Pearl Bailey

Happy birthday, Pearl Bailey 1918-1990...Actress, singer and appointed by Richard Nixon to be the "U.S. Ambassador of Love", Bailey was beloved for her warmth and personal magnetism as much as for her talent. Born in the same year and town as Ella Fitzgerald, Newport News, Virginia, she was singing and dancing at an early age, getting her first big break at age 15 after entering a talent contest at the urging of her tap dancing brother. Like Fitzgerald, she also entered the talent contest at the Apollo and won which put her on the vaudeville circuit in Pennsylvania.

She quickly started performing at the better black nightclubs of Washington, D.C. and Baltimore moving on to featured vocalist roles with the big bands of Cootie Williams and Edgar Hayes. During the 40's she entertained the troops in U.S.O. shows and in 1944 had her first solo show at The Village Vanguard in N.Y. It was at the Village Vanguard where she began to develop her signature "throw away" style, engaging playfully with her audience.

In 1945 she began a 20 week run with Cab Calloway at the famed Zanzibar nightclub on Broadway. She would make her Broadway debut a year later in "St. Louis Woman", an all-black musical by Johnny Mercer and Harold Arlen. Her two numbers, "A Woman's Prerogative" and "Legalize My Name" were the hit of the show and won her the Donaldson Award for best newcomer that year. She would continue to return to Broadway throughout her career creating major characters in "House of Flowers", "Call Me Madame" and an all-black version of "Hello Dolly" in the title role. She also appeared in several popular films including "Carmen Jones", "Porgy and Bess", "That Certain Feeling" and "St. Louis Blues", a biography of W.C. Handy.

The part of Dolly Levi in "Hello Dolly" was the triumph of Bailey's career, running for 2 years on Broadway and then going on to a very successful national tour and earning her a special Tony award. The stress of performing so intensively took it's toll on a long standing heart condition and Bailey returned to performing in more intimate cabaret settings. In 1971 she had her own television show which lasted for a year and did voice-overs for animated movies and cartoons.

By the late 70's Bailey had authored five books ranging from children's books to autobiography to cooking even though she had not completed high school. In 1978 she enrolled in Georgetown University and graduated in 1985 at the age of 67 with a degree in theology. She continued to sing and act during the 80's as well as working as a special ambassador to the U.N. under presidents Ford, Reagan and Bush, receiving the Medal of Freedom from Reagan in 1988 for her humanitarian work. She died of a heart attack after knee surgery in 1990.