Biography
Pearl Bailey was an American actress and singer. She made her film debut as Frankie in the 1954 musical Carmen Jones.
Bailey began her career in vaudeville and appeared on Broadway in St. Louis Woman (1946). She starred as Dolly Levi in the all-Black production of Hello, Dolly! (1967), for which she received a Special Tony Award. Her other film roles include Maria in Porgy and Bess (1959) and Marge in The Landlord (1970); she also voiced Big Mama in the animated film The Fox and the Hound (1981).
She received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1988. Bailey died in Philadelphia on 17 August 1990.
