Actor Leslie Uggams has had an exciting career in both theater and film.
Even with a remarkable career spanning seven decades, the singer and actress from Harlem is best known for her role in the *Deadpool* series.
However, her marriage to White Australian Grahame Pratt in 1965 challenged expectations for interracial relationships, making her life story worthy of a movie.
In 1953, Leslie, a talented singer, recorded a song for MGM when she was just 10 years old. Her aunt, soprano Eloise Uggams, recommended that she attend the famous Julliard School of Music in New York and the Professional Children’s School of New York.
But her career didn’t stop after her musical success; in 1969, she hosted *The Leslie Uggams Show,* the first network variety show hosted by a Black person since *The Nat King Cole Show.*
However, Leslie got to know and fell in love with actor Grahame Pratt behind the scenes. During one of her famous tours in Australia, the pair reconnected in Sydney after first meeting as students at the Professional Children’s School in New York.
Leslie was aware of the challenges of dating a white man because she had dated one in her youth and her aunt had discouraged her from thinking about a future with him. Leslie shared with Ebony in 1967, “I remember the shock I felt once when I was dating a white boy.”
He sent me a color photo of himself. I showed it to my aunt. He was a young, attractive man with nice hair. I thought he was very good-looking. But my aunt lectured me after she saw the picture. “Well, I guess he’s alright,” she said, “but only on dates, huh, honey? When you’re ready to settle down, you’ll marry a nice [Black] fella, won’t you?”
Leslie said that after their lucky meeting, she kept visiting Grahame.
“At just 21 years old, it was surprising that I started to fall in love with him.”
It would be a full year before she saw him again after she left Australia.
Leslie was worried about how her family would react and what would happen if Grahame moved to the U.S. for her job, but despite her worries, they had fallen in love. When they had been engaged for five months, Grahame visited her in New York.
“I wanted to know if my family would truly accept Grahame and not just tolerate him, knowing their views on mixed marriages,” she said.
Leslie didn’t have to worry because Grahame was Australian.
“Many white Americans feel awkward about their situation, but he didn’t.” He got along well with my friends, so he easily fit in with them. And both the men and women liked him.
While living in New York, Leslie said she received hate mail because of their marriage, even though they didn’t face the same racial issues as many others in the country.
In an interview with PEOPLE, Leslie said about her marriage, “It wasn’t as difficult as I expected. I think it’s because Grahame wasn’t a white man in America.” Naturally, they did receive some negative mail.
Leslie shared, “I sometimes get anonymous letters about being married to a white man when I go on tour in the United States. I remember getting one, of all places, in Detroit.” It was addressed to “The Little Negro Entertainer.” Those letters were painful to read and often used that term.
Grahame took on the role of Leslie’s manager, and the couple had two daughters, Danielle in 1970 and Justice in 1976.
Leslie got the lead role in the miniseries Roots in 1977, a year after their second child was born. For that role, she was nominated for an Emmy for her character Kizzy.
Two years later, she played Lillian Rogers Parks in the miniseries Backstairs at the White House, earning another Emmy nomination for Best Actress.
In 1983, she won a Daytime Emmy Award for hosting the NBC game show Fantasy, and in 1996 she played Rose Keefer on All My Children.
Leslie has also made appearances on shows like Family Guy, I Spy, Hollywood Squares, The Muppet Show, The Love Boat, and Magnum P.I.
After fifty-five years of marriage and a granddaughter named Cassidy, Leslie and Grahame are still happily together.
“We have a lot of fun together, but it’s not always sunshine and roses,” Leslie said about their happy marriage. “We enjoy being together.”
Their love has stood the test of time and defied expectations. They support each other because they are loyal to one another and have always helped each other.
Princess of Monaco Grace Kelly’s granddaughter is all grown up and has inherited her grandmother’s beauty
Grace Kelly was a Hollywood film star who never left the spotlight in the 1950s. She didn’t last longer than six years in the industry, but those years she spent were legendary.
She got into the world of acting at the age of 20 and became a bomb.
She starred in adventure romance Mogambo alongside Clark Gable and Ava Gardner which earned her a Golden Globe for best-supporting actress.
We thought that was all until she gave a show the following year. She won yet another award for Best supporting actress in The Country Girl.
During her career, her movies were majorly comedy musical High Society starring alongside Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra and three Alfred Hitchcock movies Dial M for Murder; To Catch a Thief with Cary Grant, and Rear window.
At the age of 26, Grace left the spotlight because of her marriage to Prince Rainier III and become Princess of Monaco.
We all knew if she remained in the industry she could have been among the top as within six years she had two Golden Globes and Academy Award to her name and 11 successful movies.
She retired from the spotlight because of her marriage to the prince and went on to have three wonderful children, Caroline, Princess of Hanover, Albert II.
Kelly tragically passed away at the age of 52 after a car accident. She had a stroke and lost control of the vehicle. Stephanie, her youngest daughter was with her at that moment, and luckily she was able to survive the accident.
Kelly is said to have a total of 11 grandchildren and they so much remind us of the Philadelphia-born.
Camille Gottlieb is one of the grandchildren of Kelly born by Grace Kelly’s youngest child Princess Stephanie of Monaco and Jean-Raymond Gottlieb.
The 20-year-old has two older half-siblings, Pauline Ducruet and they look so much like their grandmother.
Camille seems to be a better replica of her grandmother as she has blond hair and blue eyes.
Going through her Instagram account with over 70,000 followers, we can’t help but see her grandmother’s piercing blue eyes. She looks so beautiful and reminds us of the legendary Grace Kelly. May her soul rest in peace.
The report says she’s not quite eligible for the throne as she was born when her parents weren’t married and her birth was a secret.
Leave a Reply