(Part 4 of 4) Leslie Uggams won acclaim for her role in "Roots" back in 1977, but that was just the beginning of her career.
Mo Rocca sits down for a chat with the trailblazing actress and singer.
Leslie u leslie uggams won fans - and kudos - for her role in the groundbreaking mini-series, "roots way back in the 1970s.
But that was just the beginning of a storied career.
The trail-blazing actress and singer is in conversation with mo rocca: mo rocca 11:11:25/you ever heard of six degrees of kevin bacon?
Leslie uggams 11:11:28 yes, i have.
Mo rocca 11:11:29 it should be two degrees of leslie uggams i mean, you have worked with everyone.
Leslie uggams 11:11:36 everybody.
Mo rocca: it seems that way& nats/leslie uggams sings "i'm too smal and you're too tall&" from singing on television's earliest variety shows & nats/roots: cook: what that?
Kizzy: these letters spell out my name.
&to starring in the blockbuster miniseries "roots & nats/roots-kizzy: "that says kizzy.
K-i z-y&" &to rooming with ryan reynolds in the deadpool superhero movies& nats/deadpool "smells like ol lady pants in here.
Blind al: yes, i'm old.
I wear pants!"
& leslie uggam's career in showbiz spans generations.
Nats/leslie uggams sings "rock-a-by baby&" leslie uggams 2:28 it's been seven decades.
I've been working since i was six years old.
In 1950, the pioneering singer and actress ethel waters starred in her own sitcom, as beulah.
Uggams played her niece.
Uggams was born not long before in upper manhattan.
Her mother, a waitress, had danced at the cotton club.
Her father, an elevator operator and maintenance man, sang with a famous african- american choir.
Leslie uggams 12:21 they were happy to keep me busy.
Because we lived in a tough neighborhood.
// and they were trying to keep me safe and motivated.
So i took every kinda lesson you can imagine.
Her mother took her on auditions.
Leslie uggams 17:25 people used to say: your mother's always with you.
My mother would say: that's right!
She thought i was too skinny.
&dinah washington& leslie uggams she loved to play cards.
And louis armstrong& leslie uggams i called him pops.// mo rocca 11:31 were like a sponge?
Leslie uggams 11:38 it was the first time that an african american was on every week on national television, which, the south wouldn't take the show in the beginning because i was on it.
And so the sponsors and nbc kept sayin' // mitch: well, just have her on a few times.
And mitch said: no, she's part of the family-she's gonna be on.// mo rocca 11:27:40 you had no idea these discussions& leslie uggams 11:27:41 had no idea.
Nats/sing along with mitch/uggams sings "th lightening may be frightening..."
Mo rocca 1:41 were you aware of the significance at the time of being the first african-american regular on a variety show?
Leslie uggams 11:34:09 yes, i was.
And it was a responsibility that i gladly // took on.
Vt/music sting.
Leslie uggams, cont'd: you couldn't mess up.
// you couldn't have any kinda scandal.
Pressure because i knew that i was carrying my race on-on my shoulders.
Which i gladly wanted to do.// mo rocca 6:27 being good isn't good enough.
Leslie uggams 11:38:52 exactly.
That's why i love that song.
Audio/uggams sings: "being goo just won't be good enough&" leslie uggams 11:38:52 i grew up, you had to be the best.
And then you'd go that extra mile.
Audio/uggams sings: "&o nothing&" that song - uggams' signature - came from the 1967 musical, hallelujah, baby.
Uggams was the lead.
Mo rocca 11:53:17 so your first show- leslie uggams 11:53:18 hello!
// 26:07 i'll tell you how na?ve i was.
When they came into my dressing room and said: you've been nominated for a tony // and i said: what's that?
She took home the tony.
By then uggams was married to grahame pratt.
The two met in his native australia.
Leslie uggams 44:07 he had never dated a black woman before.
But pratt says they had a lot of things in common.
Graham pratt 2:04/ most of them you can't say on television.
Leslie uggams: stop!
Before he brought her home to meet his family, he wrote them a letter.
Graham pratt 10:27 "now i don't wann hear any problems. i'm gonna bring a black woman home.
But pratt's mother-it turned out--wasn't concerned about race.
Leslie uggams she said: is she presbyterian?
And how ironic that i'm presbyterian.
// mo rocca: but i have the feeling that, even if you were methodist, you would have lied and said: i'm presbyterian.
Leslie uggams: of course i would.
Because he would have clued me in.
They wed 55 years ago, at a time when interracial marriage was still illegal in some parts of the u.s. the couple has two children and one grandchild.
In 1969, cbs decided to replace the controversial smothers brothers& nats/anncr: "it' the leslie uggams show&" with a variety show hosted by uggams, who used her clout to help other people of color in the entertainment world.
Nats/leslie uggams show actor 1: "is tha what you thought?
Lesle uggams: that's what i thought.
Actor 2: that's what i thought, too leslie uggams 29:17 so i had a black choreographer // latino-black dancers.
// black cameraman.
And a black conductor.
So i maneuvered what i wanted to be done.
// 12:02:00 that was a big deal.
// mo rocca 30:54 and you had a particular writer on your staff.
Leslie uggams 12:03:19 yes.
His name: john amos& nats/roots/john amos: "kizzy leslie uggams: pa!"
Leslie uggams, cont'd: "&who i lov and adore."
John amos would end up playing uggams' father in roots.
Nats/roots: john amos: "you go am amos: "kizzy leslie uggams: pa!"
Leslie uggams, cont'd: "&who i lov and adore."
John amos would end up playing uggams' father in roots.
Nats/roots: john amos: "you go that right, kid.
You got it right."
But if you want to know what show business is really about& nats/a capitol fourth/uggams sings: "june i bustin' out all over&" &just watch her very "improvisational rendition of "jun is bustin out all over", which sh performed on a very wet national mall in washington, dc.
Nats/a capitol fourth/uggams sings: "june i bustin' out all over..."
Leslie uggams 1:07:43 cue card guy is in front of me.
And there i start.
And all of a sudden, he slips and falls, the cards go flying in the other direction.
Now i have no lyrics.
So i just made up anything that came out of my head.
Nats/a capitol fourth/uggams sings: "june i bustin' out all over, the vah-deh duh dedda tedd.
And vriszha vidda dridda&" mo rocca 1:09:34 but the thing is you sound great, even--- leslie uggams 12:39:39 yeah.
Oh, yeah.
Listen, you know, it's live.
You can't say: cut!
And we'll do it all over.
So i just had to keep going.
// mo rocca 12:40:02 and that, i'm guessing, is that apollo training.
Leslie uggams 12:40:06 it was.
It was.
In my mind, i was scatting like ella fitzgerald.
But what came out was not scatting like ella fitzgerald!
Mo rocca: 12:40:19 and i bet ya nobody said anything to you after you finished.
Leslie uggams 12:40:22 no, not a word, not even my husband!
Nats/a capitol fourth/uggams sings: we'll be right backth that and more on the next midmorning.
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