HEART TO HEART
Nothing can stop this iconic performer from doing what she loves!
Leslie Uggams on opening for Ella Fitzgerald, playing cards with Dean Martin and more!
After a lifetime on the go, singer and actress Leslie Uggams has had a hard time keeping still during the pandemic. It led to a search for new outlets for her talents. “Since it started, I have done two plays on Zoom,” Leslie confides to Closer. “I’ve also done voice-overs for four animated movies from home. It’s opened up a whole new world!”
Leslie, 77, began singing at New York’s famed Apollo Theater when she was just a child, opening for legends like Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong. She went on to star on Broadway where she won a Tony in 1968 for the lead role in Hallelujah, Baby!. A decade later, she brought the heart- wrenching role of Kizzy Reynolds to life in the groundbreaking 1977 miniseries Roots. “We had no idea it was going to be the phenomenon that it was,” she confides. In more recent years, longtime fans as well as younger film and television viewers have also had ample opportunity to get to know Leslie’s work with her roles as Blind Al in the Deadpool superhero movies and as Leah Walker, the volatile mother of Terrence Howard’s character on the hit drama Empire.
The actress will next star in The Ravine,a film based on true events, that will begin streaming in April.
What drew you to your role as a woman with spiritual gifts in The Ravine?
It’s based on a true person, and I thought the character was different and interesting. I’ve always been curious about people who have a gift for seeing things that turn out to be true. We shot the movie in New Orleans before the pandemic. It looks beautiful.
Did you always want to be a performer when you were growing up?
When I was a kid, I loved to sing. I was a ham. But I didn’t take it seriously until Mitch Miller saw me on Name That Tune and signed me to Columbia Records. I was thinking about going to college. I wanted to be a psychologist.
What was your childhood in New York City like?
I managed to have an ordinary childhood because I didn’t have pushy showbiz parents. I kept getting these singing things and winning contests. As far as my parents were concerned, [performing] kept me busy and out of trouble. But my father believed you should get an education.
What was it like opening shows for Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong?
They were like my aunts and uncles. At the same time, I was learning my craft by just watching them. But I didn’t [understand how famous they were]. I just knew I loved to sing. I would do my little show and then when there was a break, I’d be outside playing hopscotch.
A year after you won a Tony Award in 1968, you became the first Black woman to host your own variety show. Did you realized what a trailblazer you were with The Leslie Uggams Show?
I’ve always been a trailblazer because there wasn’t a lot of people of color on TV when I was coming up. We only lasted 10 weeks,
but we made our mark. I made sure we had integrated dancers, singers. Black cameramen, and John Amos, who was a writer on my show and went on to star in
Good Times.
Who are some of the other favorite people you’ve worked with?
Oh, I loved Sammy Davis Jr. I did a little tour with him and we had a lot of fun together. And of course, there is my best friend Dionne Warwick — we Zoom each other now and then since the pandemic. I also loved doing The Dean Martin Show.
Dean was the sweetest man. He loved to play cards. He came over to my house to play poker and I took all his money!
How do you feel about today’s Black Lives Matter movement?
Well, listen, all we are saying is that our lives matter too. Nobody is saying it’s all about just Black lives. I think we should be treated as equal citizens. What I love about the young people getting involved now is that it’s not just Black young people. It’s also white young people because there have been injustices forever. It’s time we address it.
You married your husband Grahame Pratt in 1965 when interracial marriages were less common. Did you encounter a lot of prejudice?
We had a few letters written to us, but there was nothing crazy. We just did our thing. And people loved Grahame and were curious [about his homeland] Australia, because nobody knew Australia yet. Once people meet him, they love him.
Can you share your secrets for a long-term happy marriage?
I always tell people that we were friends before we were lovers and that makes a difference. Grahame and I liked each other from the beginning, and it turned to love. We laugh a lot and we’re best friends. We aren’t one of those couples who want our space. We like our space together.
You’ve done so much in your life. What are you most proud of?
I’m proud that we raised two kids that turned out to be wonderful human beings. And I feel like I have tried to represent myself in a way that represented my race in a dignified and class way.
Are you a grandmother yet?
Yes, my daughter has a wonderful, wonderful daughter. My grandchild is Kassidy and she just turned 10. She’s too much! She takes ballet, tap, jazz.
“My father always used to say to me growing up,
‘Yes, you can.’ That’s my motto.”
—Leslie
She’s in the choir, plays piano and does Taekwondo. She’s so wonderful!
Sounds like you love being a grandma!
When you are a parent, you are trying to do everything right, but when it comes to grandchildren, you get to spoil them. That is what grandparents are for! And the best part is just hanging with such a bright little girl. It’s just great.
How do feel about getting older?
Oh, age is just a number. I’m looking for 70 more years because I am curious to see what’s going to happen in the world. I don’t think it will ever go back to what it was [pre-pandemic], but hopefully we’ll all survive this. I want to keep working and finding interesting projects and, of course, hanging with my family. We have so much fun together.