Pearl Bailey

Pearl Mae Bailey born in Virginia on March 29 1918 was an American actress and singer Bailey began by singing and dancing in Philadelphias black nightclubs in the 1930s and soon started performing in other parts of the East Coast In 1941 during World War II Bailey toured the country with the USO performing for American troops After the tour she settled in New York Her solo successes as a nightclub performer were followed by acts with such entertainers as Cab Calloway and Duke Ellington In 1946 Bailey made her Broadway debut in St Louis Woman Bailey continued to tour and record albums in between her stage and screen performances Her rendition of Takes Two to Tango hit the top ten in 1952 On November 19 1952 Bailey married jazz drummer Louie Bellson in London They adopted a child Tony in the mid1950s and subsequently a girl Dee Dee J Bellson born April 20 1960 In 1954 she took the role of Frankie in the film version of Carmen Jones and her rendition of Beat Out That Rhythm on the Drum is one of the highlights of the film She also starred in the Broadway musical House of Flowers In 1959 she played the role of Maria in the film version of Porgy and Bess starring Sidney Poitier and Dorothy Dandridge Also that year she played the role of Aunt Hagar in the movie St Louis Blues alongside Mahalia Jackson Eartha Kitt and Nat King Cole Though she was originally considered for the part of Annie Johnson in the 1959 film Imitation of Life the part went to Juanita Moore A passionate fan of the New York Mets Bailey sang the national anthem at Shea Stadium prior to game 5 of the 1969 World Series and appears in the Series highlight film showing her support for the team She also sang the national anthem prior to game 1 of the 1981 World Series between the New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers at Yankee Stadium Bailey a Republican was appointed by President Richard Nixon as Americas Ambassador of Love in 1970 She attended several meetings of the United Nations and later appeared in a campaign ad for President Gerald Ford in the 1976 election Also during the 1970s she had her own television show and she also provided voices for animations such as Tubby the Tuba 1976 and Disneys The Fox and the Hound 1981 She returned to Broadway in 1975 playing the lead in an allblack production of Hello Dolly At age 67 she earned a BA in theology from GeorgetownUniversity in Washington DC in 1985 Later in her career Bailey was a fixture as a spokesperson in a series of Duncan Hines commercials singing Bill Bailey Wont You Come Home In her later years Bailey wrote several books The Raw Pearl 1968 Talking to Myself 1971 Pearls Kitchen 1973 and Hurry Up America and Spit 1976 In 1975 she was appointed special ambassador to the United Nations by President Gerald Ford Her last book Between You and Me 1989 details her experiences with higher education In 1988 Bailey received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Ronald Reagan On August 17 1990 Bailey died of heart condition She is buried at RollingGreenMemorial Park in West Chester Pennsylvania During her lifetime she won a Tony Award for the title role in the allblack production of Hello Dolly in 1968 In 1986 she won a Daytime Emmy award for her performance as a fairy godmother in the ABC Afterschool Special Cindy Eller A Modern Fairy Tale