Pearl Bailey Biography

Fast Facts

• Won the Donaldson Award for Most Promising Newcomer for her performance in "St․ Louis Woman" in 1946
• Served as a delegate to the United Nations during the Ford, Reagan, and Bush Administrations
• Began her stage career after winning first prize at an amateur night in Philadelphia in 1933
• Toured in small dramatic productions in Pennsylvania coal-mining towns before joining the vaudeville circuit as a singer and dancer for Noble Sissle's band
• Quote: "I believe in humanity in that you don't bother to look at the color of a man's face․ That's brotherhood․"
• Quote: "I'm not a comedienne․ I call myself a humorist․ I tell stories to music and, thank God, in tune․ I laugh at people who call me an actress․"
• Her two best known film roles were Maria in "Porgy and Bess" and Frankie in "Carmen Jones․"
• Best known as an actress and singer who starred in the 1967 Broadway musical "Hello, Dolly!"
• In addition to her two years in "Hello, Dolly!," she also appeared in other Broadway musicals like "House of Flowers" and "St․ Louis Woman․"
• At a performance of "Hello, Dolly!" in Washington that President Lyndon B․ Johnson was attending, she called the President to the stage to be part of a sing-along chorus of the show's title song