Pearl Bailey (1918–90,) fully Pearl Mae Bailey, was an American jazz singer, actress, writer, and activist. This smooth-voiced African-American nightclub singer was well-known for her mischievous humor. As a recording star, she made only a handful of stage and film appearances, but each one was unforgettable.
Born in Newport News, Virginia, the daughter of a preacher, Bailey credited much of her vocal ability to her childhood singing in church. She began singing in vaudeville and cabarets as a teenager. By the 1940s, she was singing in Manhattan’s finest supper clubs and, in 1946, she made her Broadway début as the funny barmaid Butterfly in St. Louis Woman.
Bailey also appeared in musicals such as Arms and the Girls (1950,) Bless You All (1950,) and House of Flowers (1954,) but her greatest Broadway triumph was as wisecracking Dolly Levi in Hello, Dolly (1967 and 1975.) While she had appeared on screen in Variety Girl (1947) and Isn’t It Romantic? (1948,) Bailey got to play more notable supporting roles in Carmen Jones (1954,) St. Louis Blues (1958,) and Porgy and Bess (1959.) Bailey appeared on many television specials during her long career and hosted her show, The Pearl Bailey Show (1971.)
Bailey wrote several books including The Raw Pearl (1968,) Talking to Myself (1971,) Pearl’s Kitchen (1973,) and Hurry Up, America, and Spit (1976.)
At age 67, she graduated with a bachelor’s degree in theology from Georgetown University. Her last book, Between You and Me (1989,) details her experiences with higher education.
More: Wikipedia • READ: Works by Pearl Bailey
What the world really needs is more love and less paperwork.
—Pearl Bailey
Topics: Love
There is a way to look at the past. Don’t hide from it. It will not catch you — if you don’t repeat it.
—Pearl Bailey
You never find yourself until you face the truth.
—Pearl Bailey
Topics: Truth
Children, you must remember something. A man without ambition is dead. A man with ambition but no love is dead. A man with ambition and love for his blessings here on earth is ever so alive.
—Pearl Bailey
Topics: Ambition
A crown, if it hurts us, is not worth wearing.
—Pearl Bailey
There are two kinds of talent, man-made talent and God-given talent. With man-made talent you have to work very hard. With God-given talent, you just touch it up once in a while.
—Pearl Bailey
Topics: Talent
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