Biography
Della Reese was an American actress and singer. Born Delloreese Patricia Early in Detroit, Michigan, on 6 July 1931, she began performing as a gospel singer in her youth and toured with Mahalia Jackson as a teenager before forming her own group, the Meditation Singers.
Reese appeared in films including Harlem Nights (1989) and Beauty Shop (2005), and voiced Eema in the Disney animated film Dinosaur (2000). She was best known for playing Tess in the long-running CBS series Touched by an Angel (1994–2003). An ordained minister, she died in Los Angeles on 19 November 2017.
