Manson family ‘heir’ mulls bid to claim body
DELLA REESE, whose mighty voice gave her a three-decade career as a singer before she launched a successful acting career in shows like “Touched by an Angel,” has died in California. She was 86.
Her death at home Sunday night was confirmed in a statement by Reese’s “Angel” co-star Roma Downey, who said the star was “like a mother to me.”
“Through her life and work, she touched and inspired the lives of millions of people. I had the privilege of working with her side by side for so many years on ‘Touched by an Angel.’ I know heaven has a brand-new angel this day. Della Reese will be forever in our hearts. Rest in peace, sweet angel. We love you,” she said.
The star was born Delloreese Patricia Early in Detroit in 1931.
She began performing at her local church at just 6, kicking off a love for gospel music.
After a brief stint in a gospel group of her own, the Meditation Singers, she embraced a jazzier sound under the influence of artists like Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaughan.
The shift in sound quickly rocketed Reese to fame on the back of hits like “Don’t You Know,” “And That Reminds Me” and “Someday (You’ll Want Me to Want You),” which were spread out over 16 studio albums throughout the 1950s, ’60s and early ’70s.
The popular tunes scored the singer three Grammy nominations over the years, with the most recent nod coming in 1998 for best traditional soul gospel album.
Reese wound down her musical career in the ’70s, and solidified herself as a double threat with a successful transition into a Hollywood acting career.
She had her own variety show, “Della,” in 1969, which ran for nearly 200 episodes, and became the first black woman to co-host Johnny Carson’s “The Tonight Show” a year later.
Reese had roles on TV shows like “Chico and the Man,” “Welcome Back, Kotter,” “It Takes Two” and “The A-Team,” and in movies opposite stars like Redd Foxx and Martin Lawrence.
But it wasn’t until the 1994 CBS series “Touched by an Angel” that Reese scored her signature role.
For 211 episodes of the popular religious fantasy series, Reese — who became an ordained minister in the ’80s — starred as supervising angel Tess.
She scored two Emmy nominations and a Golden Globe nomination for the divine role, which wrapped up in 2003.
Reese’s health deteriorated in recent years following a 2002 diabetes diagnosis, and she retired from acting in 2014 after a final appearance on the Hallmark Channel series “Signed, Sealed, Delivered.”
Reese is survived by her husband of 34 years, Franklin Lett, and children Deloreese, James, Franklin and Dominique. CHARLES MANSON’s grandson said Monday he regrets never meeting his reviled relative in the flesh — and hopes it’s not too late to claim his remains.
“I’m going to move towards having a proper burial,” Jason Freeman, 41, told the Daily News by phone, a day after California prison officials confirmed the cult leader’s death at a Bakersfield hospital Sunday night.
“I will definitely speak with the inner circle of people who love my grandfather, and who may know more of where he would want to be,” Freeman said. “I’m working on doing my part.”
The married father of three now living in Florida declined to specify what legal steps he’s taking to prove his next-of-kin status to prison officials, but Freeman said he planned to fly to California later this week.
Freeman stepped forward in a 2012 CNN interview, saying he barely knew his own father, who was the only son of Manson and his first wife, Rosalie.
His estranged dad was born Charles Manson Jr., but changed his name to Jay White after his mom divorced Manson Sr. White killed himself in June 1993, while in his late 30s.
Freeman said he blamed his grandfather for Manson Jr.’s death until he started speaking with the imprisoned killer by phone eight years ago and reached a place of “forgiveness.”