A regular guest on The Ed Sullivan Show, Pearl Bailey wowed audiences on stage and the big screen as well. This morning, let’s look at some of her fine performances.
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She was born in 1918 in Newport News, VA.
Miss Bailey credited her father’s revivalist church services for building her rhythm and harmony. By the age of 3 she was singing and dancing in his church.
She paid her dues as a chorus girl in Philadelphia night clubs, and also sang and danced in Pennsylvania coal-mining towns for $15 a week and tips.
After World War II, she began major New York night club engagements at the Village Vanguard and the Blue Angel. She made her theater debut in ″St. Louis Woman,” and won the 1946 Donaldson Award as Broadway’s best newcomer.
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A glimpse of her Tony-winning turn as Dolly Levi:
“Before the Parade Passes By” (with the Company of Hello, Dolly on The Ed Sullivan Show, 1967)
The New World Encyclopedia says,
Her singing voice was described as throaty with a low growl best suited to jazzy classics such as Toot Toot Tootsie (Goodbye) and Bill Bailey, Won't You Please Come Home. The London Times described her "throw-away style," as it would come to be known, as:
...seemingly haphazard but in fact cunningly controlled lapses of vocal concentration causing the lyrics to disappear under a groundswell of mumbled monologue which always slipped back into the rhythmic pattern of the song with unerring accuracy.
“Tired” (Ed Sullivan, 1954)
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Her best-known film appearances include Carmen Jones and Porgy and Bess.
Bailey was a woman of great drive and determination. She served the nation as a diplomat, wrote several books and received a bachelor's degree from Georgetown University at the age of 67.
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“Beat Out That Rhythm on a Drum” from Carmen Jones
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She was a real trouper from beginning to end.
In the 1930s, when vaudeville was still providing a few venues, Bailey found her niche and her charisma and versatility conformed perfectly to the bombast and hilarity that was so much in demand at that time. Soon, she embarked on what was commonly called the Chitlin’ Circuit….
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“Baby, It’s Cold Outside” (with Hot Lips Page, Ed Sullivan, 1949)
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Beginning in 1941, she entertained the troops as part of the USO.
When she wasn’t standing in front of a large audience, Bailey was sequestered and working on her five books (“Talking to Myself” being the most informative of them) and her degree in theology, which she earned from Georgetown University at the age of 67.
By this time she was a global celebrity….
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“Mack the Knife” (with Dinah Shore, The Dinah Shore Show, 1960)
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And Pearlie Mae, as her friends called her, had a big heart.
Asked once about her U.N. work, she said, "there should be less hatred . . . . There should be more love, more reasoning and definitely less paper."
She received the Medal of Freedom from President Reagan in 1988.
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The singer said in 1970 that perhaps she had failed to speak out enough about racial injustice, ″but I’ve lived that way. I walk with love and hope it rubs off.″
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“That’s Life” (Ed Sullivan, 1968)
Have a lovely day!