Singer, actress Reese dies at 86
LOS ANGELES — Della Reese, the actress and gospel-influenced singer who in middle age found her greatest fame as Tess, the wise angel in the long-running television drama Touched by an Angel, has died at age 86.
Reese’s co-star on the series, Roma Downey, said in a statement that the actress died peacefully Sunday evening in her home in the Los Angeles area.
Before Touched by an Angel debuted in 1994, Reese was mainly known as a singer, although she had co-starred on Chico and the Man, Charlie and Company and The Royal Family and hosted her own talk show, Della.
Touched by an Angel was a gamble for CBS. The story of an apprentice angel (Roma Downey) and her supervisor (Reese) being sent to Earth to solve people’s problems appeared to have little chance. The first season brought mediocre ratings, but slowly the show’s audience grew until it became one of television’s highest rated dramas. It lasted until 2003.
Reese’s singing career began in church, when she joined the junior gospel choir at the Olivet Baptist Church in of Detroit. Soon she was singing at other churches, at civic events and on the radio.
When famed gospel singer Mahalia Jackson came to Detroit, she needed a singer to replace a member of her troupe and turned to Reese, who was 13.
Jackson was so impressed by the teenager’s voice that she enlisted her for a summer tour, and Reese went on to tour with her for five summers. In later years she would remark that she would never forget what she learned from the legendary gospel singer, including “how to communicate with people through song.”