Pearl bailey husband

Pearl Bailey

Singer / Actress

1918-1990

Pearl Mae Bailey was a rousing singer and actress, known for live performances that mixed humor and music, and for a long stage and movie career. She got her start in Black Philly nightclubs in the 1930s, performed with the U.S.O. during World War II, and then on Broadway, film and television.

Bailey won a Tony for the title role in an all-Black version of Hello Dolly!, which also starred Cab Calloway. Her best known stage roles were Maria in Porgy and Bess and Frankie in Carmen Jones, and her hit songs were plentiful: ”Two to Tango,” ”Toot Toot Tootsie, Goodbye,” ”That’s Good Enough for Me,” and “Fifteen Years (And I’m Still Serving Time),” to name just a few.

EDUCATION

• Georgetown University, theology degree—at age 67

ACCOMPLISHMENTS

• Won a 1968 Tony Award for starring in the all-Black production of Hello, Dolly!
• Won a Daytime Emmy Award
• Recorded multiple albums for different labels
• TV, movie and voice
  •

  Pearl Mae Bailey was born in Newport News, Virginia, on March 29, 1918. Born Pearlie Mae Bailey, she was the daughter of Joseph James Bailey, a minister, and Ella Mae Bailey. On August 31, 1948, she married John Randolph Pinkett, Jr., and was divorced from him in March 1952. On November 19, 1952, she married Louis Bellson, Jr., a jazz drummer, with whom she adopted two children: Tony Bellson and Dee Dee Bellson.

  Bailey attended William Penn High School in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In 1978, Bailey was awarded an honorary degree from Georgetown University. In 1985, she graduated with the Dean's Award from Georgetown University with an ABin theology.

  Bailey made a living as a singer, stage performer, and author. She was a vocalist with such bands as Count Basie and Cootie Williams. In 1946, she made her Broadway debut in St. Louis Woman; followed by Arms in the Girl, in 1950; Bless You all, 1950; House of Flowers, 1954; and Hello, Dolly!, 1967—69. Bailey's motion picture work includes Variety Girl, 1947; Isn't It Romantic, 1948; and Porgy and Bess, 1959. From 1970

  •

  Legendary entertainer Pearl Mae Bailey was born on March 29, 1918 in Southamption County, Virginia to Rev. Joseph and Ella Mae Bailey.  She grew up in Newport News, Virginia.  Bailey began her acting and singing career early at the age of 15 with her debut performance at an amateur contest at Philadelphia’s Pearl Theater.  Encouraged to enter the contest by her older brother, Bill Bailey, an aspiring tap dancer, Pearl Bailey won first prize in the competition.

  After winning a similar contest at Harlem’s Apollo Theater, Bailey decided to start performing as a professional.  In the 1930s she took jobs singing and dancing in Philadelphia’s black nightclubs.  After the start of World War II, Bailey decided to tour the country with the USO where she performed for US troops.  The USO performances spread her name and reputation across the country.

  After the war ended Bailey moved to New York.  She continued to perform in nightclubs but she also garnered a recording contract and now went on tour to promote her music.  Her 1952 recording, “Takes Two to Tango,” was one of the top songs of