Raised in the Washington Heights section of New York City, Leslie Uggams made
her national television debut at age six on the TV series "Beulah,"
portraying the niece of Ethel Waters. Appearances on "Your Show of Shows,"
"The Milton Berle Show," "Arthur Godfrey Show," and several children's
programs followed. At age seven, Leslie began performing regularly at the
Apollo Theatre in Harlem as an extra added attraction before the performances
of such legends as Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, and Dinah Washington.
Leslie attended the New York Professional Children's School, and at age
fifteen she appeared on the CBS-TV series, "Name That Tune." Her appearance
proved to be fortuitous: Mitch Miller, head of recordings for Columbia
Records, was impressed by her vocal talents, signed her to a recording
contract and then made her a regular on "Sing Along With Mitch," TV's first
pre-recorded music show.
Concurrent with her musical composition and theory studies at The Julliard
School, Ms. Uggams released the first of ten LP's she was to record for
Columbia, including her first hit single, "Morgan."
Alternating major nightclub appearances with her stage work, Leslie Uggams
appeared in the musical "The Boyfriend" in Berkeley, California. Soon she
won the lead in "Hallelujah, Baby!," which had originally been written for
Lena Horne, and earned the 1968 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Broadway
Musical Comedy.
Two years later she had her own musical variety television series on CBS-TV,
"The Leslie Uggams Show,' and a new recording contract with Atlantic Records,
and in 1970 she made her dramatic film debut in "Skyjacked." Her portrayal
of Kizzy in the most watched dramatic show in TV history, "Roots," won her
the Critics Choice Award for Best Supporting Actress in 1976, and her first
Emmy nomination for Best Leading Actress. She also starred in the
miniseries, "Backstairs at the Whitehouse," "Sizzle," an ABC-TV Movie of the
Week, and "Christmas at Radio City Music Hall," an HBO special. She won an
Emmy as co-host of the NBC-TV series, "Fantasy."
In addition to ongoing concert dates, Leslie returned to Broadway to star in
the musical "Blues In the Night:" She also enjoyed a two year run in the hit
musical "Jerry's Girls." In 1987, she toured with Peter Nero and Mel Torme
in "The Great Gershwin Concert," for which she received rave reviews, and in
1988 starred as Reno Sweeney, in the National Company of the Lincoln Center
Production of "Anything Goes." Leslie reprised her role in 1989/90 as
Lincoln Center's Vivien Beaumont Theatre on Broadway. Nineteen ninety-one
saw Leslie touring in "Stringbean," a new play with music based on Ethel
Waters' rise to fame in the twenties and thirties.
Among her most recent concerts are the Pittsburgh Symphony, Rhode Island
Symphony and The Memorial Day Concert on the Washington mall, in front of
300,000 people, televised live by PBS.
Off stage, Leslie is a founding member of the BRAVO Chapter/City of Hope -- a
charitable organization dedicated to the study, treatment, and eradication of
all blood-related diseases, a board member of the Alvin Ailey Dance Theatre,
and TADA, a children's musical theatre. She is married to producer Grahame
Pratt: The couple have two children and reside in New York City.
High Rollers
Assistant
1974-1980
The Muppet Show
1978
The Leslie Uggams Show
1969
Sing Along with Mitch
1961
Poor Pretty Eddy
Liz
1973
Black Girl
Netta
1972
Skyjacked
Lovejoy Wells
1972
PLACE OF BIRTH: New York, New York
DATE OF BIRTH: May 25, 1943
