Leslie Uggams - Leslie (1969/2020) Hi Res

A singer and actress perhaps best known for her work in the landmark television miniseries Roots, Leslie Uggams was born May 25, 1943, in New York City. The product of a showbiz family her father sang with the Hall Johnson Choir and her mother was a chorus dancer -- she began her own career while still a child, making her TV debut at the age of six on the series Beulah. A year later, Uggams began performing regularly at the famed Apollo Theater in Harlem, opening for such legends as Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, and Dinah Washington; she subsequently attended the Professional Children's School of New York, and frequently guested on television variety programs including The Milton Berle Show, The Arthur Godfrey Show, and Your Show of Shows. At the age of 12, Uggams retired from performing; her absence from the spotlight was relatively brief, however, and three years later she appeared as a vocalist on the TV quiz show Name That Tune.