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{{Infobox person
{{Infobox person
| name = Leslie Uggams
| name = Leslie Uggams
| image = Leslie Uggams 1997a.jpg
| image = Leslie Uggams 1997a.jpg
| image_size =
| image_size =
| caption = Uggams in 1997
| caption = Uggams in 1997
| birth_name = Leslie Marian Uggams
| birth_name = Leslie Marian Uggams
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1943|5|25}}
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1943|5|25}}
| birth_place = [[Harlem, New York]], U.S.
| birth_place = [[New York City]], U.S.
| occupation = {{hlist|Actress|singer}}
| occupation = {{hlist|Actress|singer}}
| education = [[Juilliard School]]
| education = [[Juilliard School]]
Line 15: Line 15:
| spouse = {{marriage|Grahame Pratt|1965}}
| spouse = {{marriage|Grahame Pratt|1965}}
| children = 2
| children = 2
| website = {{url|leslieuggams.com}}
| website = {{URL|leslieuggams.com}}
| awards = *[[Theatre World Award]]<br>''[[Hallelujah, Baby!]]'' – 1967
*[[Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical]] <br>''[[Hallelujah, Baby!]]'' – 1968
*[[Daytime Emmy Award]] for Outstanding Host in a Variety Series <br>''[[Fantasy (game show)|Fantasy]]'' – 1983
*[[TV Land Awards|TV Land Anniversary Award]]<br> ''[[Roots (1977 miniseries)|Roots]]'' – 2007
}}
}}
⚫
'''Leslie Marian Uggams''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|ʌ|ɡ|ə|m|z}};<ref>{{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}}</ref> born May 25, 1943)<ref>{{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}}</ref> 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 theatre|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 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 (film)|Deadpool]]'' (2016), ''[[Deadpool 2]]'' (2018), and ''[[Deadpool & Wolverine]]'' (2024). Her other prominent roles were as Leah Walker on the Fox musical drama series ''[[Empire (2015 TV series)|Empire]]'' (2016–2020); as Agnes Ellison in the comedy-drama film ''[[American Fiction (film)|American Fiction]]'' (2023); and as Betty Pearson in the [[List of Amazon Prime Video original programming|Amazon Original]] post-apocalyptic drama series ''[[Fallout (American TV series)|Fallout]]'' (2024), based on the [[Fallout (franchise)|video game of the same name.]]
⚫
'''Leslie Marian Uggams''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|ʌ|ɡ|ə|m|z}};<ref>{{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}}</ref> born May 25, 1943)<ref>{{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}}</ref> is an American actress and singer. Beginning her career as a child in the early 1950s, Uggams is recognized for portraying Kizzy Reynolds in the television [[miniseries]] ''[[Roots (1977 miniseries)|Roots]]'' (1977), earning [[Golden Globe]] and [[Emmy]] Award nominations for her performance. She had earlier been highly acclaimed for the [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]] musical ''[[Hallelujah, Baby!]]'', winning a [[Theatre World Award]] in 1967 and the [[Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical]] in 1968. Later in her career, Uggams received renewed notice with appearances alongside [[Ryan Reynolds]] as [[Blind Al]] in ''[[Deadpool (film)|Deadpool]]'' (2016), [[Deadpool 2|its 2018 sequel]] and the [[Deadpool 3|upcoming 2024 third film]], as well as a recurring role on ''[[Empire (2015 TV series)|Empire]]''.


==Life and career==
==Early life==
⚫
Uggams was born in the [[Harlem]] neighborhood of New York City,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.leslieuggams.com/about_leslie.php|title=About Leslie • Leslie Uggams|website=leslieuggams.com}}</ref> 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.<ref name=allmusic>[http://www.allmusic.com/artist/leslie-uggams-p42146/biography "Leslie Uggams Biography"] ''[[AllMusic]]''. Retrieved July 15, 2015.</ref> She attended the [[Professional Children's School]] of New York and [[Juilliard]].<ref name=allmusic/><ref name=Australian>{{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 (magazine)|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}}</ref> Her aunt, singer [[Eloise C. Uggams]], encouraged her musical training.<ref>{{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}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{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}}</ref>
===Early life===
⚫
Uggams was born in Harlem,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.leslieuggams.com/about_leslie.php|title=About Leslie • Leslie Uggams|website=leslieuggams.com}}</ref> 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.<ref name=allmusic>[http://www.allmusic.com/artist/leslie-uggams-p42146/biography "Leslie Uggams Biography"] ''[[AllMusic]]''. Retrieved July 15, 2015.</ref> She attended the [[Professional Children's School]] of New York and [[Juilliard]].<ref name=allmusic/><ref name=Australian>{{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 (magazine)|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}}</ref> Her aunt, singer [[Eloise C. Uggams]], encouraged her musical training.<ref>{{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}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{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}}</ref>


==Career==
===Early work===
===Early work===
Uggams started in show business as a child in 1951, playing the niece of [[Ethel Waters]] on ''[[Beulah (radio and TV series)#Television|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 (game show host)|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]].<ref name=allmusic/> In 1954, ten-year-old Uggams made a record for MGM, which included a reworking of the song Santa Baby as "Uncle Santa," with words suitable for a child. In 1960, she sang, off-screen, "[[Give Me That Old Time Religion]]" in the film ''[[Inherit the Wind (1960 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.<ref name="petrow">{{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}}</ref> Her records "One More Sunrise" (an English-language cover of [[Ivo Robic]]'s "[[Morgen (Ivo Robić song)|Morgen]]", 1959) and "House Built on Sand" made [[Billboard (magazine)|''Billboard'' magazine's]] charts.
Uggams started in show business as a child in 1951, playing the niece of [[Ethel Waters]] on ''[[Beulah (radio and TV series)#Television|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 (game show host)|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]].<ref name=allmusic/> In January 1954, ten-year-old Uggams released a double-sided single by [[MGM Records]].<ref>"[https://books.google.com/books?id=yx4EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA44 New Records To Watch]". ''Billboard''. February 13, 1954. p. 44.</ref> In 1960, she sang, off-screen, "[[Give Me That Old Time Religion]]" in the film ''[[Inherit the Wind (1960 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.<ref name="petrow">{{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}}</ref> Her records "One More Sunrise" (an English-language cover of [[Ivo Robic]]'s "[[Morgen (Ivo Robić song)|Morgen]]", 1959) and "House Built on Sand" made [[Billboard (magazine)|''Billboard'' magazine's]] charts.


===Television and film===
===Television and film===
[[File:Leslie Uggams "Fantasy" (1983 Columbia press photo).jpg|right|thumb|Uggams in 1983]]
She appeared on [[The Ed Sullivan Show]] singing [[The Beatles]] [[Yesterday (song)|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.<ref>[http://www.museum.tv/eotvsection.php?entrycode=leslieuggams "The Leslie Uggams Show"] museum.tv. Retrieved March 4, 2012</ref> She had a lead role in the 1977 miniseries ''[[Roots (1977 miniseries)|Roots]],'' for which she received an Emmy nomination, as Kizzy.<ref>[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 }}</ref> 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 (1965 TV series)|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]]''.<ref name=allmusic/> She won a 1983 [[Daytime Emmy Award]] as a host of the NBC game show ''[[Fantasy (game show)|Fantasy]]''.<ref>{{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}}</ref>
She appeared on [[The Ed Sullivan Show]] singing [[The Beatles]]' "[[Yesterday (song)|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.<ref>[http://www.museum.tv/eotvsection.php?entrycode=leslieuggams "The Leslie Uggams Show"] museum.tv. Retrieved March 4, 2012</ref> She had a lead role in the 1977 miniseries ''[[Roots (1977 miniseries)|Roots]],'' for which she received an Emmy nomination, as Kizzy.<ref>[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 }}</ref> 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 (1965 TV series)|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]]''.<ref name=allmusic/> She won a 1983 [[Daytime Emmy Award]] as a host of the NBC game show ''[[Fantasy (game show)|Fantasy]]''.<ref>{{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}}</ref>


In her first film, she was neither seen, nor credited. In ''Inherit the Wind'' (1960), she sang the opening, "[[Old-Time Religion|(Gimme Dat) Old Time Religion]]", and the closing, "[[Battle Hymn of the Republic]]". Her film career includes roles in ''[[Skyjacked (film)|Skyjacked]]'' (1972), ''[[Black Girl (1972 film)|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.<ref>Stafford, Jeff. [http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/499034/Poor-Pretty-Eddie/articles.html " 'Poor Pretty Eddie' Synopsis"]. ''[[Turner Classic Movies]]''. Retrieved March 4, 2012</ref> She later appeared in ''[[Sugar Hill (1994 film)|Sugar Hill]]'' (1994) opposite [[Wesley Snipes]], and played [[Blind Al]] in ''[[Deadpool (film)|Deadpool]]'' (2016) in February 2016.<ref name="Blind Al">{{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}}</ref> In April 2016, she portrayed Leah Walker, the bipolar mother of Lucious Lyon in the hit Fox series ''[[Empire (2015 TV series)|Empire]]''. Uggams appeared as Sadie in the 2017 television film ''[[The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks (film)|The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks]]'', and in 2018, she returned as [[Blind Al]] in ''[[Deadpool 2]].''<ref>{{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 }}</ref>
In her first film, she was neither seen, nor credited. In ''Inherit the Wind'' (1960), she sang the opening, "[[Old-Time Religion|(Gimme Dat) Old Time Religion]]", and the closing, "[[Battle Hymn of the Republic]]". Her film career includes roles in ''[[Skyjacked (film)|Skyjacked]]'' (1972), ''[[Black Girl (1972 film)|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.<ref>Stafford, Jeff. [http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/499034/Poor-Pretty-Eddie/articles.html " 'Poor Pretty Eddie' Synopsis"]. ''[[Turner Classic Movies]]''. Retrieved March 4, 2012</ref> She later appeared in ''[[Sugar Hill (1994 film)|Sugar Hill]]'' (1994) opposite [[Wesley Snipes]], and played [[Blind Al]] in ''[[Deadpool (film)|Deadpool]]'' (2016) in February 2016.<ref name="Blind Al">{{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}}</ref> In April 2016, she portrayed Leah Walker, the bipolar mother of Lucious Lyon in the hit Fox series ''[[Empire (2015 TV series)|Empire]]''. Uggams appeared as Sadie in the 2017 television film ''[[The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks (film)|The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks]]'', and in 2018, she returned as [[Blind Al]] in ''[[Deadpool 2]].''<ref>{{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 }}</ref>


She is an active [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democrat]] and hosted a 1984 Democratic Telethon.<ref>{{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]]}}</ref> In 1999 and 2021, she guest starred in two episodes of [[Family Guy]]. Additionally, she is also slated to reprise her role as [[Blind Al]] in ''[[Deadpool 3]]''.
She is an active [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democrat]] and hosted a 1984 Democratic Telethon.<ref>{{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]]}}</ref> 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]]''<ref name="vito2022">{{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 (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}}</ref> and appeared as Agnes in the film ''[[American Fiction (film)|American Fiction]]''.<ref>{{cite web|last=Murphy|first=Chris Vito|url=https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2023/08/awards-insider-first-look-american-fiction
In 2023, Uggams voiced a character, Grandma, in ''[[My Dad the Bounty Hunter]]''<ref name="vito2022">{{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 (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}}</ref> and appeared as Agnes in the film ''[[American Fiction (film)|American Fiction]]''.<ref>{{cite web|last=Murphy|first=Chris Vito|url=https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2023/08/awards-insider-first-look-american-fiction
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===Stage===
===Stage===
[[File:Leslie Uggams 1971.JPG|thumb|Uggams performing in 1971]]
[[File:Leslie Uggams 1971.JPG|thumb|Uggams performing in 1971]]
Uggams was picked to star in ''[[Hallelujah, Baby!]]'' after [[Lena Horne]] declined the role of Georgina. The musical premiered on [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]] in 1967 and "created a new star" in Uggams.<ref>{{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?searchResultPosition=1| title=Theater Review; Of Its Moment: 1967| newspaper=[[The New York Times]]| url-access=subscription}}</ref> She won the [[Tony Award]] for Best Actress in a musical (in a tie with [[Patricia Routledge]]).<ref>[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</ref> She appeared on Broadway in the revue ''[[Blues in the Night (musical)|Blues in the Night]]'' in 1982 and in the musical revue of the works of [[Jerry Herman]], ''[[Jerry's Girls]]'' in 1985.<ref>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''.</ref> 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.<ref>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''.</ref> Later Broadway roles include Muzzy in ''[[Thoroughly Modern Millie (play)|Thoroughly Modern Millie]]'' (2003–2004) and Ethel Thayer in ''[[On Golden Pond (play)|On Golden Pond]]'' at the [[Kennedy Center]] in 2004<ref>{{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}}</ref> and on Broadway at the [[Cort Theatre]] in 2005.<ref>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''.</ref>
Uggams was picked to star in ''[[Hallelujah, Baby!]]'' after [[Lena Horne]] declined the role of Georgina. The musical premiered on [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]] in 1967 and "created a new star" in Uggams.<ref>{{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}}</ref> She won the [[Tony Award]] for Best Actress in a musical (in a tie with [[Patricia Routledge]]).<ref>[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</ref> She appeared on Broadway in the revue ''[[Blues in the Night (musical)|Blues in the Night]]'' in 1982 and in the musical revue of the works of [[Jerry Herman]], ''[[Jerry's Girls]]'' in 1985.<ref>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''.</ref> 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.<ref>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''.</ref> Later Broadway roles include Muzzy in ''[[Thoroughly Modern Millie (play)|Thoroughly Modern Millie]]'' (2003–2004) and Ethel Thayer in ''[[On Golden Pond (play)|On Golden Pond]]'' at the [[Kennedy Center]] in 2004<ref>{{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}}</ref> and on Broadway at the [[Cort Theatre]] in 2005.<ref>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''.</ref>
In 2001, she appeared in the [[August Wilson]] play ''[[King Hedley II]]'',<ref>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.</ref> receiving a nomination for the Tony Award, Best Actress in a Play.<ref>[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</ref> In January 2009, Uggams played [[Lena Horne]] in a production of the stage musical ''[[Stormy Weather (1943 film)|Stormy Weather]]'' at the [[Pasadena Playhouse]] in California, directed by Michael Bush and choreographed by [[Randy Skinner]].<ref>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</ref> In June 2012, Uggams played Muzzy in a production of ''[[Thoroughly Modern Millie (musical)|Thoroughly Modern Millie]]'' at [[The Muny]] in [[St. Louis]].<ref>{{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}}</ref> In 2014, she starred as Rose in [[Connecticut Repertory Theatre]]'s Nutmeg Summer Series production of ''[[Gypsy (musical)|Gypsy]]''.
In 2001, she appeared in the [[August Wilson]] play ''[[King Hedley II]]'',<ref>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.</ref> receiving a nomination for the Tony Award, Best Actress in a Play.<ref>[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</ref> In January 2009, Uggams played [[Lena Horne]] in a production of the stage musical ''[[Stormy Weather (1943 film)|Stormy Weather]]'' at the [[Pasadena Playhouse]] in California, directed by Michael Bush and choreographed by [[Randy Skinner]].<ref>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</ref> In June 2012, Uggams played Muzzy in a production of ''[[Thoroughly Modern Millie (musical)|Thoroughly Modern Millie]]'' at [[The Muny]] in [[St. Louis]].<ref>{{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}}</ref> In 2014, she starred as Rose in [[Connecticut Repertory Theatre]]'s Nutmeg Summer Series production of ''[[Gypsy (musical)|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==
==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.”<ref name=people>{{cite magazine| url=https://people.com/movies/leslie-uggams-love-story/| magazine=[[People (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}}</ref> 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 during one of Uggams's celebrity tours in Australia and he became her manager afterward.<ref name=Amo>{{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}}</ref> After their wedding, the couple decided to reside in New York, which was then more tolerant of interracial relationships.<ref name="Australian"/> The couple are parents to daughter Danielle, born in 1970, and son Justice, born in 1975.<ref name=people/><ref name=Amo/>
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.”<ref name=people>{{cite magazine| url=https://people.com/movies/leslie-uggams-love-story/| magazine=[[People (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}}</ref> 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.<ref name=Amo>{{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}}</ref> After their wedding, they decided to settle in New York City for its relative tolerance of interracial relationships.<ref name="Australian"/> The couple's daughter Danielle was born in 1970, and their son Justice in 1975.<ref name=people/><ref name=Amo/>


==Filmography==
==Filmography==
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|
|
|-
|-
| ''Dotty & Soul''
| ''[[Dotty & Soul]]''
| Dotty
| Dotty
|
|
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| 2023
| 2023
| ''[[American Fiction (film)|American Fiction]]''
| ''[[American Fiction (film)|American Fiction]]''
| Agnes
| Agnes Ellison
|Nominated — [[AARP Movies for Grownups Award for Best Supporting Actress]]<br>Nominated — [[Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Award for Best Ensemble]]<br>Nominated — [[Georgia Film Critics Association|Georgia Film Critics Association Award for Best Ensemble]]
|Nominated — [[AARP Movies for Grownups Award for Best Supporting Actress]]<br>Nominated — [[Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture]]<br>Nominated — [[Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Award for Best Ensemble]]<br>Nominated — [[Georgia Film Critics Association|Georgia Film Critics Association Award for Best Ensemble]]
|-
|-
| 2024
| 2024
| ''[[Deadpool 3]]''
| ''[[Deadpool & Wolverine]]''
| [[Blind Al]]
| [[Blind Al]]
⚫
|
| Filming<ref>{{Cite web |last=Dick |first=Jeremy |date=May 23, 2023 |title=Deadpool 3 Officially Starts Filming |url=https://movieweb.com/deadpool-3-filming-start/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230524001453/https://movieweb.com/deadpool-3-filming-start/ |archive-date=May 24, 2023 |access-date=May 24, 2023 |website=[[MovieWeb]]}}</ref>
|}
|}


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|-
|-
| 1966
| 1966
| ''[[Hullabaloo_(TV_series)|Hullabaloo]]''
| ''[[Hullabaloo (TV series)|Hullabaloo]]''
| Herself
| Herself
| Host of weekly variety show, January 10
| Host of weekly variety show, January 10
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| ''[[Family Guy]]''
| ''[[Family Guy]]''
| Herself
| Herself
| Episode: "The Birthday Bootlegger"
| Episode: "[[List of Family Guy episodes|The Birthday Bootlegger]]"
|-
|-
| 2019–2022
| 2019–2022
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|-
|-
| 2024
| 2024
| ''[[Fallout (2024 TV series)|Fallout]]''
| ''[[Fallout (American TV series)|Fallout]]''
| Betty Pearson
⚫
|
| 5 episodes
| Upcoming series
|-
| TBA
| ''[[The Gilded Age (TV series)|The Gilded Age]]''
| Mrs. Ernestine Brown
| Season 3
|}
|}


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| [[Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture|Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture]]
| [[Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture|Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture]]
| ''[[American Fiction (film)|American Fiction]]''
| ''[[American Fiction (film)|American Fiction]]''
| {{pending}}
| {{nom}}
| align="center"| <ref>{{cite press release|url=https://www.sagawards.org/media/news/releases/nominations-announced-30th-annual-screen-actors-guild-awardsr|title=Nominations Announced for the 30th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards®|publisher=[[Screen Actors Guild]] |date=January 10, 2024|access-date=January 10, 2024}}</ref>
| align="center"| <ref>{{cite press release|url=https://www.sagawards.org/media/news/releases/nominations-announced-30th-annual-screen-actors-guild-awardsr|title=Nominations Announced for the 30th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards®|publisher=[[Screen Actors Guild]] |date=January 10, 2024|access-date=January 10, 2024}}</ref>
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* 1979: [[Supersisters]] trading card set (one of the cards featured Uggams's name and picture)<ref>{{cite web |last=Wulf |first=Steve |url=http://espn.go.com/espnw/news-commentary/article/12535055/original-roster |title=Supersisters: Original Roster |website=[[ESPN]] |date=March 23, 2015 |access-date=4 June 2015}}</ref>
* 1979: [[Supersisters]] trading card set (one of the cards featured Uggams's name and picture)<ref>{{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}}</ref>


===Honorary Degrees===
===Honorary Degrees===
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==Notes==
==Notes==
{{Noteslist}}
{{Notelist}}


==References==
==References==
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[[Category:New York (state) Democrats]]
[[Category:New York (state) Democrats]]
[[Category:21st-century African-American women singers]]
[[Category:21st-century African-American women singers]]
[[Category:American Presbyterians]]

Revision as of 16:31, 27 August 2024

Leslie Uggams
Uggams in 1997
Born
Leslie Marian Uggams

(1943-05-25) May 25, 1943 (age 81)
New York City, U.S.
EducationJuilliard School
Occupations
  • Actress
  • singer
Years active1951–present
Known forKizzy Reynolds – Roots
Spouse
Grahame Pratt
​
(m. 1965)​
Children2
Websiteleslieuggams.com

Leslie Marian Uggams (/ˈʌɡəmz/;[1] born May 25, 1943)[2] 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,[3] the daughter of Juanita Ernestine (Smith), a Cotton Club chorus girl/dancer, and Harold Coyden Uggams, an elevator operator and maintenance man,[citation needed] who was a singer with the Hall Johnson choir.[4] She attended the Professional Children's School of New York and Juilliard.[4][5] Her aunt, singer Eloise C. Uggams, encouraged her musical training.[6] 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.[7]

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.[4] In January 1954, ten-year-old Uggams released a double-sided single by MGM Records.[8] 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.[9] 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

Uggams in 1983

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.[10] She had a lead role in the 1977 miniseries Roots, for which she received an Emmy nomination, as Kizzy.[11] 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.[4] She won a 1983 Daytime Emmy Award as a host of the NBC game show Fantasy.[12]

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.[13] She later appeared in Sugar Hill (1994) opposite Wesley Snipes, and played Blind Al in Deadpool (2016) in February 2016.[14] 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.[15]

She is an active Democrat and hosted a 1984 Democratic Telethon.[16] 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[17] and appeared as Agnes in the film American Fiction.[18]

Stage

Uggams performing in 1971

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.[19] She won the Tony Award for Best Actress in a musical (in a tie with Patricia Routledge).[20] 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.[21] 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.[22] Later Broadway roles include Muzzy in Thoroughly Modern Millie (2003–2004) and Ethel Thayer in On Golden Pond at the Kennedy Center in 2004[23] and on Broadway at the Cort Theatre in 2005.[24] In 2001, she appeared in the August Wilson play King Hedley II,[25] receiving a nomination for the Tony Award, Best Actress in a Play.[26] 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.[27] In June 2012, Uggams played Muzzy in a production of Thoroughly Modern Millie at The Muny in St. Louis.[28] 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.”[29] 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.[30] After their wedding, they decided to settle in New York City for its relative tolerance of interracial relationships.[5] The couple's daughter Danielle was born in 1970, and their son Justice in 1975.[29][30]

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
1962 Two Weeks in Another Town Chanteuse
1972 Skyjacked Lovejoy Wells
Black Girl Netta
1975 Poor Pretty Eddie Elizabeth 'Liz' Wetherly
1993 Sugar Hill Doris Holly
2009 Toe to Toe Grandma
2014 Just the Three of Us Regina Short film
2016 Deadpool Blind Al All Def Movie Award for Best Superhero Token Sidekick
2018 Deadpool 2 Blind Al
2021 The Ravine Joanna Los Angeles Film Award for Best Ensemble
2022 Nanny Kathleen
Dotty & Soul Dotty
2023 American Fiction Agnes Ellison Nominated — AARP Movies for Grownups Award for Best Supporting Actress
Nominated — Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
Nominated — Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Award for Best Ensemble
Nominated — Georgia Film Critics Association Award for Best Ensemble
2024 Deadpool & Wolverine Blind Al

Television

Year Title Role Notes
1966 Hullabaloo Herself Host of weekly variety show, January 10
1966 The Girl from U.N.C.L.E. Natasha Brimstone Episode: "The Jewels of Topango Affair"
1967 I Spy Tonia Episode: "Tonia"
1969 The Leslie Uggams Show Herself 10 episodes
1970 Swing Out, Sweet Land Saloon Singer TV special
1972 The Mod Squad Dina Lane Episode: "Kill Gently, Sweet Jessie"
1974 Marcus Welby, M.D. Laurie Williams Episode: "Feedback"
1977 Roots Kizzy Reynolds Miniseries
Nominated — Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress for a Single Appearance in a Drama or Comedy Series (1977)
Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Television Series – Drama (1977)
1979 Backstairs at the White House Lillian Rogers Parks Miniseries
1981 Sizzle Vonda Television film
1982–1984 Fantasy Host Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Host or Hostess in a Variety Series (1983)
Nominated — Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Host or Hostess in a Variety Series (1984)
1984 Magnum, P.I. Alexis Carter Episode: "Paradise Blues"
1987 Hotel Amanda Price Episode: "Discoveries"
1981–1987 The Love Boat Callie Reason, Leslie Uggams, Marion Blake 3 episodes
1991 The Cosby Show Kris Temple Episode: "The Return of the Clairettes"
1993 A Different World Dr. Eileen Redding Episode: "College Kid"
1995 Under One Roof Geneva Episode: "Secrets"
1996 All My Children Rose Keefer October 15 – December 11, 1996
Nominated — NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Daytime Drama Series (1996)
2011 Memphis Beat Estelle Episode: "Troubled Water"
2011 The Good Wife Suzanne Packer Episode: "Death Row Tip"
2015 Nurse Jackie 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 Family Guy Herself Episode: "The Birthday Bootlegger"
2019–2022 New Amsterdam Mama Reynolds 5 episodes
2023 Extrapolations Isabel Zucker 2 episodes
2023 My Dad the Bounty Hunter Grandma Voice
2024 Fallout Betty Pearson 5 episodes
TBA The Gilded Age Mrs. Ernestine Brown Season 3

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)[31]

Awards and nominations

Year Award Category Nominated work Results Ref.
2016 All Def Movie Awards Best Superhero Token Sidekick Deadpool Won [32]
1983 Daytime Emmy Awards Outstanding Host or Hostess in a Variety Series Fantasy Won
1984 Nominated
1977 Golden Globe Awards Best Actress in a Television Series – Drama Roots Nominated [33]
2021 Los Angeles Film Awards Best Ensemble The Ravine Won [34]
1996 NAACP Image Awards Outstanding Actress in a Daytime Drama Series All My Children Nominated
2009 Ovation Awards Lead Actress in a Musical Stormy Weather Nominated [35]
1977 Primetime Emmy Awards Outstanding Lead Actress for a Single Appearance in a Drama or Comedy Series Roots Nominated [36]
2023 Screen Actors Guild Awards Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture American Fiction Nominated [37]
1967 Theatre World Awards Hallelujah, Baby! Won [38]
1968 Tony Awards Best Leading Actress in a Musical Won[a] [39]
2001 Best Leading Actress in a Play King Hedley II Nominated [40]
2007 TV Land Awards Anniversary Award Roots Nominated
  • 1979: Supersisters trading card set (one of the cards featured Uggams's name and picture)[41]

Honorary Degrees

Notes

  1. ^ Tied with Patricia Routledge for Darling of the Day.

References

  1. ^ "Say How: U". National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled. Retrieved December 16, 2023.
  2. ^ Smith, Jessie Carney, ed. (1996). Notable Black American Women, Book II. Gale Research. p. 664. ISBN 978-0810391772.
  3. ^ "About Leslie • Leslie Uggams". leslieuggams.com.
  4. ^ a b c d "Leslie Uggams Biography" AllMusic. Retrieved July 15, 2015.
  5. ^ a b Uggams, Leslie; Hugh Curnowh (May 1967). "Why I Married an Australian: Young singer tells of her marriage across color line". Ebony. 22 (7): 140–142, 144–149. Retrieved April 19, 2020.
  6. ^ "Guideposts Classics: Leslie Uggams on Lending a Helping Hand". Guideposts. April 2004. Retrieved February 16, 2021.
  7. ^ Simms, Lois Averetta (1987). A history of Zion, Olivet, and Zion-Olivet churches, 1850-1985, Charleston, South Carolina. L.A. Simms. pp. 3–4, 35. OCLC 21410845. Retrieved July 18, 2021.
  8. ^ "New Records To Watch". Billboard. February 13, 1954. p. 44.
  9. ^ Petrow, Richard (August 9, 1959). "The good luck show". New York Daily News Sunday Magazine. p. 10. Archived from the original on July 12, 2019. Retrieved July 12, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ "The Leslie Uggams Show" museum.tv. Retrieved March 4, 2012
  11. ^ "Roots" museum.tv. Retrieved March 4, 2012 Archived April 11, 2013, at the Wayback Machine
  12. ^ "ABC leads in Daytime Emmy awards". United Press International. June 9, 1983. Archived from the original on May 8, 2018. Retrieved May 8, 2018.
  13. ^ Stafford, Jeff. " 'Poor Pretty Eddie' Synopsis". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved March 4, 2012
  14. ^ Jayson, Jay (September 6, 2017). "Leslie Uggams Cast As Blind Al In Deadpool". Comicbook.com. Retrieved April 19, 2020.
  15. ^ Rooney, Matt (April 19, 2017). "Leslie Uggams Will Return As Blind Al For Deadpool 2". JoBlo.
  16. ^ Mathews, Jay (May 28, 1983). "Democrats Hope to Get $6 Million in Telethon". The Washington Post.
  17. ^ Oddo, Marco Vito (November 16, 2022). "'My Dad the Bounty Hunter' Trailer Makes Catching Space Criminals a Family Business". Collider. Archived from the original on January 15, 2023. Retrieved February 16, 2023.
  18. ^ Murphy, Chris Vito (August 31, 2023). "First Look - 'American Fiction' Challenges Hollywood's 'Poverty of Imagination' About Black People". Vanity Fair. Retrieved December 20, 2023.
  19. ^ Siegel, Naomi (October 24, 2004). "Theater Review; Of Its Moment: 1967". The New York Times.
  20. ^ "Tony Awards, 1968" Archived April 7, 2016, at the Wayback Machine broadwayworld.com. Retrieved March 5, 2012
  21. ^ Rich, Frank (December 19, 1985). "Theater: 'Jerry's Girls,' A Musical Entertainment" The New York Times.
  22. ^ Nemy, Enid (March 17, 1989). "On Stage" The New York Times.
  23. ^ Jones, Kenneth (October 2, 2004). "James Earl Jones and Leslie Uggams Open in 'On Golden Pond' Oct. 2". Playbill. Retrieved April 19, 2020.
  24. ^ Jones, Kenneth (April 7, 2005). "Jones and Uggams Face Facts of Family Life in Broadway Return of 'On Golden Pond' " Archived July 14, 2014, at the Wayback Machine Playbill.
  25. ^ Brantley, Ben (May 2, 2001). "Theater Review: The Agonized Arias Of Everyman In Poverty and Pain" The New York Times, Subscription required.
  26. ^ "Tony Award, 2001" Archived September 2, 2017, at the Wayback Machine broadwayworld.com. Retrieved March 5, 2012
  27. ^ Jones, Kenneth. Stormy Weather, Musical of Horne's Life, Starring Uggams, Begins West Coast Premiere" Playbill, January 21, 2009
  28. ^ "Lelie Uggams to star in the Muny's Production of Thoroughly Modern Millie" (PDF) (Press release). The Muny. February 2, 2012. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 3, 2012. Retrieved April 19, 2020.
  29. ^ a b Smith, Nigel (May 25, 2018). "Leslie Uggams' Amazing Love Story: How Her 53-Year Interracial Marriage Defied the Odds". People. Retrieved April 19, 2020.
  30. ^ a b Balogun, Oyin (August 12, 2019). "Inside Leslie Uggams' 54-Year Interracial Marriage That Defied the Odds". Amo Mama.
  31. ^ "Leslie Uggams – On My Way to You: Songs of Alan & Marilyn Bergman". Discogs. Retrieved September 2, 2019.
  32. ^ Garnder, Chris (February 26, 2017). "Andy Samberg's 'Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping' Wins Best Picture at Russell Simmons' All Def Movie Awards". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved October 10, 2023.
  33. ^ "Leslie Uggams". Golden Globe Awards. Retrieved October 10, 2023.
  34. ^ "LAFA Winners – May 2021". Los Angeles Film Awards. June 2, 2021. Retrieved October 10, 2023.
  35. ^ "Ovation Nominees". @ This Stage. October 20, 2009. Archived from the original on February 1, 2014. Retrieved January 19, 2014.
  36. ^ "Leslie Uggams". Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Retrieved October 10, 2023.
  37. ^ "Nominations Announced for the 30th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards®" (Press release). Screen Actors Guild. January 10, 2024. Retrieved January 10, 2024.
  38. ^ "Theatre World Award Recipients". Theatre World Awards. Retrieved October 10, 2023.
  39. ^ "1968 Tony Awards". Tony Awards. Retrieved October 10, 2023.
  40. ^ "2001 Tony Awards". Tony Awards. Retrieved October 10, 2023.
  41. ^ Wulf, Steve (March 23, 2015). "Supersisters: Original Roster". ESPN. Retrieved June 4, 2015.
  42. ^ Merchant, Safiya (March 28, 2019). "Four to receive honorary degrees at Spring Commencement". The University Record. Retrieved October 4, 2019.
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