American actress and singer Leslie Marian Uggams is well-known. Uggams began her career as a child actor in the early 1950s.
She is most known for her role as Kizzy Reynolds in the television miniseries Roots, for which she received nominations for both a Golden Globe and an Emmy.
In this article, we would like to talk about her parents.
Leslie Uggams parents: Juanita Uggams, Harold Uggams
Leslie Marian Uggams was born in Harlem, NYC, to Juanita Ernestine (Smith), a Cotton Club chorus girl/dancer, and Harold Coyden Uggams, an elevator operator and maintenance man, who was a singer with the Hall Johnson choir.
After Lena Horne declined the role of Georgina in Hallelujah, Baby!, Uggams was chosen to play the lead.
Uggams was “created a new star” by the Broadway production when it made its debut in 1967. For best actress in a musical, she received a Tony Award (in a tie with Patricia Routledge).
She made her Broadway debut in the revue Blues in the Night in 1982 and in the Jerry Herman musical extravaganza Jerry’s Girls in 1985.
In the Lincoln Center revival of Cole Porter’s musical Anything Goes on Broadway in March 1989, Uggams took Patti LuPone’s place as Reno Sweeney.
