Leslie Uggams

Early life

Uggams was born in the Harlem neighborhood of New York City, the daughter of Juanita Ernestine (Smith), a Cotton Club chorus girl/dancer, and Harold Coyden Uggams, an elevator operator and maintenance man, who was a singer with the Hall Johnson choir. She attended the Professional Children's School of New York and Juilliard. Her aunt, singer Eloise C. Uggams, encouraged her musical training. 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.

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. 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. 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

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. She had a lead role in the 1977 miniseries Roots, for which she received an Emmy nomination, as Kizzy. 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.

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

She is an active Democrat and hosted a 1984 Democratic Telethon. 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 and appeared as Agnes in the film American Fiction.{{cite web|last=Murphy|first=Chris Vito|url=https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2023/08/awards-insider-first-look-american-fiction

In 2025, in season 3, episode 7 of The Gilded Age she shared a scene with Phylicia Rashad.

Stage

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. She won the Tony Award for Best Actress in a musical (in a tie with Patricia Routledge). 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. 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. Later Broadway roles include Muzzy in Thoroughly Modern Millie (2003–2004) and Ethel Thayer in On Golden Pond at the Kennedy Center in 2004 and on Broadway at the Cort Theatre in 2005. In 2001, she appeared in the August Wilson play King Hedley II, receiving a nomination for the Tony Award, Best Actress in a Play. 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. In June 2012, Uggams played Muzzy in a production of Thoroughly Modern Millie at The Muny in St. Louis. In 2014, she starred as Rose in Connecticut Repertory Theatre's Nutmeg Summer Series production of Gypsy, becoming "the first African American female to play Rose in a professional production." 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. December 9-10 2025, Uggams was a guest narrator at Disney's Candlelight Processional at Walt Disney World.

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." 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. After their wedding, they decided to settle in New York City for its relative tolerance of interracial relationships. The couple's daughter Danielle was born in 1970, and their son Justice in 1975.

Acting credits

Film

Television

Theatre

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)

Awards and nominations

• 1979: Supersisters trading card set (one of the cards featured Uggams's name and picture)

Honorary Degrees

• 2015: Awarded an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree from the University of Connecticut
• 2019: Awarded an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree from the University of Michigan

Notes

References

References

1. "Say How: U". National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled.
2. (1996). "Notable Black American Women, Book II". Gale Research.
3. "About Leslie • Leslie Uggams".
4. "Leslie Uggams Songs, Albums, Reviews, Bio & Mo...".
5. Uggams, Leslie. (May 1967). "Why I Married an Australian: Young singer tells of her marriage across color line". [[Ebony (magazine).
6. (April 2004). "Guideposts Classics: Leslie Uggams on Lending a Helping Hand".
7. (1987). "A history of Zion, Olivet, and Zion-Olivet churches, 1850-1985, Charleston, South Carolina". L.A. Simms.
8. Petrow, Richard. (August 9, 1959). "The good luck show". [[New York Daily News]] Sunday Magazine.
9. link. (May 14, 2013 museum.tv. Retrieved March 4, 2012)
10. link. (April 11, 2013)
11. Stafford, Jeff. [https://web.archive.org/web/20121023052652/http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/499034/Poor-Pretty-Eddie/#articles-reviews " 'Poor Pretty Eddie' Synopsis"]. ''[[Turner Classic Movies]]''. Retrieved March 4, 2012
12. Jayson, Jay. (September 6, 2017). "Leslie Uggams Cast As Blind Al In Deadpool".
13. Rooney, Matt. (April 19, 2017). "Leslie Uggams Will Return As Blind Al For Deadpool 2". JoBlo.
14. Mathews, Jay. (May 28, 1983). "Democrats Hope to Get $6 Million in Telethon". [[The Washington Post]].
15. Oddo, Marco Vito. (November 16, 2022). "'My Dad the Bounty Hunter' Trailer Makes Catching Space Criminals a Family Business".
16. Siegel, Naomi. (October 24, 2004). "Theater Review; Of Its Moment: 1967". [[The New York Times]].
17. link. (April 7, 2016 broadwayworld.com. Retrieved March 5, 2012)
18. 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''.
19. 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''.
20. Jones, Kenneth. (October 2, 2004). "James Earl Jones and Leslie Uggams Open in 'On Golden Pond' Oct. 2". [[Playbill]].
21. 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. link. (July 14, 2014 ''Playbill''.)
22. 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.
23. link. (September 2, 2017 broadwayworld.com. Retrieved March 5, 2012)
24. 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
25. (February 2, 2012). "Lelie Uggams to star in the Muny's Production of Thoroughly Modern Millie". The Muny.
26. (July 12, 2014). "Leslie Uggams makes the most of her star turn in 'Gypsy'". Boston Globe.
27. [https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/events-tours/epcot/holiday-festival-entertainment/ ''DisneyWorld.Com'' Candlelight Processional Narrators 2025]accessed 12/11/2025
28. Smith, Nigel. (May 25, 2018). "Leslie Uggams' Amazing Love Story: How Her 53-Year Interracial Marriage Defied the Odds".
29. Balogun, Oyin. (August 2025). "Inside Leslie Uggams' 54-Year Interracial Marriage That Defied the Odds". Amo Mama.
30. "Hallelujah, Baby! (Broadway, 1967)".
31. "Her First Roman (Broadway, 1968)".
32. "Blues in the Night (Broadway, 1982)".
33. "Jersey's Girls (Broadway, 1985)".
34. "Anything Goes (Broadway, 1987)".
35. "King Hedley II (Broadway, 2001)".
36. "Thoroughly Modern Millie (Broadway, 2002)".
37. "On Golden Pond (Broadway, 2005)".
38. "Leslie Uggams – On My Way to You: Songs of Alan & Marilyn Bergman".
39. 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]].
40. "Leslie Uggams". [[Golden Globe Awards]].
41. (June 2, 2021). "LAFA Winners – May 2021". Los Angeles Film Awards.
42. (October 20, 2009). "Ovation Nominees". @ This Stage.
43. "Leslie Uggams". [[Academy of Television Arts & Sciences]].
44. (January 10, 2024). "Nominations Announced for the 30th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards®". [[Screen Actors Guild]].
45. "Theatre World Award Recipients". [[Theatre World Award]]s.
46. "1968 Tony Awards". [[Tony Awards]].
47. "2001 Tony Awards". [[Tony Awards]].
48. Wulf, Steve. (March 23, 2015). "Supersisters: Original Roster".
49. Merchant, Safiya. (March 28, 2019). "Four to receive honorary degrees at Spring Commencement". The University Record.