Everything about Della Reese totally explained
Della Reese (born
Delloreese Patricia Early on
July 6,
1931), is a famous
American Emmy nominated
actor and
Grammy nominated
singer. She started her career in the late
1950s as a successful
Jazz singer, best known for her
1959 hit single "
Don't You Know". Later in her career, she became a successful actress, best known as playing Tess on the television show
Touched by an Angel. Today, she's also an ordained
New Thought minister in the Understanding Principles for Better Living Church in
Los Angeles, California. She is of half
African-American and half
Cherokee descent.
Early life
Della was born in the summer of
1931 in
Detroit, Michigan. At only six years old, she began singing in
church. From this experience, she became an avid
Gospel singer. At the age of thirteen, she was hired to sing with
Mahalia Jackson's Gospel group. Afterwards, she formed her own gospel group called the
Meditation Singers. However, due in part to the death of her mother, and her father's serious illness, Della had to interrupt her schooling at
Wayne State University to help support her family.
Successful singing career
Della was discovered by the Gospel great
Mahalia Jackson. Della's big break finally came when she won a contest, which gave her a week to sing at
Detroit's well-known and talked-about Flame Show bar. They liked Della so much at the bar, she remained there for eight weeks. Although her roots were always in
Gospel music, she was now being exposed to and influenced by such great
jazz artists as
Ella Fitzgerald,
Sarah Vaughn and
Billie Holiday. In 1953, she got an even bigger break when she signed a recording contract with
Jubilee Records. Later that same year, she also joined the
Erskine Hawkins Orchestra. Her first recordings for Jubilee were songs such as "
In the Still of the Night", "
I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm" and "
Time After Time". These songs only hinted at the potential that lurked inside of Reese to make it big in the music business, and all three of the songs failed to gain any chart success.
In 1957, Della released a single called "
And That Reminds Me". After years of trying, Della finally had gained chart success with the song. The song became a Top Twenty Pop hit for Reese that year and the record became a million-seller. In 1957, Reese was also voted by
Billboard,
Cashbox, and various other magazines as
The Most Promising Singer.
In 1959, Della had moved on to another record company, this time with
RCA Records. She released her first single from the record company called "
Don't You Know", which was taken from
Puccini's
La Bohème. However, Della turned the song into her own and it became her biggest hit ever, reaching the #2 spot on the Pop charts, even going as far as topping the
R&B charts that year (which was then called the "Black Singles Chart"). Today, the song is probably known as her signature song.
Her success in the recording business didn't end there. In 1960, she released a successful follow-up single called "Not One Minute More." However, after that, Della's recording career took second place to her other activities. Due to the success of her previous big hits, Della went on to perform in
Las Vegas for nine years, as well as touring across the country. However, she didn't stop recording regularly throughout the 1960s, still releasing singles and several albums, two of the first most significant of which were
The Classic Della (1962) and
Waltz with Me, Della (1963), which were instrumental in her finding a major following abroad, and as a jazz singer on such albums as
Della Reese Live (1966),
On Strings of Blue(1967), and
One of a Kind (1978).
In 1987, she was nominated for a
Grammy Award for one of her acclaimed gospel albums.
Television career
In
1969, she was given her first shot at
television stardom when she starred on a self-titled variety series. A year later (after her variety series was canceled after one season), she became the first black woman to serve as guest host of
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.
Reese later appeared in several TV movies and miniseries' (including
The House of Yes,
Sanford and Son (in Season 5 episode "Della Della Della" that featured her performing "Ease On Down the Road" with
Redd Foxx, and ) and was a regular on
Chico and the Man. In
1979, after taping a guest spot for
The Tonight Show, she suffered a nearly fatal brain aneurysm, but made a full recovery after two operations by noted neurosurgeon Dr. Charles Drake at University Hospital in
London, Ontario. This was Reese's second brush with death. A number of years earlier, she accidentally walked into a plate glass door in her home. She was sliced so badly by the broken glass she required a thousand stitches to close her wounds. She lost most of her blood and later said she'd a "near death" experience where she saw her beloved mother.
She played the mother of
B. A. Baracus in
The A-Team episode "Lease with an Option to Die". After appearing on two sitcoms, Reese did a voice over for the animated series
A Pup Named Scooby-Doo. In
1989, she starred alongside
Eddie Murphy,
Richard Pryor and
Arsenio Hall in the movie
Harlem Nights, where she was seen doing a fight scene with
Eddie Murphy. In
1991, she starred opposite
Redd Foxx in his final sitcom,
The Royal Family. His death halted production of the series for a few months.
Success On Touched by an Angel
From
1994-
2003, Reese took on the co-starring role she's possibly best known for: Tess on the inspirational television drama
Touched by an Angel. Reese also sang the show's theme song. Her participation in this series has given her popularity among the younger audiences a boost.
Life today
Della Reese announced on
Larry King Live in
2002, that she suffers from Type-2
diabetes. She is a
spokeswoman for the
American Diabetes Association, traveling around the
United States to raise awareness about the disorder.
In 1983, she married Franklin Thomas Lett, Jr., a concert producer and writer. Between them they've four adult children: Dr. James Barger, Deloreese Owens, Franklin Lett III, and Dominique Lett-Wirtschafter.
Besides being a singer and actress, Reese is an ordained minister in the Understanding Principles for Better Living Church in
Los Angeles,
California. She is godmother to the child of
Touched by an Angel co-star,
Roma Downey who played a leading role in
Touched by an Angel, alongside Reese. In 2005, Reese was honored by
Oprah Winfrey at her Legends Ball ceremony along with 25 other
African-American women.
Discography
Singles
Selected albums
| Year |
Album |
| 1957 |
Melancholy Baby |
| 1958 |
Amen |
| 1958 |
A Date with Della Reese (At Mr. Kelly's in Chicago) |
| 1959 |
And That Reminds Me |
| 1959 |
The Story of the Blues |
| 1959 |
What Do You Know About Love? |
| 1960 |
Della |
| 1960 |
Della By Starlight |
| 1961 |
Special Delivery |
| 1961 |
Della Della Cha-Cha-Cha |
| 1962 |
Della Reese On Stage |
| 1962 |
The Classic Della |
| 1963 |
Waltz With Me |
| 1964 |
Della Reese At Basin Street East |
| 1964 |
C'mon and Hear |
| 1965 |
I Like It Like Dat! |
| 1966 |
Della Reese Live |
| 1967 |
One More Time |
| 1967 |
On Strings of Blue |
| 1968 |
I Gotta Be Me ... This Trip Out |
| 1970 |
Black Is Beautiful |
| 1975 |
Let Me Into Your Life |
| 1976 |
The ABC Collection |
| 1978 |
One of a Kind |
| 1985 |
Sure Like Loving You |
| 1990 |
And Brilliance |
| 1995 |
Some of My Best Friends Are the Blues |
| 1996 |
Voice of an Angel |
| 1998 |
My Soul Feels Better Right Now |
| 1998 |
The Della Reese Collection |
| 2000 |
Sure Like Lovin' You |
| 2001 |
Legendary Della Reese |
| 2002 |
Della (Expanded) |
| 2006 |
Give It to God |
TV work
Filmography
Let's Rock (1958)
Psychic Killer (1975)
Harlem Nights (1989)
The Kid Who Loved Christmas (1990)
The Distinguished Gentleman (1992) (Cameo)
A Thin Line Between Love and Hate (1996)
Journey to a Hate Free Millennium (1999) (documentary) (narrator)
Dinosaur (2000) (voice)
Beauty Shop (2005)Further Information
Get more info on 'Della Reese'.
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