Della Reese
Encyclopedia
Delloreese Patricia Early, known professionally as Della Reese (born July 6, 1931), is an American actress, singer, game show
panelist of the 1970s, one-time talk-show hostess
and ordained minister. She started her career in the 1950s as a gospel, pop and jazz
singer, scoring a hit with her 1959 single "Don't You Know?
". In her four decades of acting, she gained a new generation of fans in the 1990s, playing Tess, the leading role on the television show Touched by an Angel
. In the late 1960s, she hosted her own talk show, Della, which ran for 297 episodes. In more recent times, she became an ordained New Thought
minister in the Understanding Principles for Better Living Church in Los Angeles, California
.
neighborhood of Detroit, Michigan
to African American
steelworker, Richard Thaddeus Early, and Nellie Mitchelle, a Native American
(Cherokee
) cook. Deloreese's mother also had several older children, before her birth, all of whom did not live with her, hence, she was an only child. At only six years old, she began singing in church
. From this experience, she became an avid gospel
singer. As a young lady of the 1940s, on the weekends, she and her mother would go to the movies, independently, to watch the likes of: Joan Crawford
, Bette Davis
and Lena Horne
, each of whom had portrayed glamourous lives on-screen. After each movie, she would act out the scenes taken from every single film. In 1944, she began her career directing the young people's choir, after she'd nurtured acting plus her obvious musical talent. She was often chosen on radio, as a regular singer. At the age of thirteen, she was hired to sing with Mahalia Jackson
's gospel group. Upon entering Detroit
's popular Cass Technical High School
(where she attended the same high with an unknown star, Edna Rae Gillooly, later known as: Ellen Burstyn
). At Cass Tech, she was a brilliant, no-nonsense student. She also continued with her touring with Jackson. With higher grades, she was the first in her family to graduate from high school in 1947, at only 15. Afterwards, she formed her own gospel group called the Meditation Singers
. However, due in part to the death of her mother, and her father's serious illness, Reese had to interrupt her schooling at Wayne State University
to help support her family. Faithful to the memory of Deloreese's memory of her mother, she also moved out of her father's house, due to her feuding with her father, who had a new girlfriend. She then took on odd jobs such as truck driver, dental receptionist, even elevator operator, after 1949.
Performing in clubs, Early soon realized that she had no choice but to shorten her name from Delloreese Early to Della Reese, knowing that her birth name was too long for a club marquee.
, and big break came when she won a contest, which gave her a week to sing at Detroit's well-known and talked-about Flame Show Bar. Reese remained there for eight weeks. Although her roots were in gospel music
, she now was being exposed to and influenced by such great jazz
artists as Ella Fitzgerald
, Sarah Vaughan
and Billie Holiday
. In 1953, she signed a recording contract with Jubilee Records
, for which she recorded six albums. Later that year, she also joined the Hawkins
Orchestra. Her first recordings for Jubilee were songs such as "In the Still of the Night (1937 song)
," "I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm
," and "Time after Time (1947 song)
." Although the EP did not enter the charts, it sold 500,000 copies, and the songs were later included on the 1959 album "And That Reminds Me."
In 1957, Reese released a single called "And That Reminds Me
." After years of performing, she gained chart success with this song. It became a Top Twenty Pop hit and a million-seller record. That year, Reese was voted by Billboard
, Cashbox, and various other magazines, as "The Most Promising Singer."
In 1959, Reese moved to a RCA Records
, and released her first RCA single called "Don't You Know?
," which was adapted from Puccini's music for La Bohème
; specifically, the aria Musetta's Waltz. It became her biggest hit to date, reaching the #2 spot on the Pop charts, and topping the R&B
charts, which were then called the "Black Singles Charts," that year. Eventually, the song came to be widely considered the signature song of her early career.
Reese received a Grammy nomination for her 1960 album, Della. and then released a successful follow-up single called "Not One Minute More" (#16), and she remained on the Billboard Hot 100
chart with the songs "And Now" (#69), "Someday (You'll Want Me to Want You)
" (#56) and "The Most Beautiful Words" (#67).
Reese recorded regularly throughout the 1960s, releasing singles and several albums. Two of the most significant were The Classic Della
(1962), and Waltz with Me, Della (1963), which broadened her fan base internationally. She recorded several jazz-focused albums including Della Reese Live (1966), On Strings of Blue (1967), and One of a Kind (1978). She also performed in Las Vegas
for nine years, and toured across the country.
Reese continued to record albums in the following decades, receiving two more Grammy nominations in the gospel category for the album Della Reese and Brilliance (1991), and for the live recorded album, My Soul Feels Better Right Now (1999).
stardom was a 1969 eponymously titled variety series, which was canceled after one season.
In 1970, Reese became the first black woman to guest host The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
. She appeared in several TV movies and miniseries, was a regular on Chico and the Man
, and she played the mother of B. A. Baracus
in The A-Team
episode "Lease with an Option to Die." In 1991, she starred opposite Redd Foxx
in his final sitcom, The Royal Family
, but his death halted production of the series for several months. Reese also did voice over for the animated series A Pup Named Scooby-Doo
.
In 1989, she starred alongside Eddie Murphy
, Richard Pryor
, and Arsenio Hall
in the theatrical release movie Harlem Nights
, in which she was seen doing a fight scene with Eddie Murphy
.
Reese appeared as a panelist on several episodes of the popular television game show Match Game
and was featured on That's So Raven
in The Four Aces. On May 18, 2009, she guest starred on the daytime drama The Young and the Restless
as Virginia Hamilton.
. This led to other roles such as: The Bold Ones: The New Doctors
, Getting Together, Police Woman
, Petrocelli
, Joe Forrester, Police Story, The Rookies
, McCloud, Sanford and Son
with old friend Redd Foxx
, Vega$
, Insight
, 2 episodes of The Love Boat
. She also had a recurring role on It Takes Two opposite Richard Crenna
and Patty Duke
, 3 episodes of Crazy Like a Fox
, 4 episodes of Charlie & Co.
opposite Flip Wilson
, 227
with best friend Marla Gibbs
, MacGyver
, Night Court
, Dream On
, Designing Women
, Picket Fences
. She also had a recurring role as Tess, on Promised Land
with Wendy Phillips
and Gerald McRaney
, among many others.
, but ordered more episodes. She portrayed the character of Tess on the inspirational television drama Touched by an Angel
. Reese was widely seen as a key component of the show's success.
Already starring on Touched by an Angel was an unfamiliar Irish
actress and future wife of reality television shows producer (Mark Burnett
), Roma Downey
, who played the role of a case worker Tess's angel/employee, Monica. In numerous interviews, there was an on- and off-screen chemistry of both Reese & Downey, as the two clicked as second mother and second daughter of any other 1990s TV series, when Reese was playing the boss whilst Downey played employee.
The character of Tess was the angelic supervisor who sent the other angels out on missions to help people redeem their lives and show them God's love, while at the same time, she was sassy, had no-nonsense, but always had an attitude. The show often featured a climactic monologue delivered by the angel Monica in which she reveals herself as an angel to a human with the words, "I am an angel sent by God to tell you that he loves you." The character of Tess balanced the emotional tone of the show, and was portrayed by Reese as down to earth, experienced, and direct.
The series introduced Reese to a new young fan base, and added to her appeal with television viewers who remembered her earlier career highlights. Reese also sang the show's theme song, "Walk With You" and was featured prominently on the soundtrack album produced in conjunction with the show.
During its first season in 1994, many critics had been skeptical about the new drama, it being the second prime-time fantasy series (after Highway to Heaven
, being the first) that talked about God
. The program featured kind-hearted angels who appeared on Earth, and helped guide people in their toughest moments. The show also had a rocky start, and was not a ratings winner, hence, they cancelled it after the first season with only 11 episodes, but with the help of die hard fans and massive letter-writing, the show resuscitated, the following season, and became a huge ratings winner for the next seven seasons. The same year, unfamiliar actor John Dye
played Andrew. Though he was a handsome actor, there had been threats to the familiar TV star. At the beginning of the fourth season in 1997, unlike her co-stars making more money, Reese was offered a lesser salary, hence, she threatened to leave the Angel set. Angry about the imbalance of her paycheck, Reese fought with both CBS
and Williamson, and she continued playing Tess until the end, having raised her salary.
During its final season in 2002, Touched by an Angel CBS decided to cancel the show after nine seasons and 212 episodes. Despite the show being cancelled, it continued re-running heavily into syndication and on The Hallmark Channel.
Roma Downey said of her on- and off-screen relationship with Reese, who had adopted her as a daughter: "She's very wise, she's very loving, she can be a little gruff at times. But she's always adoring and adorable. I lost my mother, when I was very young, and during my whole adolescence and into my twenties, I'd been looking for a mother figure, and I really think I can say with absolute truth and sincerity that I feel that I finally found her in Della Reese." The last thing Downey said about her TV boss/mother was that she could be as loving as her mentor's Jesus: "I think I'll just always remember the feel of her neck against my cheek when she hugs me, and the love, I know that she has for me, and the love that I feel for her, and the love that she has for God. To know Della is to know that she loves God."
Reese's father, Richard Early, died in 1959.
Reese had an adoptive daughter, Deloreese Daniels Owens, in 1961, who died on March 14, 2002, after complications stemming from pituitary disease
. She said about the painful experience, sharing her frustration with the lack of awareness and knowledge of pituitary disorders, "When it happened, I thought, 'It's such an odd thing to die from,' because pituitary problems aren't something you hear about. It makes it harder because you don't understand what happened. It seemed so strange and hard to explain. It still is, to be honest."
In 1979, after taping a guest spot for The Tonight Show
, she suffered a nearly fatal brain aneurysm
, but made a full recovery after two operations by neurosurgeon Dr. Charles Drake
at University Hospital
in London, Ontario
.
In 1983, she married Franklin Thomas Lett, Jr., a concert
producer and writer.
In 2002, Reese announced on Larry King Live
that she had been diagnosed with type-2 diabetes. She became a spokeswoman
for the American Diabetes Association
, traveling around the United States
to raise awareness about this disorder.
In 2005, Reese was honored by Oprah Winfrey
at her Legends Ball ceremony, along with 25 other women of African-American descent.
Reese was ordained as a minister in 2010, after serving as the senior minister and founder of the Understanding Principles for Better Living Church, an independent "Christian
New Thought" congregation, which currently meets at First Lutheran Church (www.firsting.org) in Inglewood, California
. In her ministerial work, she is known as the Rev. Dr. Della Reese Lett.
Nominations
Game show
A game show is a type of radio or television program in which members of the public, television personalities or celebrities, sometimes as part of a team, play a game which involves answering questions or solving puzzles usually for money and/or prizes...
panelist of the 1970s, one-time talk-show hostess
Presenter
A presenter, or host , is a person or organization responsible for running an event. A museum or university, for example, may be the presenter or host of an exhibit. Likewise, a master of ceremonies is a person that hosts or presents a show...
and ordained minister. She started her career in the 1950s as a gospel, pop and jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
singer, scoring a hit with her 1959 single "Don't You Know?
Don't You Know?
"Don't You Know?" is a 1959 popular song by written by Bobby Worth, and hit record for singer Della Reese.The song was adapted from an aria from Puccini's La Boheme. It became Reese's biggest hit, reaching number two on the U.S. Pop chart and number one on the U.S. R&B chart...
". In her four decades of acting, she gained a new generation of fans in the 1990s, playing Tess, the leading role on the television show Touched by an Angel
Touched by an Angel
Touched by an Angel is an American drama series that premiered on CBS on September 21, 1994 and ran for 211 episodes and nine seasons until its conclusion on April 27, 2003. Created by John Masius and produced by Martha Williamson, the series stars Roma Downey, as an angel named Monica, and Della...
. In the late 1960s, she hosted her own talk show, Della, which ran for 297 episodes. In more recent times, she became an ordained New Thought
New Thought
New Thought promotes the ideas that "Infinite Intelligence" or "God" is ubiquitous, spirit is the totality of real things, true human selfhood is divine, divine thought is a force for good, sickness originates in the mind, and "right thinking" has a healing effect.Although New Thought is neither...
minister in the Understanding Principles for Better Living Church in Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
.
Early years
Reese was born Delloreese Patricia Early in the historic Black BottomBlack Bottom, Detroit
Black Bottom was a predominantly black neighborhood in Detroit, Michigan, that was demolished for redevelopment in the early 1960s. It was replaced with Lafayette Park. It was located on Detroit's near East side bounded by Gratiot Avenue, Brush Street, Vernor Highway, and the Grand Trunk railroad...
neighborhood of Detroit, Michigan
Detroit, Michigan
Detroit is the major city among the primary cultural, financial, and transportation centers in the Metro Detroit area, a region of 5.2 million people. As the seat of Wayne County, the city of Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and serves as a major port on the Detroit River...
to African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
steelworker, Richard Thaddeus Early, and Nellie Mitchelle, a Native American
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
(Cherokee
Cherokee
The Cherokee are a Native American people historically settled in the Southeastern United States . Linguistically, they are part of the Iroquoian language family...
) cook. Deloreese's mother also had several older children, before her birth, all of whom did not live with her, hence, she was an only child. At only six years old, she began singing in church
Church Building
The Church Building is located at the corner of Main and Market Streets in downtown Poughkeepsie, New York, United States, just across Market Street from the Dutchess County Court House, and north of the Bardavon Theater...
. From this experience, she became an avid gospel
Gospel music
Gospel music is music that is written to express either personal, spiritual or a communal belief regarding Christian life, as well as to give a Christian alternative to mainstream secular music....
singer. As a young lady of the 1940s, on the weekends, she and her mother would go to the movies, independently, to watch the likes of: Joan Crawford
Joan Crawford
Joan Crawford , born Lucille Fay LeSueur, was an American actress in film, television and theatre....
, Bette Davis
Bette Davis
Ruth Elizabeth "Bette" Davis was an American actress of film, television and theater. Noted for her willingness to play unsympathetic characters, she was highly regarded for her performances in a range of film genres, from contemporary crime melodramas to historical and period films and occasional...
and Lena Horne
Lena Horne
Lena Mary Calhoun Horne was an American singer, actress, civil rights activist and dancer.Horne joined the chorus of the Cotton Club at the age of sixteen and became a nightclub performer before moving to Hollywood, where she had small parts in numerous movies, and more substantial parts in the...
, each of whom had portrayed glamourous lives on-screen. After each movie, she would act out the scenes taken from every single film. In 1944, she began her career directing the young people's choir, after she'd nurtured acting plus her obvious musical talent. She was often chosen on radio, as a regular singer. At the age of thirteen, she was hired to sing with Mahalia Jackson
Mahalia Jackson
Mahalia Jackson – January 27, 1972) was an African-American gospel singer. Possessing a powerful contralto voice, she was referred to as "The Queen of Gospel"...
's gospel group. Upon entering Detroit
Detroit, Michigan
Detroit is the major city among the primary cultural, financial, and transportation centers in the Metro Detroit area, a region of 5.2 million people. As the seat of Wayne County, the city of Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and serves as a major port on the Detroit River...
's popular Cass Technical High School
Cass Technical High School
The Cass Tech Technicians football team is a high school football program in Division 1 Public School League, representing the prestigious Cass Technical High School in Detroit, MI. Cass Tech High School has long been recognized nationwide for its extraordinary football program dating back to its...
(where she attended the same high with an unknown star, Edna Rae Gillooly, later known as: Ellen Burstyn
Ellen Burstyn
Ellen Burstyn is a leading American actress of film, stage, and television. Burstyn's career began in theatre during the late 1950s, and over the next ten years she appeared in several films and television series before joining the Actors Studio in 1967...
). At Cass Tech, she was a brilliant, no-nonsense student. She also continued with her touring with Jackson. With higher grades, she was the first in her family to graduate from high school in 1947, at only 15. Afterwards, she formed her own gospel group called the Meditation Singers
Meditation Singers
The Meditation Singers was a Gospel music group formed by Ernestine Rundless in the late 1940s. The original members were Earnestine Rundless, DeLillian Mitchell, Marie Waters, and Waters sister, Deloreese Early, who of course is now known as Della Reese. Della Reese left the group in 1953 and was...
. However, due in part to the death of her mother, and her father's serious illness, Reese had to interrupt her schooling at Wayne State University
Wayne State University
Wayne State University is a public research university located in Detroit, Michigan, United States, in the city's Midtown Cultural Center Historic District. Founded in 1868, WSU consists of 13 schools and colleges offering more than 400 major subject areas to over 32,000 graduate and...
to help support her family. Faithful to the memory of Deloreese's memory of her mother, she also moved out of her father's house, due to her feuding with her father, who had a new girlfriend. She then took on odd jobs such as truck driver, dental receptionist, even elevator operator, after 1949.
Performing in clubs, Early soon realized that she had no choice but to shorten her name from Delloreese Early to Della Reese, knowing that her birth name was too long for a club marquee.
Musical career
Reese was discovered by the gospel singer Mahalia JacksonMahalia Jackson
Mahalia Jackson – January 27, 1972) was an African-American gospel singer. Possessing a powerful contralto voice, she was referred to as "The Queen of Gospel"...
, and big break came when she won a contest, which gave her a week to sing at Detroit's well-known and talked-about Flame Show Bar. Reese remained there for eight weeks. Although her roots were in gospel music
Gospel music
Gospel music is music that is written to express either personal, spiritual or a communal belief regarding Christian life, as well as to give a Christian alternative to mainstream secular music....
, she now was being exposed to and influenced by such great jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
artists as Ella Fitzgerald
Ella Fitzgerald
Ella Jane Fitzgerald , also known as the "First Lady of Song" and "Lady Ella," was an American jazz and song vocalist...
, Sarah Vaughan
Sarah Vaughan
Sarah Lois Vaughan was an American jazz singer, described by Scott Yanow as having "one of the most wondrous voices of the 20th century."...
and Billie Holiday
Billie Holiday
Billie Holiday was an American jazz singer and songwriter. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and musical partner Lester Young, Holiday had a seminal influence on jazz and pop singing...
. In 1953, she signed a recording contract with Jubilee Records
Jubilee Records
Jubilee Records was a record label specializing in rhythm and blues along with novelty records. It was founded in New York City in 1946 by Herb Abramson. Jerry Blaine became Abramson's partner. Blaine bought out Abramson's half of the company in 1947. The company name was Jay-Gee Recording...
, for which she recorded six albums. Later that year, she also joined the Hawkins
Hawkins
-Places:United States*Hawkins, Texas*Hawkins, Wisconsin, a village*Hawkins , Wisconsin, a town*Hawkins Corner, Wisconsin, an unincorporated community*Hawkins County, Tennessee-People:Fictional characters...
Orchestra. Her first recordings for Jubilee were songs such as "In the Still of the Night (1937 song)
In the Still of the Night (1937 song)
"In the Still of the Night" is a popular song written by Cole Porter for the MGM film Rosalie sung by Nelson Eddy and published in 1937....
," "I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm
I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm
"I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm" is a popular song written in 1937 by Irving Berlin. It was introduced in On the Avenue by Dick Powell and Alice Faye. Les Brown's instrumental version, arranged by Skip Martin and recorded in 1946 as Columbia #38324, became a million-seller and Billboard top ten...
," and "Time after Time (1947 song)
Time after Time (1947 song)
"Time After Time" is a jazz standard written by Sammy Cahn and Jule Styne in 1947.It was introduced by Frank Sinatra in the film It Happened in Brooklyn.-Cover versions:...
." Although the EP did not enter the charts, it sold 500,000 copies, and the songs were later included on the 1959 album "And That Reminds Me."
In 1957, Reese released a single called "And That Reminds Me
And That Reminds Me
"And That Reminds Me," also known as "My Heart Reminds Me," is a popular song.The music was based on the Italian instrumental, "Autumn Concerto," by Camillo Bargoni.English language lyrics were written by Al Stillman and Paul Siegel....
." After years of performing, she gained chart success with this song. It became a Top Twenty Pop hit and a million-seller record. That year, Reese was voted by Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
, Cashbox, and various other magazines, as "The Most Promising Singer."
In 1959, Reese moved to a RCA Records
RCA Records
RCA Records is one of the flagship labels of Sony Music Entertainment. The RCA initials stand for Radio Corporation of America , which was the parent corporation from 1929 to 1985 and a partner from 1985 to 1986.RCA's Canadian unit is Sony's oldest label...
, and released her first RCA single called "Don't You Know?
Don't You Know?
"Don't You Know?" is a 1959 popular song by written by Bobby Worth, and hit record for singer Della Reese.The song was adapted from an aria from Puccini's La Boheme. It became Reese's biggest hit, reaching number two on the U.S. Pop chart and number one on the U.S. R&B chart...
," which was adapted from Puccini's music for La Bohème
La bohème
La bohème is an opera in four acts,Puccini called the divisions quadro, a tableau or "image", rather than atto . by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa, based on Scènes de la vie de bohème by Henri Murger...
; specifically, the aria Musetta's Waltz. It became her biggest hit to date, reaching the #2 spot on the Pop charts, and topping the R&B
Rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...
charts, which were then called the "Black Singles Charts," that year. Eventually, the song came to be widely considered the signature song of her early career.
Reese received a Grammy nomination for her 1960 album, Della. and then released a successful follow-up single called "Not One Minute More" (#16), and she remained on the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
chart with the songs "And Now" (#69), "Someday (You'll Want Me to Want You)
Someday (You'll Want Me to Want You)
"Someday " is a popular song. It was written by Jimmie Hodges and was published in 1944.The song has become a standard, recorded by many pop and country music singers.-Charting versions:...
" (#56) and "The Most Beautiful Words" (#67).
Reese recorded regularly throughout the 1960s, releasing singles and several albums. Two of the most significant were The Classic Della
The Classic Della
The Classic Della is an album by actress and singer Della Reese. The songs are based on classical music pieces by Tchaikovsky , Debussy , Schubert , Chopin , and Puccini...
(1962), and Waltz with Me, Della (1963), which broadened her fan base internationally. She recorded several jazz-focused albums including Della Reese Live (1966), On Strings of Blue (1967), and One of a Kind (1978). She also performed in Las Vegas
Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...
for nine years, and toured across the country.
Reese continued to record albums in the following decades, receiving two more Grammy nominations in the gospel category for the album Della Reese and Brilliance (1991), and for the live recorded album, My Soul Feels Better Right Now (1999).
Television career
In 1969, Reese began a transition into acting work which would eventually lead to her greatest fame. Her first attempt at televisionTelevision
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
stardom was a 1969 eponymously titled variety series, which was canceled after one season.
In 1970, Reese became the first black woman to guest host The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson is a talk show hosted by Johnny Carson under the Tonight Show franchise from 1962 to 1992. It originally aired during late-night....
. She appeared in several TV movies and miniseries, was a regular on Chico and the Man
Chico and the Man
Chico and the Man is an American sitcom which ran on NBC for four seasons, from September 13, 1974 to July 21, 1978. It stars Jack Albertson as Ed Brown , the cantankerous owner of a run down garage in an East Los Angeles barrio, and Freddie Prinze as Chico Rodriguez, an upbeat, optimistic Chicano...
, and she played the mother of B. A. Baracus
B. A. Baracus
Sergeant Bosco Albert "B. A." Baracus is a fictional character in the 1980s action/adventure television series The A-Team, played by Mr. T. B. A. Baracus appeared on The A-Team from the series beginning in 1983 until its cancellation in 1987. He is arguably the breakout character of the series...
in The A-Team
The A-Team
The A-Team is an American action adventure television series about a fictional group of ex-United States Army Special Forces personnel who work as soldiers of fortune, while on the run from the Army after being branded as war criminals for a "crime they didn't commit". The A-Team was created by...
episode "Lease with an Option to Die." In 1991, she starred opposite Redd Foxx
Redd Foxx
John Elroy Sanford , better known by his stage name Redd Foxx, was an American comedian and actor, best known for his starring role on the sitcom Sanford and Son.-Early life:...
in his final sitcom, The Royal Family
The Royal Family (TV series)
The Royal Family is an American sitcom starring Redd Foxx and Della Reese. The series was created and produced by Eddie Murphy , who had previously worked with Redd Foxx and Della Reese in the 1989 film Harlem Nights. It ran for one season on CBS from 1991-1992...
, but his death halted production of the series for several months. Reese also did voice over for the animated series A Pup Named Scooby-Doo
A Pup Named Scooby-Doo
A Pup Named Scooby-Doo is the eighth incarnation of the Hanna-Barbera Saturday morning cartoon Scooby-Doo. This spin-off of the original show was created by Tom Ruegger and premiered on September 10, 1988 and ran for three seasons on ABC as a half-hour program, until August 17, 1991...
.
In 1989, she starred alongside Eddie Murphy
Eddie Murphy
Edward Regan "Eddie" Murphy is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, singer, director, and musician....
, Richard Pryor
Richard Pryor
Richard Franklin Lennox Thomas Pryor was an American stand-up comedian, actor, social critic, writer and MC. Pryor was known for uncompromising examinations of racism and topical contemporary issues, which employed colorful vulgarities, and profanity, as well as racial epithets...
, and Arsenio Hall
Arsenio Hall
Arsenio Hall is an American actor, comedian, and former talk show host. He is best known for his talk show The Arsenio Hall Show, which ran between 1989 and 1994, and his roles in the films Coming to America and Harlem Nights.Hall is also known for his appearance as Alan Thicke's sidekick on the...
in the theatrical release movie Harlem Nights
Harlem Nights
Harlem Nights is a 1989 comedy-drama crime film starring Eddie Murphy and Richard Pryor. The film also featured Michael Lerner, Danny Aiello, Redd Foxx, Della Reese and Murphy's brother Charlie Murphy...
, in which she was seen doing a fight scene with Eddie Murphy
Eddie Murphy
Edward Regan "Eddie" Murphy is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, singer, director, and musician....
.
Reese appeared as a panelist on several episodes of the popular television game show Match Game
Match Game
Match Game is an American television game show in which contestants attempted to match celebrities' answers to fill-in-the-blank questions...
and was featured on That's So Raven
That's So Raven
That's So Raven is an American cable television teen sitcom/fantasy series. The show premiered on the Disney Channel on January 17, 2003, and ended on November 10, 2007. The show spawned Disney Channel's first spin-off series: Cory in the House...
in The Four Aces. On May 18, 2009, she guest starred on the daytime drama The Young and the Restless
The Young and the Restless
The Young and the Restless is an American television soap opera created by William J. Bell and Lee Phillip Bell for CBS. The show is set in a fictional Wisconsin town called Genoa City, which is unlike and unrelated to the real life village of the same name, Genoa City, Wisconsin...
as Virginia Hamilton.
No-nonsense character actress
Reese also had a wide variety of guest-starring roles, beginning with an episode of The Mod SquadThe Mod Squad
The Mod Squad is a television series that ran on ABC from September 24, 1968, until August 23, 1973. This series starred Michael Cole, Peggy Lipton, Clarence Williams III, and Tige Andrews...
. This led to other roles such as: The Bold Ones: The New Doctors
The Bold Ones: The New Doctors
The Bold Ones: The New Doctors is an American medical drama that lasted for four seasons on NBC, from 1969 to 1973.-Overview:The series focuses on the life of Dr. David Craig The Bold Ones: The New Doctors (also known as The New Doctors) is an American medical drama that lasted for four seasons on...
, Getting Together, Police Woman
Police Woman (TV series)
Police Woman is an American television police drama starring Angie Dickinson that ran on NBC for four seasons, from September 13, 1974, to March 29, 1978.-Synopsis:...
, Petrocelli
Petrocelli
Petrocelli is an American legal drama which ran for two seasons on NBC from September 11, 1974 to March 31, 1976.-Plot:Tony Petrocelli was an Italian-American Harvard-educated lawyer who grew up in South Boston and gave up the big money and frenetic pace of major-metropolitan life to practice in a...
, Joe Forrester, Police Story, The Rookies
The Rookies
The Rookies is an American crime drama series that aired on ABC from 1972 until 1976. It followed the exploits of three rookie police officers in an unidentified city for the fictitious Southern California Police Department .-History:...
, McCloud, Sanford and Son
Sanford and Son
Sanford and Son is an American sitcom, based on the BBC's Steptoe and Son, that ran on the NBC television network from January 14, 1972, to March 25, 1977....
with old friend Redd Foxx
Redd Foxx
John Elroy Sanford , better known by his stage name Redd Foxx, was an American comedian and actor, best known for his starring role on the sitcom Sanford and Son.-Early life:...
, Vega$
Vega$
Vega$ is an American detective television drama series that aired on ABC between 1978 and 1981. It was produced by Aaron Spelling. The series, was filmed in its entirety in Las Vegas, Nevada, which is believed to be the first television series produced entirely in Las Vegas...
, Insight
Insight (TV series)
Insight was an Emmy-winning syndicated television series produced by Paulist Productions that aired 250 episodes from 1960 to 1983. The series presented half-hour dramas illuminating the contemporary search for meaning, freedom, and love...
, 2 episodes of The Love Boat
The Love Boat
The Love Boat is an American television series set on a cruise ship, which aired on the ABC Television Network from September 24,1977, until May 24,1986.The show starred Gavin MacLeod as the ship's captain...
. She also had a recurring role on It Takes Two opposite Richard Crenna
Richard Crenna
Richard Donald Crenna was an American motion picture, television, and radio actor and occasional television director. He starred in such motion pictures as The Sand Pebbles, Wait Until Dark, Body Heat, the first three Rambo movies, Hot Shots! Part Deux, and The Flamingo Kid...
and Patty Duke
Patty Duke
Anna Marie "Patty" Duke is an American actress of stage, film, and television. First becoming famous as a child star, winning an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress at age 16, and later starring in her eponymous sitcom for three years, she progressed to more mature roles upon playing Neely...
, 3 episodes of Crazy Like a Fox
Crazy Like a Fox (TV series)
Crazy Like a Fox is an American television series set in San Francisco, California, that aired on CBS from December 30, 1984 to May 3, 1986.-Overview:...
, 4 episodes of Charlie & Co.
Charlie & Co.
Charlie & Co. is an American sitcom that originally aired on CBS from September 18, 1985 to May 16, 1986. Created by Allan Katz, the series starred Flip Wilson and Gladys Knight. Charlie & Co. is regarded as CBS' answer to The Cosby Show, which was a ratings success for NBC at the time...
opposite Flip Wilson
Flip Wilson
Clerow Wilson, Jr. , known professionally as Flip Wilson, was an American comedian and actor. In the early 1970s, Wilson hosted his own weekly variety series, The Flip Wilson Show...
, 227
227 (TV series)
227 is an American situation comedy that originally aired on NBC from September 14, 1985, until May 6, 1990. The series starred Marla Gibbs as a sharp-tongued, inner-city resident gossip and housewife, Mary Jenkins...
with best friend Marla Gibbs
Marla Gibbs
Marla Gibbs is an American television and film actress and singer. She is best remembered for playing Louise and George Jefferson's sarcastic maid, Florence Johnston, on The Jeffersons and spinoff Checking In...
, MacGyver
MacGyver
MacGyver is an American action-adventure television series created by Lee David Zlotoff. Henry Winkler and John Rich were the executive producers. The show ran for seven seasons on ABC in the United States and various other networks abroad from 1985 to 1992. The series was filmed in Los Angeles...
, Night Court
Night Court
Night Court is an American television situation comedy that aired on NBC from January 4, 1984, to May 20, 1992. The setting was the night shift of a Manhattan court, presided over by the young, unorthodox Judge Harold T. "Harry" Stone...
, Dream On
Dream On (TV series)
Dream On is an American adult-themed situation comedy about single New Yorker, Martin Tupper. The show used a gimmick where old black and white clips were used to punctuate the main character's feelings or thoughts...
, Designing Women
Designing Women
Designing Women is an American television sitcom that centered on the working and personal lives of four Southern women and one man in an interior design firm in Atlanta, Georgia. It aired on the CBS television network from September 29, 1986 until May 24, 1993. The show was created by head writer...
, Picket Fences
Picket Fences
Picket Fences is a 60-minute American television drama about the residents of the fictional town of Rome, Wisconsin, created and produced by David E. Kelley. The show initially ran from September 18, 1992, to June 26, 1996, on the CBS television network in the United States...
. She also had a recurring role as Tess, on Promised Land
Promised land
The Promised Land is a term used to describe the land promised or given by God, according to the Hebrew Bible, to the Israelites, the descendants of Jacob. The promise is firstly made to Abraham and then renewed to his son Isaac, and to Isaac's son Jacob , Abraham's grandson...
with Wendy Phillips
Wendy Phillips
Wendy Phillips is an American actress, noted for playing David Selby's last wife, Lauren Daniels, during the final season of Falcon Crest and for playing Gerald McRaney's wife, Claire Greene, on both Touched by an Angel and Promised Land...
and Gerald McRaney
Gerald McRaney
Gerald Lee "Mac" McRaney is an American television and movie actor. McRaney is best known as one of the stars of the television shows Simon & Simon, Major Dad, and Promised Land. He was a series regular for the first season of Jericho.-Early life:McRaney was born in Collins, Mississippi, the son...
, among many others.
Touched by an Angel
After coping with the death of one of her best friends, Redd Foxx, in 1991, she was reluctant to have an older female lead in Touched by an Angel, but went ahead and auditioned for Tess. She wanted to have a one-shot agreement between CBS and producer Martha WilliamsonMartha Williamson
Martha Williamson is the host and voice of A Touch of Encouragement on Beliefnet.com. She is best known as the head writer and Executive Producer of the long-running hit CBS television series Touched by an Angel...
, but ordered more episodes. She portrayed the character of Tess on the inspirational television drama Touched by an Angel
Touched by an Angel
Touched by an Angel is an American drama series that premiered on CBS on September 21, 1994 and ran for 211 episodes and nine seasons until its conclusion on April 27, 2003. Created by John Masius and produced by Martha Williamson, the series stars Roma Downey, as an angel named Monica, and Della...
. Reese was widely seen as a key component of the show's success.
Already starring on Touched by an Angel was an unfamiliar Irish
Irish people
The Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...
actress and future wife of reality television shows producer (Mark Burnett
Mark Burnett
Mark Burnett is a British television producer and executive producer, based in the United States. He currently is the executive producer of five network television series with seven hours of network programming. Works with which Burnett is associated have won multiple awards and recognition...
), Roma Downey
Roma Downey
Roma Downey is an actress, singer, and producer, from Derry, Northern Ireland. She is best known as Tess's angel/employee, Monica, the main character of the TV series Touched by an Angel. She is also the wife of television producer, Mark Burnett.-Early life:Downey was born and raised in Derry...
, who played the role of a case worker Tess's angel/employee, Monica. In numerous interviews, there was an on- and off-screen chemistry of both Reese & Downey, as the two clicked as second mother and second daughter of any other 1990s TV series, when Reese was playing the boss whilst Downey played employee.
The character of Tess was the angelic supervisor who sent the other angels out on missions to help people redeem their lives and show them God's love, while at the same time, she was sassy, had no-nonsense, but always had an attitude. The show often featured a climactic monologue delivered by the angel Monica in which she reveals herself as an angel to a human with the words, "I am an angel sent by God to tell you that he loves you." The character of Tess balanced the emotional tone of the show, and was portrayed by Reese as down to earth, experienced, and direct.
The series introduced Reese to a new young fan base, and added to her appeal with television viewers who remembered her earlier career highlights. Reese also sang the show's theme song, "Walk With You" and was featured prominently on the soundtrack album produced in conjunction with the show.
During its first season in 1994, many critics had been skeptical about the new drama, it being the second prime-time fantasy series (after Highway to Heaven
Highway to Heaven
Highway to Heaven is an American television drama series which ran on NBC from 1984 to 1989.- Season 1 :- Season 2 :- Season 3 :- Season 4 :- Season 5 :...
, being the first) that talked about God
God
God is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
. The program featured kind-hearted angels who appeared on Earth, and helped guide people in their toughest moments. The show also had a rocky start, and was not a ratings winner, hence, they cancelled it after the first season with only 11 episodes, but with the help of die hard fans and massive letter-writing, the show resuscitated, the following season, and became a huge ratings winner for the next seven seasons. The same year, unfamiliar actor John Dye
John Dye
John Carroll Dye was an American film and television actor known for his role as Andrew in the television series Touched by an Angel.-Early life:...
played Andrew. Though he was a handsome actor, there had been threats to the familiar TV star. At the beginning of the fourth season in 1997, unlike her co-stars making more money, Reese was offered a lesser salary, hence, she threatened to leave the Angel set. Angry about the imbalance of her paycheck, Reese fought with both CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
and Williamson, and she continued playing Tess until the end, having raised her salary.
During its final season in 2002, Touched by an Angel CBS decided to cancel the show after nine seasons and 212 episodes. Despite the show being cancelled, it continued re-running heavily into syndication and on The Hallmark Channel.
Roma Downey said of her on- and off-screen relationship with Reese, who had adopted her as a daughter: "She's very wise, she's very loving, she can be a little gruff at times. But she's always adoring and adorable. I lost my mother, when I was very young, and during my whole adolescence and into my twenties, I'd been looking for a mother figure, and I really think I can say with absolute truth and sincerity that I feel that I finally found her in Della Reese." The last thing Downey said about her TV boss/mother was that she could be as loving as her mentor's Jesus: "I think I'll just always remember the feel of her neck against my cheek when she hugs me, and the love, I know that she has for me, and the love that I feel for her, and the love that she has for God. To know Della is to know that she loves God."
Personal life
Reese's mother, Nellie Mitchelle Early, died in 1949 of a cerebral hemorrhage.Reese's father, Richard Early, died in 1959.
Reese had an adoptive daughter, Deloreese Daniels Owens, in 1961, who died on March 14, 2002, after complications stemming from pituitary disease
Pituitary disease
A Pituitary disease is a disorder primarily affecting the pituitary gland.The main disorders involving the pituitary gland are:Hypothyroidism is caused by pituitary insufficiency in producing thyroid stimulating hormone in less than 10% of hypothyroidism cases...
. She said about the painful experience, sharing her frustration with the lack of awareness and knowledge of pituitary disorders, "When it happened, I thought, 'It's such an odd thing to die from,' because pituitary problems aren't something you hear about. It makes it harder because you don't understand what happened. It seemed so strange and hard to explain. It still is, to be honest."
In 1979, after taping a guest spot for The Tonight Show
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson is a talk show hosted by Johnny Carson under the Tonight Show franchise from 1962 to 1992. It originally aired during late-night....
, she suffered a nearly fatal brain aneurysm
Aneurysm
An aneurysm or aneurism is a localized, blood-filled balloon-like bulge in the wall of a blood vessel. Aneurysms can commonly occur in arteries at the base of the brain and an aortic aneurysm occurs in the main artery carrying blood from the left ventricle of the heart...
, but made a full recovery after two operations by neurosurgeon Dr. Charles Drake
Charles George Drake
Charles George Drake, CC, O.Ont, FRCS was a Canadian neurosurgeon known for his work on treating aneurysms.Born in Windsor, Ontario, he received his B.Sc. and MD degrees from The University of Western Ontario....
at University Hospital
University Hospital (London)
University Hospital, in London, Ontario, is a large teaching hospital affiliated with the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry, named for Seymour Schulich, through the The University of Western Ontario. It is part of the London Health Sciences Centre....
in London, Ontario
London, Ontario
London is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada, situated along the Quebec City – Windsor Corridor. The city has a population of 352,395, and the metropolitan area has a population of 457,720, according to the 2006 Canadian census; the metro population in 2009 was estimated at 489,274. The city...
.
In 1983, she married Franklin Thomas Lett, Jr., a concert
Concert
A concert is a live performance before an audience. The performance may be by a single musician, sometimes then called a recital, or by a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra, a choir, or a musical band...
producer and writer.
In 2002, Reese announced on Larry King Live
Larry King Live
Larry King Live is an American talk show hosted by Larry King on CNN from 1985 to 2010. It was CNN's most watched and longest-running program, with over one million viewers nightly....
that she had been diagnosed with type-2 diabetes. She became a spokeswoman
Spokesman
A spokesperson or spokesman or spokeswoman is someone engaged or elected to speak on behalf of others.In the present media-sensitive world, many organizations are increasingly likely to employ professionals who have received formal training in journalism, communications, public relations and...
for the American Diabetes Association
American Diabetes Association
The American Diabetes Association is a United States-based association working to fight the consequences of diabetes, and to help those affected by diabetes...
, traveling around the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
to raise awareness about this disorder.
In 2005, Reese was honored by Oprah Winfrey
Oprah Winfrey
Oprah Winfrey is an American media proprietor, talk show host, actress, producer and philanthropist. Winfrey is best known for her self-titled, multi-award-winning talk show, which has become the highest-rated program of its kind in history and was nationally syndicated from 1986 to 2011...
at her Legends Ball ceremony, along with 25 other women of African-American descent.
Reese was ordained as a minister in 2010, after serving as the senior minister and founder of the Understanding Principles for Better Living Church, an independent "Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
New Thought" congregation, which currently meets at First Lutheran Church (www.firsting.org) in Inglewood, California
Inglewood, California
Inglewood is a city in southwestern Los Angeles County, California, southwest of downtown Los Angeles. It was incorporated on February 14, 1908. Its population stood at 109,673 as of the 2010 Census...
. In her ministerial work, she is known as the Rev. Dr. Della Reese Lett.
Filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1968 | The Mod Squad The Mod Squad The Mod Squad is a television series that ran on ABC from September 24, 1968, until August 23, 1973. This series starred Michael Cole, Peggy Lipton, Clarence Williams III, and Tige Andrews... |
Rose | Episode: "Find Tara Chapman!" |
| 1970 | The Bold Ones: The New Doctors The Bold Ones: The New Doctors The Bold Ones: The New Doctors is an American medical drama that lasted for four seasons on NBC, from 1969 to 1973.-Overview:The series focuses on the life of Dr. David Craig The Bold Ones: The New Doctors (also known as The New Doctors) is an American medical drama that lasted for four seasons on... |
Grace Dayton | Episode: "Killer on the Loose" |
| 1971 | Getting Together | Episode: "Singing the Blues" | |
| 1973 | Voyage of the Yes | Opal Parker | TV movies |
| Daddy's Girl | Diane | ||
| 1974 | Twice in a Lifetime | Flo | |
| Police Woman Police Woman (TV series) Police Woman is an American television police drama starring Angie Dickinson that ran on NBC for four seasons, from September 13, 1974, to March 29, 1978.-Synopsis:... |
Tina Thompson | Episode: "Requiem for Bored Wives" | |
| McCloud | Police Sgt. Gladys Harris | Episode: "This Must be the Alamo" | |
| 1975 | Petrocelli Petrocelli Petrocelli is an American legal drama which ran for two seasons on NBC from September 11, 1974 to March 31, 1976.-Plot:Tony Petrocelli was an Italian-American Harvard-educated lawyer who grew up in South Boston and gave up the big money and frenetic pace of major-metropolitan life to practice in a... |
Angela Damon | Episode: "Once Upon a Victim" |
| Joe Forrester | Episode: "The Return of Joe Forrester" | ||
| Police Story | |||
| Cop on the Beat | Claudine | TV movie | |
| The Rookies The Rookies The Rookies is an American crime drama series that aired on ABC from 1972 until 1976. It followed the exploits of three rookie police officers in an unidentified city for the fictitious Southern California Police Department .-History:... |
Landers | Episode: "Ladies Day" | |
| Psychic Killer | Mrs. Gibson | ||
| Chico and the Man Chico and the Man Chico and the Man is an American sitcom which ran on NBC for four seasons, from September 13, 1974 to July 21, 1978. It stars Jack Albertson as Ed Brown , the cantankerous owner of a run down garage in an East Los Angeles barrio, and Freddie Prinze as Chico Rodriguez, an upbeat, optimistic Chicano... |
Della Rogers | 1975-1978 (27 episodes) | |
| 1976 | McCloud | Police Sgt. Gladys Harris | Episode: "The Day New York Turned Blue" |
| Medical Center Medical Center (TV series) Medical Center is a medical drama series which aired on CBS from 1969 to 1976.-Synopsis:The show starred James Daly as Dr. Paul Lochner and Chad Everett as Dr. Joe Gannon, surgeons working in an otherwise unnamed university hospital in Los Angeles. The show focused both on the lives of the doctors... |
Captain Sykes | Episode: "Major Annie, MD" | |
| Flo's Place | Flo | TV movies | |
| Nightmare in Badham County | Sarah | ||
| 1978 | Vega$ Vega$ Vega$ is an American detective television drama series that aired on ABC between 1978 and 1981. It was produced by Aaron Spelling. The series, was filmed in its entirety in Las Vegas, Nevada, which is believed to be the first television series produced entirely in Las Vegas... |
Ernie | Episode: "Lost Women" |
| 1979 | Welcome Back, Kotter Welcome Back, Kotter Welcome Back, Kotter was an American television sitcom starring Gabe Kaplan and featuring a young John Travolta.It originally aired on the ABC network from September 9, 1975 to June 8, 1979.-Premise:... |
Mrs. Tremaine | Episode: "Come Back, Little Arnold" Episode: "The Gang Show" |
| 1980 | Insight Insight (TV series) Insight was an Emmy-winning syndicated television series produced by Paulist Productions that aired 250 episodes from 1960 to 1983. The series presented half-hour dramas illuminating the contemporary search for meaning, freedom, and love... |
The Judge | Episode: "God in the Dock" |
| 1982 | The Love Boat The Love Boat The Love Boat is an American television series set on a cruise ship, which aired on the ABC Television Network from September 24,1977, until May 24,1986.The show starred Gavin MacLeod as the ship's captain... |
Millie Washington | 2 episodes |
| It Takes Two | Judge Caroline Phillips | Episode: "Promises in the Dark" | |
| 1983 | Episode: "Looks Bad, Feels Good" Episode: "Rhythm Blues" Episode: "Instinct" |
||
| 1985 | The A-Team The A-Team The A-Team is an American action adventure television series about a fictional group of ex-United States Army Special Forces personnel who work as soldiers of fortune, while on the run from the Army after being branded as war criminals for a "crime they didn't commit". The A-Team was created by... |
Mrs. Baracus | Episode: "Lease with an Option to Die" |
| Crazy Like a Fox Crazy Like a Fox (TV series) Crazy Like a Fox is an American television series set in San Francisco, California, that aired on CBS from December 30, 1984 to May 3, 1986.-Overview:... |
Episode: "A Fox at the Races" | ||
| 1986 | Episode: "Fox Hunt" Episode: "Is There a Fox in the House?" |
||
| Charlie & Co. Charlie & Co. Charlie & Co. is an American sitcom that originally aired on CBS from September 18, 1985 to May 16, 1986. Created by Allan Katz, the series starred Flip Wilson and Gladys Knight. Charlie & Co. is regarded as CBS' answer to The Cosby Show, which was a ratings success for NBC at the time... |
Aunt Rachel | 4 episodes | |
| ABC Afterschool Specials | Aunt Faith | Episode: "The Gift of Amazing Grace" | |
| 1987 | 227 227 (TV series) 227 is an American situation comedy that originally aired on NBC from September 14, 1985, until May 6, 1990. The series starred Marla Gibbs as a sharp-tongued, inner-city resident gossip and housewife, Mary Jenkins... |
Rita | Episode: "Far from the Tree" |
| 1988 | A Pup Named Scooby-Doo A Pup Named Scooby-Doo A Pup Named Scooby-Doo is the eighth incarnation of the Hanna-Barbera Saturday morning cartoon Scooby-Doo. This spin-off of the original show was created by Tom Ruegger and premiered on September 10, 1988 and ran for three seasons on ABC as a half-hour program, until August 17, 1991... |
Additional Voices | TV series |
| 1989 | Night Court Night Court Night Court is an American television situation comedy that aired on NBC from January 4, 1984, to May 20, 1992. The setting was the night shift of a Manhattan court, presided over by the young, unorthodox Judge Harold T. "Harry" Stone... |
Aunt Ruth | Episode: "Auntie Maim" |
| Harlem Nights Harlem Nights Harlem Nights is a 1989 comedy-drama crime film starring Eddie Murphy and Richard Pryor. The film also featured Michael Lerner, Danny Aiello, Redd Foxx, Della Reese and Murphy's brother Charlie Murphy... |
Vera | ||
| 1990 | 227 227 (TV series) 227 is an American situation comedy that originally aired on NBC from September 14, 1985, until May 6, 1990. The series starred Marla Gibbs as a sharp-tongued, inner-city resident gossip and housewife, Mary Jenkins... |
Grace | Episode: "Where Do We Go from Here?" |
| The Kid Who Loved Christmas | Alicia Slater | TV movie | |
| The Young Riders The Young Riders The Young Riders is an American Western television series created by Ed Spielman that presents a fictionalized account of a group of young Pony Express riders based at the Sweetwater Station in the Nebraska Territory during the years leading up to the American Civil War... |
Stagecoach Sally | Episode: "Born to Hang" | |
| MacGyver MacGyver MacGyver is an American action-adventure television series created by Lee David Zlotoff. Henry Winkler and John Rich were the executive producers. The show ran for seven seasons on ABC in the United States and various other networks abroad from 1985 to 1992. The series was filmed in Los Angeles... |
Mama Colton | Episode: "Squeeze Play" | |
| 1991 | Episode: "The Coltons" | ||
| Married People Married People Married People is an American television situation comedy that aired on ABC as part of its 1990-91 schedule.-Synopsis:The series follows three couples in different stages of their relationships who lived in the same building in New York City... |
Episode: "Dance Ten, Friends Zero" | ||
| The Royal Family The Royal Family (TV series) The Royal Family is an American sitcom starring Redd Foxx and Della Reese. The series was created and produced by Eddie Murphy , who had previously worked with Redd Foxx and Della Reese in the 1989 film Harlem Nights. It ran for one season on CBS from 1991-1992... |
Victoria Royal | 1991-1992 (15 episodes) | |
| 1992 | Dream On Dream On (TV series) Dream On is an American adult-themed situation comedy about single New Yorker, Martin Tupper. The show used a gimmick where old black and white clips were used to punctuate the main character's feelings or thoughts... |
Receptionist | Episode: "No Deposit, No Return" |
| The Distinguished Gentleman The Distinguished Gentleman The Distinguished Gentleman is a comedy starring Eddie Murphy. The film was directed by Jonathan Lynn. In addition to Murphy, the film stars Lane Smith, Sheryl Lee Ralph, Joe Don Baker, Victoria Rowell, Grant Shaud, Kevin McCarthy, Charles S... |
Elevator Operator (uncredited) | ||
| 1993 | Designing Women Designing Women Designing Women is an American television sitcom that centered on the working and personal lives of four Southern women and one man in an interior design firm in Atlanta, Georgia. It aired on the CBS television network from September 29, 1986 until May 24, 1993. The show was created by head writer... |
Mrs. Toussant | Episode: "Wedding Redux" |
| L.A. Law L.A. Law L.A. Law is a US television legal drama that ran on NBC from September 15, 1986 to May 19, 1994. L.A. Law reflected the social and cultural ideologies of the 1980s and early 1990s and many of the cases featured on the show dealt with hot topic issues such as abortion, racism, gay rights,... |
Lucille Lake | Episode: "Vindaloo in the Villows" | |
| Picket Fences Picket Fences Picket Fences is a 60-minute American television drama about the residents of the fictional town of Rome, Wisconsin, created and produced by David E. Kelley. The show initially ran from September 18, 1992, to June 26, 1996, on the CBS television network in the United States... |
Naomi Grand | Episode: "The Lullaby League" | |
| 1994 | Touched by an Angel Touched by an Angel Touched by an Angel is an American drama series that premiered on CBS on September 21, 1994 and ran for 211 episodes and nine seasons until its conclusion on April 27, 2003. Created by John Masius and produced by Martha Williamson, the series stars Roma Downey, as an angel named Monica, and Della... |
Tess | 1994-2003 (212 episodes) |
| 1996 | Promised Land | 1996-1998 (5 episodes) | |
| A Thin Line Between Love and Hate A Thin Line Between Love and Hate A Thin Line Between Love and Hate is a 1996 dark comedy-romance film that was directed and co-written by Martin Lawrence, who also stars in the film. Lawrence co-wrote the screenplay alongside Kenny Buford, who has also written for Lawrence's hit television sitcom, Martin... |
Ma Wright | ||
| 1997 | Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child is an American animated television series that premiered March 26, 1995, on HBO. Narrated by Robert Guillaume, the series aired 39 episodes from 1995 to 2000, and is currently airing on the HBO Family digital cable television channel in the United... |
The Blues Fairy | Episode: "Pinocchio" |
| A Match Made in Heaven A Match Made in Heaven A Match Made in Heaven is a 1997 television movie inspired by actual events. It is about a dying widow who plays matchmaker to her 32-year-old unmarried son and sets him up with a nurse that she meets... |
Katie Beale | TV movies | |
| Miracle in the Woods | Lilly Cooper | ||
| 1998 | Emma's Wish | Mona Washburn | |
| Mama Flora's Family Mama Flora's Family Mama Flora's Family is a novel by Alex Haley. The story begins with Flora, a daughter of poor black sharecroppers at her home in Mississippi... |
Nana Fleming | ||
| 1999 | Chasing Secrets | Honey | |
| Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters' First 100 Years | Martha Logan | ||
| Anya's Bell Anya's Bell Anya's Bell is a television movie aired on CBS on October 31, 1999, starring Della Reese as Anya Herpick.-Plot:In 1949, Anya is a blind woman who was always taken care of by her mother. Anya copes with her loneliness by collecting bells, a situation which becomes worse when her mother dies... |
Anya Herpick | ||
| 2000 | The Moving of Sophia Myles | Sophia Myles | |
| Dinosaur Dinosaur (film) Dinosaur is a 2000 American computer-animated film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures on May 19, 2000, and is the 39th animated feature in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series... |
Eema (voice) | ||
| 2005 | Beauty Shop Beauty Shop Beauty Shop is a 2005 American comedy film, directed by Bille Woodruff. The film is a spin-off of the Barbershop film franchise, and stars Queen Latifah as Gina, a character which was first introduced in the 2004 film Barbershop 2: Back in Business... |
Mrs. Towner | |
| 2006 | That's So Raven That's So Raven That's So Raven is an American cable television teen sitcom/fantasy series. The show premiered on the Disney Channel on January 17, 2003, and ended on November 10, 2007. The show spawned Disney Channel's first spin-off series: Cory in the House... |
Miss Rhonnie Wilcox | Episode: "The Four Aces" |
| 2007 | If I Had Known I Was a Genius If I Had Known I Was a Genius If I Had Known I Was a Genius is a film directed by Dominique Wirtschafter and written by Markus Redmond . The film premiered January 23, 2007 at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival.- Plot :... |
Nana | |
| 2009 | The Young and the Restless The Young and the Restless The Young and the Restless is an American television soap opera created by William J. Bell and Lee Phillip Bell for CBS. The show is set in a fictional Wisconsin town called Genoa City, which is unlike and unrelated to the real life village of the same name, Genoa City, Wisconsin... |
Aunt Virginia | 2 episodes |
| 2010 | Expecting Mary Expecting Mary Expecting Mary is a 2010 comedy-drama film starring Elliott Gould and Linda Gray. It was directed by Dan Gordon and produced by Kim Waltrip with executive producer Jim Casey The film premiered at the Palm Springs International Film Festival 2010 on January 16 and was selected as the opening film at... |
Doris Dorkus |
Awards and nominations
Awards- 1994: Hollywood Walk of FameHollywood Walk of FameThe Hollywood Walk of Fame consists of more than 2,400 five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along fifteen blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, California...
: 7060 Hollywood BoulevardHollywood Boulevard-Revitalization:In recent years successful efforts have been made at cleaning up Hollywood Blvd., as the street had gained a reputation for crime and seediness. Central to these efforts was the construction of the Hollywood and Highland shopping center and adjacent Kodak Theatre in 2001...
– Television - 1996: Image Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama SeriesNAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Drama SeriesThe NAACP Image Award winners for Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series:*Most Wins**Della Reese has won this category 7 times....
– Touched by an Angel - 1997: Image Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series – Touched by an Angel
- 1998: Image Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series – Touched by an Angel
- 1999: Image Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series – Touched by an Angel
- 2000: Image Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series – Touched by an Angel
- 2001: Image Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series – Touched by an Angel
- 2002: Image Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series – Touched by an Angel
Nominations
- 1960: Grammy Award – Don't You Know
- 1961: Grammy Award – Della (Album)
- 1991: Grammy Award – Della Reese and Brilliance
- 1997: Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series – Touched by an Angel
- 1997: Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series – Touched by an Angel
- 1998: Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series – Touched by an Angel
- 1998: Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Made for TV Series – Touched by an Angel
- 1998: Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series – Touched by an Angel
- 1999: Grammy Award – My Soul Feels Better Right Now
- 2000: Annie Award for Outstanding Individual Achievement for Voice Acting By a Female Performer in an Animated FeatureAnnie AwardThe Annie Awards have been presented by the Los Angeles, California branch of the International Animated Film Association, ASIFA-Hollywood since 1972...
– DinosaurDinosaur (film)Dinosaur is a 2000 American computer-animated film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures on May 19, 2000, and is the 39th animated feature in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series...
External links
- Della Reese Official Website
- Della Reese Interview at The Archive of American TelevisionArchive of American TelevisionThe Archive of American Television is a division of the non-profit Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Foundation that films interviews with notable people from all aspects of the television industry....
- Understanding Principles for Better Living Church
- Della Reese's Tough TV Career
- Della Reese's oral history video excerpts at The National Visionary Leadership Project