).
She was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Recording at 7080 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California.
Her brother was also an entertainer, Bill Bailey (1912-1978). He is generally credited with being the first to perform the "moonwalk" dance step on film in the classic musical Cabin in the Sky (1943), which starred 'Eddie 'Rochester' Anderson' , Ethel Waters and Lena Horne.
Her brother was Bill Bailey (1912-1978). He is generally credited with first performing the "moonwalk" dance step in _Cabin in the Sky (1943)_ starring Eddie 'Rochester' Anderson, Ethel Waters and Lena Horne.
Personal Quotes::
"What the world really needs is more love and less paperwork."
"I am not a gourmet chick."
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